Not all all-season tires are alike

[audtatious]

For those with Sport packages it can be a tad challenging to find a set of low-priced tires that will handle all seasons while still allowing for decent traction and handling. When I purchased the '07 G35 sedan for my wife on the used car market it needed new tires on it. I consulted with my local infiniti shop and they suggested Hankook Ventus V4's as a summer and light-medium snow tire. Well, they work quite well as a summer tire on dry or wet pavement, but are pretty bad as a winter-season tire. In other words, they are probably not much better than the Hankook V12's I have on my coupe. So, as the coupe is a "keep it in the driveway if there is any chance of snow" vehicle, I must rely on the sedan for driving in the snow. The quest began.

Weather here is relatively mild in comparison to the north. We do get snow a few times or more a year, usually no more than a couple inches on the roads is normal. So, a dedicated snow/winter tire is not really needed. What I really need is a true all-season that does its job. I also don't want to break the bank this close to Christmas. So, off to TireRack I went and started looking through tire surveys to see how good the tires are in different conditions. Some were good in dry and rain, some in rain and not dry, some in both but horrible in snow. Prices varied from way too damn expensive to "that's kinda cheap". To keep the story short, and because Mike linked me to them, I did find what seems to be a tire that can handle my needs. The Continental ExtremeContact DWS has good ratings on dry, wet, and light to medium snow. AND, they don't break the bank (Less than $700 out the door with shipping). While this vehicle comes with a staggered setup I decided to go with 245-45's all the way around instead of the 225-50/245-45 factory setup. Yes, I'm aware the speedometer will be a tad off.

The Hankooks will be stored and may be swapped back on once spring comes back. They do well as a summer tire and I'm not going to waste the money I have invested in them. I'm hoping these Conti's solve the problem. They should be here by the end of the week so I guess I'll find out soon enough.

[kmckis1029]

did you look into some Toyo Versado LX? i had them on my 2005 g35x and as soon as these tires go on my 2010 ill will be going right back to them.

[audtatious]

I didn't see any specific reviews on it that I could compare with. They are also $200 more than the Conti's.

I get more snow than you do down in Middle GA. If I still lived down there I would be happy with the Ventus V4's

[telcoman]

I'm on my third set of Bridgestone 235-45-18 Turanza tires.
Even the S/A at the dealer commented that just looking at the ratings one would not think you could get 50k miles out of them rotating them every 5 - 6k miles.
If the snow is not too deep they are ok but I did get stuck once last winter on an unplowed street after a 20" snowfall.
I'm happy with them

Telcoman

[WAldenIV]

I love my Yokohama AVID TRZs. They are 10x better than the OEM Goodyear Eagle RS-As.

[SVTCOBRA]

Have the DWS on my 04 coupe. Wanted something that would handle the occasional snow. Softer sideways that my S-Drives.....miss my Yokos.... Haven't had a snow yet to test them, but was also considering the Yoko ENVigors.
That's what I put on my daughter's 00 Max this summer and she has been driving around in the snow covered mountains of NC without any problems (knock...knock).
Her Avids did her well last winter which was the harshest in years! And, she does get out and drive in the stuff!!!

Our 08 G35X (bought used) came with new Traction T/A's and they were very impressive in last years snows.
Might go with Yoko's when they wear out though.
Let us know how the DWS's do in the snow. Hoping to get some snow this week here and will test out mine if we do.
THe S-drive's were scary in the snow! Did not leave the street!!

[audtatious]

Thus far, since owning Nissan products, the only tire I've ever owned that did well in snow were the old Sumitomo HTR+ which are not sold anymore (and only lasted about 15k miles). I had lots of fun with those tires in 3-4" of snow about 6 years ago. Factory Nissan/Infiniti tires sucked (Bridgestone RE92's on the Maxima and the RE050A's on the coupe). Kumho ASX's did decent on the Maxima but not as good as the Sumitomo. Yoko DB S2's, also considered all-season, were suggested via TireRack and those almost got me killed in light snow. The Hankook V12's are summer only on the coupe and then there's the S4's which suck on the sedan.

