Do I need a separate set of winter tires?

[Kaaae]

http://www.llams.com.au/

They are very responsive for being in Australia.

I had the dealership align my car at -20mm setting (I run 285/60/18) and only get rubbing at full lock. I then raise te truck when I go off road and the wear is pretty even.

 

[bushway9172]

I've got the Johnson Rods... no complaints here!

 

[alexcorral]

If I had to move away from the stock size (255/55/R19), I think I'd rather go with (A) 245/60R19 than (B) 255/60R19.

(B) will run 3.3% too slow on the speedo, but (A) will only run 1.8%. They are still bigger tires, but not so big. Plus, narrower tires are better in snow.

In fact, 235/60R19 are almost a perfect match at 0.2% speedo accuracy.

See here: http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Edit: Never mind, it seems there are no tires in those sizes. But they do sell 245-55R19 with is only 1.4% too fast.

http://simpletire.com/nokian-p245-55r19-t428335-tires

Second Edit: Nokian's site shows the stock size as available , but nobody seems to carry it. Weird.

I would want a bigger tire and especially something I can deflate when traction is needed without risking it. The 60% profile seems to do the trick. My Discovery 4 had 255/60R18s

 

[Quijote]

I would want a bigger tire and especially something I can deflate when traction is needed without risking it. The 60% profile seems to do the trick. My Discovery 4 had 255/60R18s

I understand. But 255/55R19 and 255/60R18 are identical in diameter.

I'm not saying it won't work, just saying you should try to stay closer to the stock overall diameter.

And in the winter you want a small footprint to maximize pressure. Deflating the tires will give you a larger contact patch and less pressure.

 

[alexcorral]

That's some good advice. Winter is a new experience for us

 

[Quijote]

That's some good advice. Winter is a new experience for us

Well, you got some of the best vehicles you could want to get through winter.

 

[alexcorral]

Well, you got some of the best vehicles you could want to get through winter.

Yup!

I started out thinking that because of the winter we would need all wheel drive vehicles for sure and was going to repeat our Panamanian setup: LR4 (my wife won't drive any other SUV after driving the Discovery 4) & 328i X-Drive (I loved my 328i rear wheel drive... That's a fun car to drive).

I then test drove the RR Evoque at our local LR dealer and decided to scrap the BMW and go for an LR4 and a RRE.

One thing led to another and after test driving the RRS I decided to scrap the RRE and went for the magical LR4 + RRS combo

Now, all I have to do is get the proper tires and wait for the snow to fall

 

[Quijote]

Yup!

I started out thinking that because of the winter we would need all wheel drive vehicles for sure and was going to repeat our Panamanian setup: LR4 (my wife won't drive any other SUV after driving the Discovery 4) & 328i X-Drive (I loved my 328i rear wheel drive... That's a fun car to drive).

I then test drove the RR Evoque at our local LR dealer and decided to scrap the BMW and go for an LR4 and a RRE.

One thing led to another and after test driving the RRS I decided to scrap the RRE and went for the magical LR4 + RRS combo

Now, all I have to do is get the proper tires and wait for the snow to fall

Well, I came from the west coast of South America in time to start high school US, so I can understand the excitement for snow.

I currently drive a 2011 M-Sport, RWD 328iT (wagon, manual transmission) and I love it. Feels pretty close to my 2003 330i ZHP (I was one of the first to get one of those). I love RWD BMW's. I drove that '03 year round for 6 years. With winter tires on, it was pretty decent in the snow.

 

[BznLR4]

Here in Bozeman MT we refer to "all season" tires as "no season"...kinda suck in summer and really suck in winter! That said, I got my LR4 in mid-February with all season tires and was really impressed with how well it handled. However, this coming Autumn I will probably get a set of winter tires.

All season tires tend to perform at best OK, and wear quickly, so you're getting neither long life nor great traction. IMHO they make sense in places where you get a bit of freezing and a little snow, but not where you get true winter. By having summer and winter tires you get long wear from the summer tires and great traction during the winter.

Local tires shop charges $60 to change all 4 tires, so at $120/year (spring/autumn) it takes quite a few years to pay for a set of wheels.

 

[Quijote]

Local tires shop charges $60 to change all 4 tires, so at $120/year (spring/autumn) it takes quite a few years to pay for a set of wheels.

True, but you can always sell the wheels for something, even if it is a third of what you paid. Also, no appointments to deal with, and finally, you can put them on and take them off as needed.

One year it was late March in Boston and I had just put on the summer tires, when we found out we had to make an emergency trip to Quebec the next day and snow was expected. In half an hour and close to midnight, I had the winter tires back on.