[Dave Z]

Hello there!

I'm new to the forum so hopefully I'm posting correctly. I bought a used 2013 Limited Hatchback this summer and love the car! I need to get some winter wheels with all-season tires for it to take it up to the slopes. Right now it's rolling on the stock wheels and summer tires (which will perform like hockey pucks in the cold). I'm looking for recommendations on cheap wheels and sturdy tires for winter abuse. What configs have you guys set up? Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks,
Dave Z

 

[dorsodurojohn]

so many threads on this subject, search should help. Welcome!

 

[Doctor Jeff]

I have Blizzaks--very happy so far, but to be honest not much snow yet to test them out!

Not as loud as I thought they would be, and a pretty smooth ride.

 

[mustwarnorcas]

If you are buying a separate whole set of rims and tires for winter then I would recommend buying dedicated snow tires. They will perform better in winter and the snow and are solely dedicated to winter driving. :thumbup:

 

[Firefighterjake]

Skip the all-seasons and go with dedicated snow tires if you're planning on buying a separate set of rims . . . I went the "cheap" option based on my past experience with General and have on General Arctics which have been great in the snow . . . on glare ice they don't work out so well without the studs . . . then again, I'm not sure anything that day without chains would have done very well.

 

[Snickers]

I think it depends where you live. I've lived in Jersey for my whole driving career and have never needed a dedicated winter tire on any of the AWD vehicles I've owned, even with early morning trips in snowstorms to the mountains or donuts in a local unplowed lot. If you live further north where you get more snow and the roads aren't cleared to black top an hour after it falls, then a dedicated winter tire might be better suited.

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[XJman]

Winter tires are always ideal in situations where you will see cold temperatures, cold temperatures and wet road surfaces, cold temperatures and snow/ice.

If you are spending the money on separate wheels for winter alone putting all seasons on the wheels is wasting your money. A winter tire will out perform an all season in every category in a winter situation. AWD is great to get you rolling, but it does squat to stop you, it doesn't do anything to increase traction available in a corner.

If you don't see much snow there are performance winter tires, but choosing a winter tire over an all season would be the way to go.

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[JPIKE420]

My mother lives on the side of Chestnut Ridge out in Westmorland County, PA, out east of Pittsburgh. She usually gets a lot of snow and she has a driveway that requires AWD or 4WD to ascend even in good weather. She has a subaru legacy wagon and a subaru forester, both of which have Nokian brand winter tires on them. I'm not sure which model she uses though they've always done really good for her on the snow and ice. I believe she has the model that is marked with the "Severe Service" Emblem but is also branded as an "All Weather" tire, instead of an "All Season" tire. Go to www.nokiantires.com and you can hunt down a dealer near you.

 

[JPIKE420]

I also agree with the others that if you're going to get dedicated wheels, go with a set of good winter tires over all seasons. I believe that the man difference between an all season and a winter tire is the composition of the rubber and that the manufacturers put some sort of silica in the rubber mix on on some winter tires. Also and I'm not entirely sure why, but when my dad bought winter tires he bought slightly narrower tires. He claimed that narrower tires were better on snow and ice than wider tires. I never really noticed a difference personally though. Maybe someone can chime in on that aspect?

 

[Snickers]

Narrow is better in snow so they cut down instead of floating on top

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[JPIKE420]

Narrow is better in snow so they cut down instead of floating on top

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Thanks Snickers for the info. I always wondered why he got narrower than normal snow tires.

 

[Vorden]

If you want a good snow tire, get the General Artimax Arctic, if you can find them, I had to wait a few weeks as they were sold out. Best bang for the buck. If you want something that does well in snow but also on pavement I suggest a performance winter tire, I wanted some Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3s but again they were sold out this time of year. Not as good in the snow as dedicated snow tires but still better than all seasons in the snow. Just my 2 cents as I spent a lot of time researching this recently. Seriously just go look at reviews on tirerack, that's what I did.