What's the best winter tire for ex35?

[sashki2]

My 2 cents on tires:
Michelin X-Ice XI 2; General Altimax Arctic; Nokian Hakkapeliitta 5 rated on 1st, 2nd & 3d places respectively in Consumer Report out of about 20 tested tires in winter tires category. Nokian WR G2, Hankook Winter i*cept evo, and Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 are 1st, 2nd, and 3d placese in winter performance category. I didn't check if these tires available in sizes for EX.

[hrosenberg33]

Why settle for steel rims? I got my winter rims for $440 (4 rims) at Discounttires.com

Actually, my stock rims is the one I use for winter, since it has a TPMS sensor. You need TPMS sensor to keep you safe from changing flat tires in a freezing weather.

Fancy rims for summer without TPMS. I`m cool with that since I can be stranded with flat tires without getting frozebite!


http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direc ... vid=014094

This is a great site, but when I use their shipping calculator for Canada each wheel and tire combo costs 60 dollars x 4 = 240 US just on shipping. That doesn't include the UPS fees they like to add whenever stuff comes across the border which would likely add another 80 dollars. So off the bat we are starting at cost of wheel and tire package + 320 US. Once in a while it sucks to be Canadian (although it's mostly great! ).

HR

[EXceptional]

That's why every Garage should include a Truck... and then go on a Parts-run to the US.

I did that a few years ago... and saved so much cash to pay for my Fuel down there and then some.

[ramprun]

does anyone one which alloy wheel is the lightest out of a whole bunch from discounttiredirect.com

[hrosenberg33]

Here's a better package from TireRack.com

225/60R17 Bridgestone Blizzak WS70 with 17x7.5 moda MD9 Machined w/Black Accent, mounted, balanced, shipped and duties for: 1370.42 US (240 + 13% tax of the total is from shipping).

Here's a link to the wheel, it would be on a black car: http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/WheelClo ... howRear=no

At least this one is the same price as the dealer for the steelies with a better tire. Might jump on this if I don't see anything better.

HR

[ramprun]

what about EX stocks. is it aluminum or steel? I am just want to compare the weight of stocks and these alloy wheels to see if it is worth to buy alloy wheels for their weight saving.

[AWGD8]

does anyone one which alloy wheel is the lightest out of a whole bunch from discounttiredirect.com

I bought a 17" MB Wheels " WEAPON " gunmetal color from them. Each weighs at 17.5 IBS . They call this A-TECH in JAPAN. The one I got have A-tech name stamped inside the rim.

This is how 17" looks like on EX35, a bit more rubber, but lighter! If you go for looks get an 18" =)






but I think this one is 18"

http://forums.clubrsx.com/showthread.php?t=630374

[gkdyeung]

given that many ex35 come with base 17" tires, though alloy, may i assume winter 17" steelies will clear the brakes?
thanks

[EXceptional]

I'm gonna re-activate this Thread.

How are everyone's Winter Tires doing so far ?

Do any of you have different thoughts on your Winter Tires ?

I'm thinking of the Pirelli Winter 210 Sottozero's, but there's a guy on YouTube that says they did not last a single Winter... but then you go on TireRack and there's people that have used the same set for 4 Winters.

The guy in the Video, did not rotate his Tires... and owns a Volkswagen... which are usually very heavy on the front-end. I was told that Volkswagen's Chassis/Frames are built heavier to handle the possibility that on the Assembly Line, they may be equipped with a Diesel Engine.

He did however swap them out for Summers, when the time came to do so.

There aren't too many choices of Winter Tires for 18 inch Rims on a EX35.

[mikemax99]

2nd winter with the nokia hakka5 love them and the only other model i would like is the hakka7 w/studs

[Obsidian EX]

My Toyo G-02 plus tires worked just fine, and there is still minimal thread wear after 2 seasons.

Are they the absolute best? Probably not.

Did they perform well, without any thought for re-consideration? Absolutely!

[EXceptional]

Are you guys running 17's or 18's ?

[Obsidian EX]

Are you guys running 17's or 18's ?

17's.

Since you've just bought your wheels, it's a little hard to down size!

[AWGD8]

Reporting from Wisconsin with Michelin X-Ice Xi2

My 2nd winter using the Michelin X-ice Xi2. So far I`m very used to the car`s handling dynamic on snow now... I know the capabilities of the car with Michelin combo.

