Replacement Tire Recommendations

[TheOtherJeff]

I'm looking for recommendations for replacement tires for my '08 AWD with 18" wheels. The original Dunlops were great for dry pavement and OK for wet, but they really sucked in the snow (see my snow thread here: ex35-awd-in-the-snow-bad-t489106.html) and are all but gone after only 15k miles.

I want tires that will last longer, but I don't want to compromise performance much (or at all if possible :-) I drive pretty aggressively, and that's why I love this car. It's fun in the twisties. I'd also like something that will offer more confidence in the snow.

Please don't recommend getting separate snow tires. I paid the extra for AWD (and extra for the gas to haul its added weight :-), so that decision has already been made. A recent article in Car & Driver recommended passing on the AWD and using the savings to buy a set of winter wheels and tires instead. I'll strongly consider that next time.

Tire Rack has Goodyear Eagle LS's available, and I've had good results with them on my Murano and the Golf before it. They came OEM on both, so I replaced them with the same. I've read some bad reviews of those tires, but as I said, they performed well for me. They didn't last super long, but I could get 25K out of them, even with my hard driving. And they never gave me problems in the snow.

They also have a new Yokohama, the AVID ENVigor, which they refer to as a 'High Performance All-Season'. It's treadwear rating is 560 compared to the Dunolp's 340. But they're new so there aren't many reviews to read.

The Michelin HydroEdge with Green X's look interesting too. They are referred to as plain 'Passenger All-Season', and the treadwear is rated at 800, but the temp is lower, so I wonder if performance is less too.

Please offer your recommendations & experiences, keeping in mind that handling in corners is a major concern, with reasonable tread life, snow performance, and low noise a close 2nd, 3rd, & 4th.

Thanks in advance.

Jeff

[kamiguy]

Personally, I would rather have AWD with all season's than 2WD with winters all around.. my preference, though. That being said.. look at the Continental Extreme Contact DWS. They are at Tire Rack also but not sure if they are available in 225's. I have them in 235/50/18 on my EX and they seem to be well rated in all your criteria. They have tread indicators that say when they are not suitable for snow anymore. Hope this helps!

[jmess]

Winter tires with any car offer a major improvements with traction, braking, and cornering grip on snow and ice. Winter tires are like safety belts and air bags, nice to have for emergencies.

[zozoka1212]

Winter tires with any car offer a major improvements with traction, braking, and cornering grip on snow and ice. Winter tires are like safety belts and air bags, nice to have for emergencies.

It is true however winter tires don't do to good on dry cold road and wet cold road. Not talking about how noisy they can be.


So it well depends what the road conditions and weather conditions in your area. If the roads are cleaned most of the tie than a good all season tire do better thru winter. Especially with mated with awd.


Check out this article. Make sure you look at the numbers for braking in wet or dry.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/09 ... xi2_page_5

There is a good tire. Nokian WR G2.

Personally on my G I have Dunlop signature and it does a good job with my all year around drive. Better wear and really good traction in winter.

[pwlorraine]

Winter tires with any car offer a major improvements with traction, braking, and cornering grip on snow and ice. Winter tires are like safety belts and air bags, nice to have for emergencies.

It is true however winter tires don't do to good on dry cold road and wet cold road. Not talking about how noisy they can be.


So it well depends what the road conditions and weather conditions in your area. If the roads are cleaned most of the tie than a good all season tire do better thru winter. Especially with mated with awd.


Check out this article. Make sure you look at the numbers for braking in wet or dry.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/09 ... xi2_page_5

There is a good tire. Nokian WR G2.

Personally on my G I have Dunlop signature and it does a good job with my all year around drive. Better wear and really good traction in winter.

Winter tires are distinct from snow tires - like snows they have rubber compounds optimized for grip at low temperature but they have a less knobbly tread and are quieter and closer to a performance tire on clean roads. They do not have the same ability to get through deep snow but are superior to all-seasons. Michelin Pilot Alpins were winter performance tires optimized for mostly plowed highways, some black ice, and an occasional middling snow cover - like a highway in upstate NY in the winter.

I understand not wanting to spend extra money but AWD and snow tires are separate issues - awd does nothing for you in braking or steering (except a small increase in your ability to put power down in bad conditions in a curve).

Wear is an important issue - I'd hope for 25k miles on my summer tires or all-seasons while realizing that the last bit on the all-seasons will be terrible in the winter. The EX35 is a heavy and powerful car and will shred tires (just like an Audi or BMW of that size) if you drive in a "spirited" manner. The best thing you can do to fight that is (1) tire selection with a good durability, (2) keep them at the right inflation. On an older car the tires can go fast because the suspension dissipation elements (shocks or struts) are failing but your car is too young for that.

