SW17LS

I'm going to hold you to this! In February when we have 3 feet of snow I'm gonna come callin'!

dseag2

We had a serious ice storm last December in Dallas and I drove my GS F Sport in Snow mode all over the place with the original Dunlaps and had no issues. You just have to drive slowly.

ZbynekZ

Winter tires are better than summer tires in temperatures below 9C (48F). And if you are in region where you have snow on the roads during winter I would strongly recommend you winter tires. All seasons are crap.

You can go slowly but if you are on snowy/icy downhill road and you want to stop your car changes into the sledge in summer tires Or try to stop and go on uphill No SNOW mode will save you. But SNOW mode is very good during winter and I am using it on snowy roads when I need lower torque and not to spin my wheels. Again WITH winter tires!

GregCanada

This guy knows what's up.

We had a huge ice storm in toronto last year. I drove my tacoma with winter tires, didn't even need to put it in 4x4 to get around (and thats with the horrible weigh balance of a pickup truck).

I enjoy having the confidence that it's going to stop or turn in a panic situation. It is a terrible feeling to be sliding in the snow towards an immovable object with no control...

SW17LS

Compared to summer tires sure, but allseason tires have a lower temp threshhold than summer tires obviously. I agree with your sentiment that dedicated summer and dedicated winter tires are best, but in the mid atlantic it just doesn't make sense. If anything we spend as much time over 45 degrees or so as we do under, so if I were on winter tires I would have compromised handling with warmer temps as muc or more than I have compromised handling with all seasons in the cold. We have in a normal to bad winter 3...maybe 4 events where the roads are snow covered. A lot of times its never. Just doesn't make sense to buy winter tires here.

ZbynekZ

Doesn't matter if it is covered by snow or not. Overall performance of all-season tire is crap. But it is for sure your choice if it is giving a sense for you or not.

I recommend you to see this:

SW17LS

What matters is temperature...and its just not cold enough here.

AL13NV8D3R

I too have a question for you guys.

I live in Tennessee but will be traveling to Michigan every other week during the winter around January till March. Should I buy a set of rims and mount winter tires to them. Or should I unmount my summer tires on my GS and mount winter tires and then unmount the winter tires and mount the summers back on in the summer? once you unmount a tire can it be remounted? Also which setup is most cost effective?

MichaelPea

I have done it both ways and actually it doesn't really seem to make much difference financially. In my '08 GS, I had 2 sets of wheels because I could just change them in the garage since the car had an A/B switch for TPMS sensors. The 13 GS doesn't have that feature so if you had 2 sets of wheels (with separate TPMS sensors), you'd probably want to go to the dealer to get the TPMS light reset anyway. And yes, you can remount tires and it's not usually a big deal. I do it every spring and autumn on several cars.

SW17LS

Thats a tough one because in TN you're going to be getting reduced performance from winter tires, but in MI they would be valuable.

The easiest thing to do is buy a set of rims, but if you only anticipate doing this one winter I would just have them mounted and unmounted. You can remount a set of tires sure.

AL13NV8D3R

Thanks guys for the prompt replies. I guess ill just get a set of rims and put winter tires on them. Since once in a while we do get ice here. I wish our GSs have the A/B switch tire pressure sensors for two sets of tires.

MichaelPea

Me too. I wasn't at the dealership as often when they did.... Then again, they have gorgeous LS F Sport that I've been eyeballin....

dseag2

The steepest road I have to commute in Dallas is the driveway up to my house, but yes you're right. The GS makes it up the icy driveway into the garage in one try, but the G37 Vert takes several. It's scary to watch

FishBike

Follow-up: I did end up getting LM-32s, and so far they seem like a very good choice for the kind of winter weather we get in Toronto. That is: cold, with dry roads much of the time, while still having ice and the occasional snowstorm to deal with as well.

Dry road handling is noticeably softer than the stock Michelin all-seasons, but still very good for a winter tire, and much better than the WS-70s I had on my previous car. I haven't noticed any tread noise at all, yet.

I've driven in snow and ice a couple of times now. Snow traction is very good (it feels like driving on gravel rather than snow) and ice traction is OK as well. Driving around the neighborhood tonight, with icy spots under a thin layer of wet snow, lots of people were having huge difficulty getting moving at intersections or just going up tiny hills, whereas I could drive more or less normally the whole time.

AWD 4GS + LM-32s = tank, it seems.

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

I 100% agree with you. I have the Lm-32 on my 19 inch Enkei wheels and they are very smooth riding tires and a bit softer then the MXM4 when its colder outside due to the compound. I keep the pressure at 30/31 psi for best balance. They are awesome in deep snow and moderate snow. They are still very good in the ice compared to the all seasons and gives me a lot of security. Your gravel analogy is correct when driving on the snow. I really can't tell that I am on a bad road sometimes. This tire is highly recommended for our cars.