I know that with a good set of snow tires the G35X would be unstoppable here in the North East. My question is- Can I reasonably get away with all season tires in the snow? Anyone have any experience with Cooper CS4's in snow? These came on the car and look relatively new.

 

I have used a couple of different "all season" tires on my 06X and I can't see any reason to use snow tires unless you're going off road. The cops had the street closed close to my house that my street T's into and they didn't want to let me go up it but I talked them into it because it's AWD. Went right up it with a little gas and I watched the cop watching me all the way up..........shaking his head. I think you'll be fine with all season, I live in SLC so we pretty much have same conditions you do.

 

Thanks for the feedback ddpack. I've never owned an AWD before and don't know what to expect. I have dedicated snows on my maxima but I've still had a few sphincter puckering experiences.

 

if you had snows on FWD car, the g35x on good-thread all seasons should perform just about the same as that. Maybe the maxima was a little better.

I've ran the all-season tires that came with the car in the chicago winters, i have some slipping here and there but overall it was better then my maxima on all-season yokohama avids. I want to put snow tires on my X but the dealership gave me almost brand new no name tires. So i'm going to use them down to like 50% thread or so.

 

Well, this will be my first winter in my x but i think i will go for the best. I want this car to blow me out of the water with it's winter performance. Besides, i live in northern utah at 4600ft. I used to get more snow in NE Ohio where i am from but there they understood what a plow was. Here in Utah, at least my town, their snow removal plan is wait till it melts. That can take weeks and with frequent trips up canyons to go skiing i want performance. So, from what i have read Michelin X-ice X2's are ther best rated winter tire going. So, winter here we come!

 

You'll miss the braking/turning performance of snows if you go all season. AWD doesn't help you STOP.

 

Cooper CS4s came on my 05 RWD and they got me through snow OK. It would probably be much better on an AWD. You should be fine.


We ran 4 winters on some all seasons on our 04 X, it was just fine lol.

 

Although I do have a 6mt sedan now that requires snow tires in Colorado - My experience with my AWD Audi A6 was that a good all-season tire will get you anywhere. If you are worried about traction on ice you can always have the tires siped for about $10 a tire. I have siped all my tires including a set of MTR's on my Avalanche and have over 35k miles on them now.

 

Thanks for all the input guys. I already spent a wad on new rims and summer tires, 235/50-17 Yokahama S Drive. It just seems a shame to throw away a set of tires with a lot of tread left and go in hock for another $400-$500 if I don't need to.

 

Well, that is why you have a summer set and a winter set. What did you do with your original rims?

When i buy my snow tires i will leave them on my stock 17's and when spring rolls around i will get a new set of 18's or 19's. That way i will have summer wheels and winter wheels that i only have to swap out myself when the weather changes.

 

my Pilot Sport All Seasons worked wonders last winter in the snow. i go to vermont every weekend during the season and they worked great. im sure snowtires would be better but for All Seasons they got the job done. there a pretty penny though.

 

i was driving on falken all seasons last winter without any problems. a few times i had trouble stopping until the abs kicked in.

 

I ran the original Goodyear all-seasons last year without a prob. I drove through deep snow up hills and the car was extremely confident in the snow. It was easier to drive AWD with all-seasons than RWD with snows (what i've driven the last 10 years)

However, like said before, snow tires STOP better than all-seasons.

 

Can you drive all winter long with all season tires - absolutely. Are you going to be safer putting on winter tires - no question. I bought a set of Blizzaks last winter and when you combine the grip of a winter tire with the AWD and traction control, the car felt like it was on rails.
Just think of it this way: Spending $500-$900 on winter tires is still cheaper than the insurance premium charges for getting into an accident.

 

Canuck,
I agree with the Blizzak assesment. I have Blizzaks on my wifes '05 Maxima. If money were no object I would throw them on my stock rims and forget about it. I guess I'm trying to talk myself into delaying the purchase of the snow tires for one season.
Thanks again to all who have contributed their experiences.