Winter/Snow Tire Conundrum

I realize there are dozens of tire threads on this forum - which is why I am so confused. But if you don't mind offering your thoughts here is my conundrum.

I live in the Denver area. I don't need to commute except the occasional trip to the airport. We don't get snow quantities as some of you but we can get a couple storms with 12-18" and even a dump over 2'. But usually the snow melts over a few days. Ice on the side streets. Ice and slush while it is melting - for a day or so. I may do a handful of drives up into the mountains over the winter but that will mostly be on interstate (unless I plan poorly.)

The conundrum is that we will also take the LR4 on a 2-week trip to AZ which may include some off road work around Sedona. And a separate trip to Vegas with a week or so driving through Utah National Park areas, Moab, etc. Those drives will be mostly interstate and mostly on warmer roads. But with a bit of wheeling/off road thrown in. And of course I need to get over the mountains along the way.

My current setup is the stock 19" wheels with the Conti 255/55s (only 8K miles) stacked in the garage. My "off road" setup is a set of 18" Compomotives with Hankook Dynapro 265/65 R18's and a load rating of 114.

Do I...

• Switch to the stock 19" wheels and Contis and use them for all my winter driving?
• Keep the Compos with the Hankooks on all winter.
• Put new snow tires on the 19" stock wheels and then swap back and forth with the Compo/Hankooks depending on what driving I am doing. (Which is still problematic given that my 2 road trips have a wide range of driving scenarios.)
• Put new snow tires on the 18" Compos and, again, switch to the stock wheels/tires for the road trips.

And if I get new tires, which ones should I get? The Discount Tire down the street offer Blizzak and Nokian.

What's the mileage on the Hancooks? Depending on mileage (assuming they aren't new), I'd just drive them and sell the conti's. While you will get much more wear and reduce the life on your trip, the stickier rubber will be of great benefit. And the market for the Conti's in stock or on rims exists. Maybe keep the 19's for a future dedicated snow setup. That is exactly the route I went, sold my conti's, put Blizzaks on the 19" rim, have a dedicated larger mud terrain for the rest of the year. I remove my lift in the winter (huge benefit of air bags!).

For what it's worth, the stock Conti's are some of the worst tires I've ever driven on in snow. They are beyond laughable to the point where it can be dangerous. Couldn't believe it really. So if I were you, whatever you choose I'd make sure that they aren't part of your plan if driving in snow is probable.

I replaced the stock Conti's with Nokian WRG2 at the end of last winter so haven't yet experienced snow but what I can say is I felt the Conti's were outright dangerous on roads that were wet and not flat. I've had the Nokian's for 10 months now and I have not have not had any traction loss on wet roads. If I lived in Colorado (my relatives live in Empire) I'd ditch the Conti's before the wet roads start to freeze.

You all (overblown and PeterA) are echoing what I have heard elsewhere on the Contis. If I keep them at all it will only be to put them on in the Summer if I need to do another 6K mile freeway trip. (Our kids are in Seattle.)

So I am going to either just drive the Hankooks and store or sell the 19" wheels. Or more likely I will get some good snow tires and keep them mounted on the 19" wheels. That way the switch to dedicated snow tires is relatively straightforward - just swap wheels. I could do this myself or drop it by Discount Tire who will do it for me for free - rotating if appropriate.

Now I need to decide what make and size to put on the 19" wheels.

I used to have the same Hankooks in 265/65. I took them from Boston to Quebec by -35F on ice and snow (packed and powder) and they performed just fine. Light years ahead of the Contis!
You should stick with them, they make for a good all around tire.

danrhiggins said:

You all (overblown and PeterA) are echoing what I have heard elsewhere on the Contis. If I keep them at all it will only be to put them on in the Summer if I need to do another 6K mile freeway trip. (Our kids are in Seattle.)

So I am going to either just drive the Hankooks and store or sell the 19" wheels. Or more likely I will get some good snow tires and keep them mounted on the 19" wheels. That way the switch to dedicated snow tires is relatively straightforward - just swap wheels. I could do this myself or drop it by Discount Tire who will do it for me for free - rotating if appropriate.

Now I need to decide what make and size to put on the 19" wheels.

Click to expand...

Good choice. You'll be happy you stayed away from them for winter duty. My new truck gets here soon and I'll be putting a set of these on right away. They are great performers and half the price of blizzacks. They do make a 255/55R19 for your wheels

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...all=Blackwall&partnum=555TR9IG51VXL&tab=Sizes

Well, I had ordered the Nokians for the stock wheels. But then learned that there is a TPMS recall coming in December and it is not clear (my service rep could not tell me for sure) that they will replace both original stock sensors for my 2014 LR4 AND the second set I purchased in June for my Compomotives so I could have 2 sets of wheels. So I have cancelled my snow tire order while I await the resolution from LR. I'm not paying another $600 for sensors.

I just removed my TPMS sensors when I upgraded to Compomotive wheels and disabled the monitoring with the IID Tool. It takes a special kind of idiot to not know you have a flat on big 18" off road tires. Too much money for those sensors, plain and simple.

danrhiggins said:

Well, I had ordered the Nokians for the stock wheels. But then learned that there is a TPMS recall coming in December and it is not clear (my service rep could not tell me for sure) that they will replace both original stock sensors for my 2014 LR4 AND the second set I purchased in June for my Compomotives so I could have 2 sets of wheels. So I have cancelled my snow tire order while I await the resolution from LR. I'm not paying another $600 for sensors.

Click to expand...

Just to follow up, I use the Nokian WRG2 (still available, though have been replaced by the G3) year round. I'm sacrificing wear for year round protection on wet roads. The tire shop swapped out the sensors and I told them they could keep the Contis. In my opinion you will notice the difference even on dry roads; the car just feels more stable.