I'm not sure if you learned to drive in a snowy climate or if this is new to you. My ex (ex wife not ex35) wrecked two awd cars because she insisted on driving the same winter and summer. Every winter you can see sport utilities in ditches around here because the owners assumed awd gave them an immunity from winter.

Regarding tirerack tires - I usually don't go for the highest rated tires - I tend to look for the best price in the top quartile. They do have some really good deals. For winter tires I'd go with the Blizzak choice. For reference, we are using all-seasons on the EX35 (its my wife's car) and just driving with extra caution in the winter.

I just sold my Audi A6 2.7T which has a great all wheel drive system. With all season tires I'd slip sideways in turns occasionally - I got winter tires from the second year on as I didn't want to wreck a $50k car. Huge improvement in road holding and control. I've also got snows on my bmw vert which lacks a modern stability control - it is still a great car in bad weather even though it is just rear wheel drive.

Peter

[Jon_]

[quote="TheOtherJeff"]I'm looking for recommendations for replacement tires for my '08 AWD with 18" wheels. The original Dunlops were great for dry pavement and OK for wet, but they really sucked in the snow (see my snow thread here: ex35-awd-in-the-snow-bad-t489106.html) and are all but gone after only 15k miles.[quote]

I know this doesn't exactly answer your question but I have the Nokians (the snow tires not the all season) and they completely kick butt. The Finns know snow. I drive from Park City down to Salt Lake every day. Never a problem.

[mikemax99]

I agree with jon, I've nokian hakka5 on 17in steel wheels for the winter and i don't know where you live but for me in Quebec, i won't even consider a winter on crappy all-seasons. I also have hakka5 with studs on my fwd csx. Like others said before breaking and steering dosen't come from the awd. At 7celcius or below(approx 45F) your better with winter tire than all-seasons but if it's not an option go with something like the nokian wr. My friend ride them all year long on his mdx and it's fine. He's a sell rep on the hwy everydayand that works! Hope that helps.

[zozoka1212]

I agree with jon, I've nokian hakka5 on 17in steel wheels for the winter and i don't know where you live but for me in Quebec, i won't even consider a winter on crappy all-seasons. I also have hakka5 with studs on my fwd csx. Like others said before breaking and steering dosen't come from the awd. At 7celcius or below(approx 45F) your better with winter tire than all-seasons but if it's not an option go with something like the nokian wr. My friend ride them all year long on his mdx and it's fine. He's a sell rep on the hwy everydayand that works! Hope that helps.

Braking you are right. Steering the awd helps since all 4 of your tires gripping and pushing/pulling the car to the dirrection. Braking is much better with winters on for sure no question about it.


When do you put summers on? What month?

[pwlorraine]

In upstate NY, I typically switch to summer tire the first free weekend I find after mid-April. I switch the other way in mid-November.

Peter

[mikemax99]

Me, i've switch to summer tire mid march this year beacause of the buitiful spring we have but habitually it's from mid nov to mid april.

[TheWifesEX]

I had a terrible experience with the original Dunlops ( read about it here if you'd like more info: tire-noise-t433010.html#p5139129 ) - they were replaced before our first winter, so I never got a chance to evaluate them in the snow. Second dissapointing Dunlop experience, so looked for another brand, and at that time (about a year ago), there weren't many options - looks like there are a lot more choices now.

The Falkens we put on are fantastic in the dry and wet, but might as well be coated in Vaseline in the snow. They're "all-season performance", so they say, but were SCARY in the snow - whether it was a dusting, a few inches, or a foot. The tires were rated as the best all-season performance tire by Consumer Reports...but in their defense, they did say they weren't great in the snow - although they should have said they were disastrous.

Anyway, the price was/is good, so we took a chance, since the other car is like a snowmobile (S4 Avant with Blizzaks from November to April). I kind of regret the decision, since the EX really is completely and utterly useless in the snow - we can manage with the one car, but it's annoying to have an AWD vehicle that stays parked when it's gonna snow. Looks like some other reviews/forums have similar experience in the snow, so Falken really oughta relabel these things as max performance summers....

[AWGD8]

My Michelin Xice Xi2 still look new on my car after 2 winters. ;-) Nothing beats a dedicated winter tire. I mean a dedicated Michelin Xice Xi2. This tire won`t get bald fast like the rest of winter tires you see on the market today. I drove it all winter season from dry (even at 50 degree) or wet road.

Buy a NITTO tires for summer!