Hohlraum

I live in st. louis, mo.. its really hard to explain the weather here. I'd say its mostly dry roads in the winter but we get heavy snow and freezing rain off and on throughout the winter months. I've got the wheels/tires on my car mentioned in my signature. I've still got my OEM Chrome 17's with wheels but I don't trust anything bigger than a 16 for winter.

What do you guys suggest as far as a tire make/model. Also what about wheel width? I've seen everything from 6.5-7.5 on tirerack for 16" wheels. I've heard that for winter driving the narrower the tire the better.

thoughts?

Let me modify my original question a bit. I am looking for make/model of a good 16" tire that I can use for both winter use AND road trips year round. So I'm guessing that would fall into the Grand Touring type of tire, with above average snow/ice performance.

Murph

I like Blizzaks on all 4 corners with a couple of bags of sand in the trunk. The narrower stock 16 tire is good. It puts more traction /bite into the snow as the weight of the car is distributed over a smaller area. You will lose handling and cornering limits so be careful. You will not get stuck.

I hate winter

twenty1

i just got some BFG g-force kdws' put on my 4 last week. i'm up here in Minneapolis. it was way too early to put snow tires on, so i'm trying the all seasons. from what i hear, in both reviews, and talking to people, is that they are a really good snow tire. the worst snow tire would perform better than them, but they are still supposed to be a good all season tire. i have 17" and got a set of 4 for 500 bucks at tirerack. any more ?'s, let me know.

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

I've been running 225/50-16 Pirelli Wintersport 210's on 16" Lexus take-off wheels from Tire Rack. They have been FANTASTIC as far as being able to get around with no problem. The difference is unbelievable between the winter tires and the summer stock tires (Bridgestone RE030's). I hear Blizzak's are just as good.
However, I just put on a set of (4) Michelin Pilot Sport A/S (all-season) last week, hoping that they'll get me farther into the winter before I have to swap for the winter wheels/tires. Jury is still out on the snow performance of the Michelins, but they get high marks in the Tire Rack user feedback for snow traction, and they've been an excellent improvement over the stock Bridgestones so far, they handle way better in the dry.

I would say if you tend to have snow problems a lot in the winter time, get separate wheels/tires, but if it's really minimal, maybe all-seasons are the way to go.

I hate winter too, Murph.

2SAVVY

I'll second the opinion on the Pirelli Winter 210 (225/55/16) on dedicated rims as the best solution for winter driving.. If you don't get a great amount of snow in a year you can get away with 17" snows..

Hope that helps!

oldguy

My experience with my 98 GS400 was Blizzack's on take-off Lexus wheels from Tire Rack. Tires were 225/60/16. Like driving on marbles when roads were wet or dry. Quite good in snow.
Have a 01 Gs430 now and did not have snows last winter. Just the stock goodyears in 16's. A problem only rarely. Have a LSD now and may go with Michelin pilot a/s and see what happens. They are claimed to work fine in a few inches of snow. (by Michelin, as reported by Tire Rack). Plowing is pretty good most of the time, and so much of my winter driving is still not deep snow.

Hohlraum

Added some additional comments to my original post.