It's that time again... need winter wheels/tires!
 

Hey -

I live in NJ, and need to have some kind of winter tire to put on my 05 G coupe, which is equipped with the OEM 19s. I figure that the lack of Brembos means that I can do a 17" wheel. I'm not worried so much about dry performance, but I do need to be able to commute in 2-8" of snow (which is typical December to Feb).

Any suggestions? I've done some searches, but there's not single good option. Do I go with no stagger and live with the traction contol being off, or have to get a staggered set? Do I need 7" wide, 7.5", 225/50 or 225/55, what sizes? Can anyone school me in this area?

Thanks so much!

I had to do a lot of research in this area, since I live in Montreal, and as you can guess, we get a LOT of snow over here. When I first bought the car back in Nov of 2003, it came with Michelin high performance summers, so I had to slap some winters on the rims real fast. I ended up buying the Pirelli Winter 210's. Bad move. I was slipping and sliding all over the place, and the
traction control did nothing for me... So I did some research, and ended up buying some used 17" OEM rims off of eBay (which cost me a pretty penny). As for tires, I bought some Dunlop SP WInter Sport M3s, great move. They stuck like glue. I think the combination of moving down to 17's plus these great tires were the ideal solution. Remember, you need lots of tread in order to dig deep into the snow. I don't care what anyone says, 18's/19's on low profiles jsut cannot cut it in those areas with high snow fall, and I am living proof of that...my setup works for me, finally !!! And to think that I almost sold the car after it's poor handling that winter....

Neil

Thanks, Neil, for that info. Another user also recommended the M3s. I was originally considering the less expensive Dunlops, but the M3s seem to have a huge increase in performance without compromising snow/slush traction. I'm not going to be racing around this winter, but it will be nice not to have to granny it around the off ramps when the temp dips below 30F!

I have to start looking for a set of winter wheels/tires. What do you guys think about going with all-season tires for my winter setup. I'm thinking this might give me better overlap as the seasons in Minnesota are pretty unpredictable. I mean the temp here can drop in Nov. but not necessarily snow heavily until Dec or Jan.

I'm not sure how effective winter tires are on dry roads, but cold weather. Anybody have some insight to this? Or, can you direct me to an article that breaks this all down?

I'll be using Dunlop M3s this winter as well...

I bought OEM 17" coupe rims and Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50's (used 3mm spacer for the fronts to clear the brembos). The snow traction was outstanding! I put about 2000 miles on this setup driving around Dayton, OH last winter. The tires looked like they had just worn off the little nubs that you see on brand new tires. Very little wear.

If you're going to do more highway (dry) miles you might want to consider Bridgestone's LM-22's. These were designed for sportier cars so they have stiffer sidewalls and the compound is more resilient to wear. The tradeoff is that they don't quite grip as well as the WS-50s.

I would not ever mess with all seasons. I drove a FWD grand prix with all season tires for 5 years in Montana. My G35c with snow tires is much more capable than the grand prix ever was in the snow. If you can afford a dedicated set of winter tires, don't mess around with anything but real winter tires. The extra grip and security is worth it - even if you have to change tires every 2-3 winters instead of every 3-4...