yep - the 19" are "SUMMER" tires, even says so on the sticker

They are meant for dry streets, rain... well OK, but ice and snow..... no way

 

so if u just got the OEM 17" with stock tires.. assuming those are all seasons that should be a decent set up...?? previous post...

from my experience most all reason tires... non performance handle decently in snow, as long as u are care with the throttle and know ur cars limits. i dont know about more than about 5" though. Seattle , Washington here most we ever got was like 12" and that was like 10 years ago. we get snow maybe 1-2 weeks of the year and 1-5" so it would kind suck to buy a full out winter setup for 1-2 weeks. Of course getting in an accident would be worse. but if OEM"17 will do fine i think that would be the most reasonable / economical

 

I agree with silvsurf. The stock all weather 17s do pretty good. I've been thru 6 inches here in Indy with little trouble. Had a bit of trouble in 10 inches cause it went over the top of the front bumper. Had to use the wife's Camry on that day, and it was no picnic either.

 

Just wanted to make a comment here: The all seasons are ok if you get limited snow . BUT, if you do get your share of the white stuff, "Get dedicated Winter tires" . All seasons do NOTHING for stopping on ice and snow where dedicated snows will have special rubber compounds and siping to increase your stopping and starting ability in the white stuff. My stock all seasons were pulled as soon as I got the car and will not be installed till spring.

The only downside to a dedicated snow tire is it's speed rating (it is much less than your stockers), but it is winter so adjust your driving habits. (example Blizzak WS-50). These are best in snow, but will wear rapidly in above 50F conditions.

If you want improved snow traction over your summer or all seasons but get limited snow and you don't want your speed rating cut back as much get a performance winter tire. (example Blizzak LM-22).

You can get dedicated snows from most manufacturers.

My feeling is we have nice cars ,why not get the best winter traction we can get, to protect our car, self, and others. As you can see in my sig , I have dedicated snows on my AWD, we get lots of snow and road closures in my area, and my car drives,turns, and stops in the white stuff like it was on rails.

Wayne

 

Allow me to throw in a few more comments while everyone is on the subject of all-season versus snow tires. There have been so many car tire experts harping and repeating the same thing over and over again. All-season tires are good as a winter traction tire on snow and ice for the 1st year only, by the second year you will see a noticable degrade in traction in the winter. Even though an all-season tire might carry you through 3-4 years of good use, it's winter abilities usually disappear or get greatly reduced after the first year, and that's a proven fact.

Here is another first for all you folks. Up here in the great white north (guess what the white stands for), we get a lot of snow. I looked out my window as I write this and there is at least 3-4 inches out there, and that's on a normal sunny day. It's like grass for us throughout the season. And when it snows, damn does it snow. So our local government here in the province of Quebec, and perhaps eventually across the country of Canada will be passing a law shortly.

It will be illegal, that's right, illegal to drive on anything other than snow tires. So that means if you are caught driving without snow tires, you will get a ticket, well, maybe a warning at the beginning, but it will be a punishable act. And you know what, some of you might be saying WTF, how could they impose such a law. Well, I applaud it. If you would see how many people die over here each year in the winter, it would blow your mind. Almost all traffic accidents are caused by poor traction and cars slamming into each other, or going off into ditches, or even hitting pedestrians etc...

So all that to say, we might evetually have laws over here to protect both drivers and pedestrians, but don't wait for this to happen in your state. Your life, and the life of others, not to mention your beautiful ride, are way more important than the few extra bucks you gotta spend to buy winters, even if it is for 1 day of the year of snow.....

Neil

 

unfortunately i dont have the extra cash to buy a winter setup. when there is any snow at all on the streets, my coupe stays in the garage and out comes the pile-o-junk 01 olds alero. once the streets are cleared i bring out the G again...usually a couple days after the snow stops.