Which winter tires?

[wrx650]

I agree with DemonWRX. I live in Cleveland and had all seasons for one winter and they weren't that good at all. This past winter I got the general altimax arctic setup he mentioned and they were awesome. I couldn't believe the difference. They were great in the snow, slush, etc, and they were a great value.

[2012-WRX-PBP]

I got my Blizzack lm60's put on earlier this month. They have a really nice ride, not boaty by any means, and my buddy has them and has made it three winters with 'em so far. We haven't had any snow as of yet, but it looks like we'll be getting some this weekend. I'll keep you posted on how they perform in the snow.

[Ikana]

Thanks everyone,

I ordered a set of the general altimax arctic's from TireRack. Looking forward to some great winter traction!

[wrx650]

Great choice. Did you get new wheels too or are you going to use the oem ones?

[Ikana]

I didn't get new wheels, so yeah I'm going to use the oem wheels. I didn't really want to deal with the TPMS stuff, and it seemed like it was going to be more expensive to go with a 16" wheel/tire combo. Perhaps I will consider this for a future winter, but considering that last winter I had FWD, no ABS or traction control and cheap all season tires, I expect this to be a pretty dramatic improvement. I'm planning on driving into a tire place, paying them to mount the tires and storing the oem tires in the basement until the spring. When the oem tires are done for I'm planning on getting some nice summer tires. I've got 14k miles on the car so far. Hard to believe, I've only had the car around 6 months. It's been a workhorse.

[2012-WRX-PBP]

Same here! I've had it about 6 or 7 months and have 15K racked up already

[wrx650]

Keep in mind that after a couple seasons, the mounting fees for going back and forth will really start to add up.

[rage-wrx]

Most places charge about $100 to mount & balance tires. So you are looking at paying $200/ year for the change over. Having 2 sets of tires( if you have some place to store the second set) seems like the cheaper option. Also, tire rack mounts & balances the tires on the wheels of you choice for free & you preserve your OEM wheels.

[wrx650]

Yep. That'y why I bought a set of steelies from tire rack.

Most places charge about $100 to mount & balance tires. So you are looking at paying $200/ year for the change over. Having 2 sets of tires( if you have some place to store the second set) seems like the cheaper option. Also, tire rack mounts & balances the tires on the wheels of you choice for free & you preserve your OEM wheels.

[Ikana]

If you add in the cost of new TPMS sensors and the added cost of the wheels that's around $300 over just buying 17" tires. It'd take a year and a half or so to go through that, and with as much driving I'm doing I'm not sure how much longer I can expect the tires to last, so I'd just as soon not have the hassle. Maybe for my next set of winter tires.

[jimbo058]

Hankook Winter iPike W409's and Gislaved Nordfrost 5's are also great snow tires that I have used with success. The Discount Tire store here finally got a TPMS programming tool that works, you just have to schmooze them to take the time and reset the ECU every time you change tires from summer to winter. The tire store is not supposed to release any vehicle that has the TPMS warning light on, as it is a safety violation. The tire industry has some catching up to do on this issue.

[AmateurX]

If you add in the cost of new TPMS sensors and the added cost of the wheels that's around $300 over just buying 17" tires. It'd take a year and a half or so to go through that, and with as much driving I'm doing I'm not sure how much longer I can expect the tires to last, so I'd just as soon not have the hassle. Maybe for my next set of winter tires.

I took basically the same route as you did. Bought the Arctics for my stock wheels, (mostly because I didn't have the $ for new wheels). I ran that way for about 4 rotations and the price for swapping got progressively more expensive. Started at $90 per, and eventually escalated to $140 per swap. At that point I bought a set of 17" summer wheels and had the tires swapped one last time. I still went with the TPMS because I'm paranoid I'll be stranded up north with a flat because I didn't check my pressure.
I'm very satisfied with my Arctics although the do tend to slip at WOT shifting from 1-2, on dry pavement.

One thing I note, that wasn't mentioned earlier, Michigan doesn't allow studs.


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[rage-wrx]

IOne thing I note, that wasn't mentioned earlier, Michigan doesn't allow studs.

Then what are you doing there?

[AmateurX]

Then what are you doing there?

LOL! Have you seen MI in the summer? It's gorgeous! Not to mention,the roads are bad enough as it is, we don't need studs making it worse.

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[mycologist]

I see the OP has made his choice.

I'd still like to add however that winter performance tires can actually be very good in the snow and yet have excellent performance characteristics on clear roads (wet or dry). Someplace like MI they should be a top consideration if you want to have any fun on the (many) days the streets are at least plowed. I'd only consider straight winter tires if there is a lot of snow and a lot of hills. My Pirelli Sottozero II also have worn fairly long (in spite of having run them extensively at high speed in hot weather one summer) and the winter performance is only slightly squishier/less grippy than a top end all season would be in the summer.