Well, a year passed by and I'm here again. I feel so dumb to sort it out once again.

As last winter was so mild and I used to live in Toronto DT, I never had to experience the odds of my winter tires. I couldn't do as cycleguy55 suggested either. Now, I moved back to Sarnia and i seriously need to think about my winter combination.

My rear ones will remain same ContiWinterContact™ TS 810S for 17" as they're only 1 season old and I will change my front ones (Nankang Snow Viva SV1). I guess I should match up with the rear ones. But then they will be all performance winter tires. If I could do, I would turn all them to SNOW/ICE TIRES like Michelin X-ice Xi2 or something so that I get more grip on snowy/icy days. It's that I get to work at 7am and Sarnia doesn't get cleaned up that early/often a day. And everyone here drives a F150 or similar.

So, should I go with full snow tires like Michelin for front and wait another year to match up with rear ones (suppose I throw the Contis out after this winter). Or, all Contis will perform/grip as same?

 

As far as I can tell, the Contis are a 'full snow tire' so matching the fronts with your current rears is a perfectly good solution IMO. If they're all the same size (i.e. non-staggered) you could put the new ones on the back for optimum traction.

 

TireRack's ratings would indicate the Contis are not spectacular in deep snow (6.9/10), but other ratings for this tire are range from 7.7 to 8.7, with wet traction getting the highest score. The value of having a matched set probably exceeds any additional benefit you're going to get by trying to optimize some other tire characteristics. IMO, the best choice would be to match the Contis you already have with a pair for the front, unless you sell your current Contis and go for a matched set of another tire, as you suggested. FWIW, there seems to be a decent market here (Regina, SK) for used winter tires, but sets of 4 seem to get best value. Just my $0.02...

 

I've decided to go for a new set of snow tires. I've been looking for Bridgestone Blizzak WS70 (or WS60). Is it a good/best choice?

215/55R17 (front) and 225/55R17 (rear)
or
225/55R17 (front) and 235/55R17 (rear)

Which combo will be best considering snow/ice traction, over/under steering, weight distribution and overall vehicle balance?

Thanks.

 

Blizzaks are good tires but, personally, I would look to other brands first, notwithstanding the fact I have a set of them for my FX35. Why? Because their special winter tire rubber compound (microcell?) is only the first 50% or so of tread depth. Once that's worn away you have an all-season compound with a winter tire tread pattern.

FWIW, I'm far more impressed with the Kumho KW19 tires (unstudded) we have on our G35x than I am with the Blizzaks on the FX35. The tire I'd look at if I were in the market today is the General Altimax Arctic (unstudded), but I like what I read about Continental's ExtremeWinterContact tires as well - but its winter tire compound runs out at 50% the same as Blizzaks.

Just my $0.02.

 

Either of those BS WS's are a very good winter tire. If you want to maintain a good responsive steering feel you should look at the BS LM series instead.
It all depends on if you drive in a lot of snow and thus performance is out the window any way. If that's the case then go with WS. If the roads are usually bare, consider LM's. LM's also cost more.

I'm guessing you have staggered wheels and that's why you are selecting different front and rear tire sizes. You do not have to put different tire sizes on staggered wheels. If you put the same size rubber on all four wheels, you will be able to have a tire shop remove and rotate the rubber for you when necessary. 4 the same are also easier to sell used if that should arise.
For example, I have 4 - X-Ice Xi2, 225/50R18 winter tires mounted on my staggered OEM G37S wheels which are 7.5" and 8.5" wide.

EDIT
BS WS70 215/55R17 can be mounted on 6 to 7.5" width wheel
BS WS70 225/55R17 can be mounted on 6 to 8" width wheel

 

I went with a square setup with Conti EWC. They're asymmetric and nondirectional so I could do a full rotation.

I think the 50% is moot because at that tread depth, most winters are useless in the snow, even if it did have winter compound.

 

Interesting to note Rossei has 2 choices (both 17"), for his Sport-Tuned '07 Coupe. That means his summers are staggered 19", so clearly the 17" will be mounted on a different set of wheels. As did rpm&my_G35 and flyz, Tire Rack says non-staggered winter tires are fine even if your summers are staggered (http://blog.tirerack.com/blog/bmws-a...d-sizes-or-not).

TR suggests 225/50-17 front and 235/50-17 rear in their configurator, but if you go non-staggered I'd pick the rear size to minimize speedometer error. Unfortunately, TR doesn't list any winters in that size, but 215/55-17 is almost exactly the same diameter, widely available and probably lower cost as well - and the narrower tread is actually a benefit in the winter.

BTW, Tire Rack has very good ratings for the General Altimax Arctic, and that tire will be on sale (25% off regular price) at Canadian Tire starting Friday, October 19.