This is the worse winter season I have experienced in Wisconsin since I moved up here in 2006 (from Chicago). It seems like every week we get snow either an inch or 2 ... The last bad one was 24" thick! I don`t remember washing my car every week from those previous winter seasons. This winter, I wash my car twice a week!

Leave it in D mode if there are snow on the ground. VSC ON !

If got stuck, VSC OFF ! then rock the car FORWARD AND BACKWARD.... When the tire started to slip, then reverse the gear (vice versa)...

Remember, if the snow is as high as a ruler, don`t even think about it!

[EXceptional]

Are your Winter Tires, 17's ?

[AWGD8]

Are your Winter Tires, 17's ?

Yes, 17`s . That Michelin snow tire doesn`t wear out fast. Mine still look slightly new after 2 winter season.

[EXceptional]

OK... in another Thread I said that I bought some OEM NISSAN 18x8 Rims.

I'll be buying some Infiniti Center Caps or Blank ones, whatever fits.

There are not too many choices of Winter Tires that can fit on 18's, so I've narrowed it down to 2...

P225/55-R18 Pirelli Winter 210 Sottozero for $155.00 each

or

P225/50-R18 Michelin X-Ice Xi2 for $167.00 each

Michelin doesn't makethe X-Ice Xi2 in a 55 Series Tire... so the out-of-whack factor is about 2 mph at 60

In other words... when the OEM Size P225/55-R18 is doing 60 mph, the P225/50-R18 is doing 58 mph.

Difference in height is almost an Inch. The OEM Size is taller.

I'm leaning towards getting the Pirelli's because they are a non-directional Tire and have many of the same characteristics as the Michelins... except for the fact that the Michelin X-Ice Xi2 are a directional Tire.

It appears in another Thread discussing rotating Tires, that the EX35 prefers rotation in a X pattern... and having directional tires sort of goes against the concept of rotating them in a X fashion.

I have always been a Michelin man... and if only Michelin made a non-directional Winter Tire, I'd buy them in a heartbeat.

Mmmm... what to do, what to do?

[EXceptional]

I just discovered another Tire that is close...

P235/55 R-18 Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V1 for $148.00 each

A taller Tire by 10mm and makes you do almost one mph more over OEM.

They make a Dunlop Winter tire (Graspic DS-3) in the OEM 18 inch size... and if I thought Dunlops were so great, I'd be buying them... but I don't !

[CDNicecube]

I got 4 Hankook I Pike RW11 225/55 R18. I already had rims and tpms sensors.

I had these Hankook on since since December 15 2010. It is now March 14. We had many snow and ice storms, and all that crap we get up here in Canada. I've driven on ice, slush, and 10" of snow (packed and unpacked). Drove about 5000k (3000 miles) on the Hankook .

I can tell you they are great. They are not very noisy - about the same as the OEMs. They wear well and as they wear, they seems to be even less noisy and better on ice. Now, of course, this is my first AWD car so I can't compared other tires and perhaps the performance is mostly AWD but I can turn and stop very well with the Hankook.

FYI I got them shipped for a grand total of $688.04 C$ from http://www.tires-easy.ca (tires ONLY). Each tire was $117.18 C$, incl. taxes.

They seem to be located in the USA. (i am in Canada and they shipped here).
Supplying business: Delticom North America
1306 NW Hoyt St., Ste. 304, Portland, OR 97209

Good luck

[EXceptional]

Boy, what an ignorant Site to surf through. Either that, or I'm really stupid.

These guys should take a page from how TireRack built their on-line Site.

I tried to do a search for the Tires you stated in your thread... and I couldn't find them.

I did a search by:

Type of Tire = ALL,
225 55 18,
Speed Index = ALL,
Price categories = ALL,
Brand = Hankook.

Then I selected "View Tires"...

...and it came up with nothing like yours.

Maybe they are out of stock, now that Winter is winding down?

[CDNicecube]

Odd indeed. I had no problems finding these tires in November. They are out of stock on all their winter tires because I only found Blizzacks in that size. There were at least 10 in that size then.

There was also a notice "When you find a deal in your tire size – grab it! When those tires are gone, they’re gone! Tires-easy searches for bargain buys throughout the world, but the market constantly changes, and we sell those bargains fast. Please act quickly. All sales are valid only as long as our stock lasts."