I'm hoping to find at least one tire that will work properly.

[Fezzik]

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH the RE92's the deathmakers. You know Bud up in Indy in his wrx had RE92's on and total his WRX back in the day with those tires on.

I had the toyo proxies 4 on my max and it did great through the snow. Went through 2 minneapolis winters with them without a hitch. I even went up to really north part of canada during winter for my honeymoon in the max. Snow was halfway up the bumper and they plugged right through.

[zozoka1212]

My wife has Pirelli 4 on her car for over 3 years. The thing still looks new. She went thru 3 winters and this would be the 4th one. Still have about 7/32 left if not more. Probably would be more if I did not take out every winter for parking lot fun. LOL I think these tires are awesome. Not sure what size they have.

On my 07X had the oem tire for about 13k miles and they needed to be replaced. Got Falcon 912. They were good but nothing special and down to 5/32 they were sliding on the dry road when I floored it. Which I did not mind. Life was pretty much same as the oem tires.


On my 08 I needed new tires just like on my 07 around 14k miles. Got Dunlop signature. I've read the review on it and it said it did not handle deep snow well. I still bought them anyways. I never had tire last long as these will. I already have about 14k on them and they are at 7-8/32. This is my second winter with them. We had snow last year but not as much as usual. I took the car up when we went to ski few times last season. No issue in th deep snow. Also this year we alread have few inches on the ground and handles great after 14k on them. Went up North last week when they had 12" coming down and no traction issue. It lets me slide at turn just a little on the rear but the X corrects it and in snow mode there is no slide at all.

Out of the few tires I've been with the last couple of years include my wifes cars. I think by far the Pirelli 4 is the best.

[audtatious]

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH the RE92's the deathmakers. You know Bud up in Indy in his wrx had RE92's on and total his WRX back in the day with those tires on.

Yeah, even in the rain I drove with white knuckles. They were horrible. Still, I had them on for 42k miles somehow

[audtatious]

On my 08 I needed new tires just like on my 07 around 14k miles. Got Dunlop signature. I've read the review on it and it said it did not handle deep snow well. I still bought them anyways. I never had tire last long as these will. I already have about 14k on them and they are at 7-8/32. This is my second winter with them. We had snow last year but not as much as usual. I took the car up when we went to ski few times last season. No issue in th deep snow. Also this year we alread have few inches on the ground and handles great after 14k on them. Went up North last week when they had 12" coming down and no traction issue. It lets me slide at turn just a little on the rear but the X corrects it and in snow mode there is no slide at all.

With the X you at least have some additional ability. With the standard G35s it will bog down very quickly and simply go nowhere. Once traction control starts slowing you down you are screwed as it will strand you. Granted, without it you will probably push the butt out into a ditch.

[zozoka1212]

True true. Than your best bet is the Nokian WR G2. These are all weather tires and beat a lot of winter tires in winter. also excellent in summer and rain.

[audtatious]

Nokian WR G2's are around $280 ea. Way more than I wanted to spend on a set of tires for light snow use.

[SVTCOBRA]

Consumer Reports rates the DWS the same as Michelin Pilot Sport A/S plus with a score of 80 (3rd & 4th in the list) at almost half the price of the Pilot.
But,they rate the DWS tire wear as fair and the Michelin as excellent.
Number 1 is Pirelli P Zero Nero A/S with a score of 82.
Number 2 is Sumitomo HTR A/S PO1 with a score of 82
THis was in the UHP A/S category

[audtatious]

Interesting to know.

I had the Sumitomo HTR+ on my 2k2 Maxima and I loved that tire....If I overlook the two flat tires (the only time I've every had to deal with flats in the 27 years I've been driving), how unsafe they were after 15k highway miles (still lots of tread left) and that I had sworn never to own another set.