1. Brand and model?

2. Since they are staggered, how about rotation?

3. Anybody changed to a high-performance all-season, for the people in the northeast US?

 

Bridgestone Potenza RE050A

Can't

N/A - I'm in Phoenix, there's more than 1 season?

 

You can rotate side-to-side, right?

 

No the tires are directional.

 

Are you sure? It looks to me like they are Asymmetrical.

 

^^^ +1 on questions 1 and 2.
To your third question though... I have a wheel set with snow tires for winter here in the MidWest. Small price to pay for enjoying high-performance rubber 9 months of the year.

 

Or asymmetrical

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....Potenza+RE050A

 

Yea, sorry about the spelling! I was correcting it while you were typing!

Asymmetrical means that you have an "inside" and an "outside". They can rotate either way.

 

Just couldn't pass that easy one up..
I included that link to TireRack.com because it does state that the tire is asymmetrical... regardless of the spelling.

 

No rotation -- no side to side either (directional)
This is clearly mentioned in the owner's manual.

 

You can dismount the tire and move to the other side. Which is actually better anyway. If the inside or outside is wearing and you simply remove wheel and bolt it on the other side, unless your alignment is way off on the other side you'll get a similar wear pattern. Therefore it's almost not worth rotating unless you dismount and put the dirty side of the tire "out" on the other side. That will cost you about $100 each time though.

 

You absolutely cannot do this, because the tire is asymmetrical. There is an "inside" of the tire and an "outside"!!!

 

none of this applies to the x does it? i assume all 4 tires are the same and i can do a normal rotation.

 

The owner's manual states:

"Tire rotation (18-inch tire models)

Tires cannot be rotated on this vehicle, as front tires are a different size from rear tires and the direction of the wheel rotation is fixed for each tire."

 

A/S will be sub-par. If you want to get to your destination safely, get yourself a winter set mounted on a separate set of wheels.