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winter tire/ size

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SVTJON87

Hard-core CEG'er
Joined
May 29, 2006
Messages
3,682
Location
Glen Ellyn, IL
So when i bought summer tires for my E1's i was stupid and ended up with 205/55/16. i should have got 225's. i am still kicking myself for having a skinny tire. but that's what i get for not asking for help.:blackeye:

Anyway i have a set of Mangels AR570. no i cant find them online for your reference. they are 15"s, from what i saw on them they say 7j x 15ch so that would be 7"x15" I'm guessing. the all seasons on them are 205/60/15 but they are shot and not snow worthy.

what i am asking is should i stick with the size 205/60/15 for winter tires? I am guessing that's as skinny as i should get. i realize skinny is better for winter.

now other than blizzak's do any of you have input on a good winter tire. I am in Chicago land and do see a fair amount of snow. my town also sucks at plowing.

tomorrow i am going to try and get over to my Firestone to see if they will price match tire rack's price for blizzak's as a starting point.

i don't want to make the same mistake twice.

thanks for your help.
 
well the standard contour tire size for a 15" wheel is 205/60R15. this is what I use for snow tires. this size will also keep the speedo accurate. not sure what size you would go with if you go smaller, but a online tire calculator can tell you that.
 
I see, i realize that is a skinny tire so i just wanted to check and make sure before i went shopping. thanks.
 
I ran yokohama ice guard IG20's last winter and I absolutely dominated the snow. Uphill, downhill, no problems. unfortunately, I went with a 205/60/16 which I think I'm going to regret after installing my koni kit.
 
I don't understand why for winter you guys regret buying 205's. For a winter tire, you want it to be skinnier, not wider. If we are talking summer tires, then yeah, you should run a 215 or 225.
 
I think he means the side wall height with the konis. well Firestone will match tire racks price ($83) so i don't have to deal with shipping costs of my blizzaks's
 
205/60/15 winter will be fine. my brother with 205/60/16 fit with stock height. i tested them with my koni kit and i think it will be a tight fit. dry driving would be fine but when snow begins to build up in the wheel wells, it might affect driving/turning. i just ordered 195/60/16. the sidewall height is between 205/55/16 and 205/60/16 plus its skinnier as another plus. u can try 205/60/15 or 195/65/15. check the pricing for both. my blizzak ws60 in 195/60/16 was $20 cheaper than 205/55/16.
 
Run studded for best performance

Run studded for best performance

If you live in a state where they allow studs, that is the absolute best tire for winter. I run them all around and my car is invincible in the snow and ice. Live in the mountains and use the car to run to the ski areas and back country for hot springs. A little common sense and no sweat.
 
Stock 205/55 R16's on my EO SVT. Had Blizzaks for a couple of seasons. They were "okay"--somewhat stiff and they were slippery on wet roads. I almost slid off an off-ramp one day and I WAS being careful.

Last season I switched to Goodrich Winter Slaloms. I really like them and they have the holes for adding studs if you're so inclined. Without studs, they have great traction in wet and snow. We only get minimal ice up here, but they do well on that too. Just have to creep around the corners and watch it on the hills.
 
I saw a vid on tirerack.com comparing studless vs. studs and the studs did worse on ice. i have done a lot of research and found that the Blizzak WS-60 looks like my best option. it just so happens that convenience comes into play. i still have to get around to calling my Firestone back to order them. the warm weather we are having isn't helping me.
 
If you still plan on pushing the car at high speeds, or through corners in the winter, you don't want to run WS-60's. They will outperform all other tires on snow and ice, but they hate speeds over 70-75 and very sloppy in corners.

I have a set of WS-50's that I used to run and they are an amazing tire. I could tear through anything at all in my SVT. I thought it was BS that it could handle ice as well, until I tried it. Not a slip pulling away from a stop sign that had black ice covering the pavement.

I ran Dunlop Winter Sport 3D's on my Lexus last winter, and for a RWD car, it handled awesome. In dry conditions, it felt much like a summer tire. It didn't do as good in snow and ice as my WS-50's, but it wasn't intended to be.

Anyone planning on buying snow tires needs to think it over carefully and decide if you want to have a "Performance Winter", or "Studless Ice and Snow" tire (Tire Rack categories).
 
the vids are not very accurate

the vids are not very accurate

In the real world where we have a choice between studs and blizzacks, we run studs. We saw the vids and several friends bought blizzaks only to return to studs the next season. I understand that people who cannot drive with studs would want to believe that their 'studless' out perform studs. Or maybe the snow and ice out west is different than the east.
 
i see what you both mean. I generally do not push my SVT in the winter for obvious reasons. heck i barely push it in the summer through turns. all i know is last winter i could barley make it down an un-plowed street with my old all seasons. i really appreciate all of your input. because of that input i will be doing more research. thanks again.
 
Any good set of winter tires in the 205 - 60 - 15 will be fine . I got Michelin X-Ice on my car and they are a good compromise between ice grip and dry handling noise.

If you're looking for the best winter traction you cant get much better than the Blizzacs, but they are a bit of a compromise in dry conditions.
 
are the Yokohama Ice Guard IG20's a multi-cell tire like blizzacks? basically when they wear 50% or less sometimes they lose all of there multi-cell sipes and become just a all season tire.
i am very interested in them right now.

also any thoughts about:
Hankook Icebear W300

Hankook Winter iPike W409

or the one that i am sure everyone will hate is the Firestone Winterforce.
 
SVTJON87 said:
are the Yokohama Ice Guard IG20's a multi-cell tire like blizzacks? basically when they wear 50% or less sometimes they lose all of there multi-cell sipes and become just a all season tire.
i am very interested in them right now.

also any thoughts about:
Hankook Icebear W300

Hankook Winter iPike W409

or the one that i am sure everyone will hate is the Firestone Winterforce.
Click to expand...


Ice Gaurd IG20

IG20.jpg
 
Well i thought i would let everyone know that i went with Firestone Winterforce ties. mainly due to cost. but i read a lot of reviews and info about them and they look like they will meet my needs just fine. they sure will be a lot better than my old all seasons.
yeah they feel like i am driving on marshmallows. lol i guess thats something i had to experience to understand fully.

I will update this thread when we have some good snow.
 
SVTJON87 said:
Well i thought i would let everyone know that i went with Firestone Winterforce tires.
Click to expand...
Which size did you end up with? I'm researching winter's as well...was pondering 205/55R16 as tirerack recommends it. I think that stays within a couple tenths of an inch in diameter.
Glenn
 
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