To answer the unasked question, I don't work for or own stock in either Canadian Tire or General Tire.

 

You're right. My summers are OEM 19" staggered and I've been using Hankook Ventus V12 evo since this May.

I do have staggered wheel set for winter of 17" size. It will be my 3rd winter with G35. I really struggled the first as I had used Bridgestone tires (probably All-Season) at back and new Nankang snow tires at front. And the winter of 2010 was brutal. I bought a pair of ContiWinterContact 810S last winter for the rear and it barely snowed (moreover I lived in Toronto).

Now I'm back in Sarnia, ON. If it's going to be snowy winter; we'll get lots of it. It gets slushy as well and doesn't get cleaned up like in any other big city. And everyone around drives a truck here; so no one cares much.

The one thing that's bothering me now is the tread life of WS70. If it's as mild as previous winter; I'll just use up the tread life. I'm hearing that WS70 may not even pass 2 seasons. Is that just overwhelming or fact? If it's good for at least 2 seasons no matter what; I'll probably go with that.

I've never used studded tires (are they allowed in Ontario?). GT Altimax Arctic: I didn't see any sale in CT site yet.

I live by the border. I already have a price quote of $700/set for WS70 in Port Huron, MI, USA and $920/set from Tires23 (Mississauga) including tax and mounting. None of them has GT though.

I came from a sub-tropical country to Canada in 2005 and I've been driving since 2008. Seriously, I still don't know much about winter tires.

Thanks to everyone who are putting thoughts into it.

 

I guess I'll choose one from the following:

1. BS Blizzak WS70 (Studless)
2. Michelin X-ice Xi2 or Xi3 (Studless)
3. GT Altimax Arctic (Studded)

And if I want to rotate my tires for the next winter, what size do I pick up for my winter wheels (R17):
225/55 or 215/55for all 4???
The OEM sizes are 235/50 (rear) and 225/50 (front) for R17.

 

Typically you want the narrower snow tire.
A narrow tire will cut through the snow better. A wide tire will want to 'snow shoe' or float more and cut less.
I don't think you have told us how wide your widest 17" winter wheels are. If they are 6" to 7.5" wide then buy the 215/55's.

BS WS70 215/55R17 can be mounted on 6 to 7.5" width wheel
BS WS70 225/55R17 can be mounted on 6 to 8" width wheel

 

I can't really comment on the WS70, but certainly winter tires do wear faster when the weather is warm. I'm in Saskatchewan, so that's not an issue here in the winter! I will say that my Blizzak DM-V1 tires appear to wear faster than any winter tire I have previously owned - but I can't back that up with any objective data, and it could be as much about the vehicle as anything else.

I don't believe Ontario allows studded tires, but I could be wrong. They're legal here and, while I had studded tires on a minivan a few years ago, I believe the current generation of studless winter tires is plenty good, and I would only go for studs if I expected to be doing a lot of driving on ice - lots of ice. IMO, the additional noise isn't worth the incremental improvement studs provide for ice, while the stopping distances on ice-free pavement are actually increased. While the GT Altimax Arctic can be studded, if I was buying them I would not have studs installed. The Kumho KW19 winters on our G35x are studdable, but we never had the studs installed and I think they're better than the Blizzak DM-V1 tires on the FX35.

As I indicated in my post yesterday, the GT Altimax Arctic goes on sale @ CT tomorrow (Friday, October 19) for 25% off the regular price. I get advanced notice of upcoming sales and can get an early peek at the flyer before it's more broadly available to the general public.

 

Here are the outside diameters for the 4 sizes:
225/50-17: 25.9" O.D.
235/50-17: 26.3" O.D.
215/55-17: 26.3" O.D.
225/55-17: 26.7" O.D.

As you can see, the 215/55-17 is 26.3" O.D., the same as the OEM rear size - that's why I suggested that size. Being 20 mm narrower will also help with snow and ice traction, and they'll be a lot cheaper than 235/50-17 winters.

 

Since my winter wheels aren't with me, stocked with my dealer in Mississauga; I really don't know the actual width of the wheels. I'll try to find and choose tires, thanks for all your info.

I came across Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 in one our local dealers here in Sarnia. They have only one size 225/50R17 available which cost same as Blizzaks in Mississauga.

Well, I know hi-perf winter tires will not perform as good as dedicated winter tires. But since Tirerack ranks them so high (#1) and Michelin itself doesn't rank them so well; it got me interested. I guess tires like these would be a compromise between snow/ice performance and summer-like handling. Also the tread pattern doesn't seem like a winter tire other than it's asymmetric side.

 

They are capable of performing as good as standard snow tires. It depends on the tire make.
Most of the added cost of a performance winter tire is due to providing equal winter tire attributes while providing stiffer sidewalls for handling.