Working with winter tires
 

So I'm thinking of getting winter tires for my commute. The problem is that I don't have a great way to move four tires around. Can you even fit four tires in the 7ES trunk?

So if I get four winter tires and swap them at your tire shop each year, how do you do the swap? Lets assume you have no other car to move the tires around.

Buy four steel rims to mount the winter tires on. A lot of tire shops offer storage for a small fee, so they can store your regular tires during the winter season, and vice versa.

No, you can’t fit four tires in the trunk, but you can fit all four in the back seat.

I can fit 3 18" tires in the trunk and I put one in the back seat. Mine is a 300h.

I highly recommend you get four 17" steel rims dedicated for the snows. In the long run it's so much easier than having to get 4 tires changed TWICE per year ($$). Tire Rack will ship the entire setup directly to your house so you don't even have to move them. This assumes you swap them yourself.

It also saves wear and tear on the tires from yearly remounting and you don't have to get them rebalanced.

Its also a good time to check the brake pads, the sliding pins, and I like to "wiggle" the rotors to make sure they are not freezing to the hub.

so I apologize for being such a rube, but how are you wrapping your tire so that you don’t leave marks all over the inside of your car? Asking for someone with the macadamia leather option (lol)

I see; this makes a lot of sense. I was thinking that changing the tire twice a year would really add some stress to those sidewalls. I wonder if they sell steel rims that don’t look like spare tire donuts.

i would not be able to change them myself, though. I live on a hill and there aren’t very many flat road surfaces around my house where the change could be made. I’m also not super excited to loosen and tighten all those lugs after some jack hole at the dealership has overtightened them. I’m sure I could find a mobile service dude to come, bring his own jack, and do the swap, but honestly I feel like after a few years I’m gonna get someone that compresses my pinch welds or otherwise jacks the car in a subtly uncareful way, leaving me with annoying squeaks and slowly emerging problems. Living on a hill might nix any mobile person coming to do the swap also, anyway.

under those circumstances, do I do the schlep to the tire shop, with the rims?

Buy a set of 4 tires and Rims. Find a tire shop that stores them for you. In Canada most Toyota and Lexus dealers store the tires. You just book an appointment, go in and they do the rest; oh and then you pay them.

If you don't want to pay the storage fees then they will bag the wheel and tires and place them in your trunk and car. I did that with my ES 300h for few seasons.

I sure hope he is just joking!

These are two reasons I prefer to change the tires out myself. I hate it when the wheels get overtightened or worse lugs stripped out and I know more than once person who has experienced damaged pinch welds. I like the idea of a facility storing the tires for you, I never heard of that around here. Your only other option is to throw a blanket on the back seat and use as much trunk space as possible for transporting them, but I still would lobby for separate rims.

I would not be bashful and would suggest asking the tire shop to torque wheels properly and ask politely to be careful lifting so there is no damage.

When I have moved wheels and tires around in the past, I put each into a large hefty garbage bag to keep everything else, including my hands, clean.
In discussing winter tires for my new ES, the salesman at the tire shop I deal with (family owned; 4th generation; always friendly and helpful advice) said that if I buy winter tires, they will store the other set for me, and switch them back and forth any time I want. It's just another free service they offer, and I may take them up on that.

What's the nature of your commute? If you're only "thinking" about winter tyres as a possibility, it suggests it's not too bad.

If so, then have you considered all seasons? Good ones are rated for snow and work equally well in the summer. I have Cross Climates that have got me up and down snowy mountains in Germany, and snow a foot or more deep on the flat. They work just as well in heavy rain, as well as in hot summers, and are quiet and comfortable without the cost of extra wheels, storing them, and changing over twice a year.

They're not everyone but, depending on thee length and nature of the winters you face, and your commute, they can be a good solution for some.

I would suggesting googling "cross climate tire vs dedicated snow tire" and see what you get for answers. Hopefully there is a general consensus that might help.

Is there a specific amount of torque to be applied to a stock 7ES? I wish I could give them specifics. **** I'd buy a torque wrench myself to make sure they torqued it properly, if I knew how much was expected.

As I understand it, the general consensus is that if you can spare the money, the dedicated snows are superior. I've seen multiple reviews saying that snow tires are superior or equivalent to getting AWS on your car. Would you disagree with that position?

I'm driving down badly plowed country roads in light snow, and there are ditches on one or both sides of the road - I definitely do not want to slide into the ditch. There are a few hills that can be problematic in ice, also. I feel like snow tires would suck on the highway, so I'd change them out for all seasons as soon as I could, but that seems the best I can do.