Tire Choices

[DrWebster]

Thanks for the replies. I forgot to ask, what's the widest we can get away with on the factory alloy wheels?

 

[utmorpheus]

How are these in when temps get down to 20's and 30's?

They lose a lot of their grip, and are NOT tolerant of even a trace of snow or freezing rain. They are truly summer tires.

Thanks for the replies. I forgot to ask, what's the widest we can get away with on the factory alloy wheels?

195 or 205 will fit without issue. 205 is probably the max before you start losing noticeable handling.

 

[Traum]

Thanks for the replies. I forgot to ask, what's the widest we can get away with on the factory alloy wheels?

Much to my surprise, tire manufacturers are actually recommending that 205 tires can still be fitted on a 5.5" wide wheel, when I think the ideal size is really 7.5".

So yes, as utmorpheus says, go wild with 195 or 205 if you want something wide. But I can't imagine what the steering response and feedback will be like when the car is equipped with 205 on the stock wheel...

 

[flatlander937]

I was running my Continental winter tires in 90 degree weather commuting from VA Beach to Newport News daily since July.

On a stuff suspension they are numb as heck to drive, but I am doing it because I really don't need winter tires in VB, and I can't sell them for anything worth getting out of them.

On stock suspension or just normal lowering springs they're not so squishy that it's horrible. 700/550 means you have more sidewall deflection on turn in than suspension compliance.

They do not wear excessively fast or anything. Faster than in the cold? Sure probably. I did swap between them and my ZIISS occasionally for commuting when I was too lazy to swap back after events, etc... But they're hardly even worn yet with roughly 8k put on them nearly all in warm weather. The other 10k or so of my commuting was on my Dunlops. :-/

I imagine you could probably do 30k on them easily with 2 useful winters on them, probably wanting to replace by then for snow traction reasons.

Following this post as my next commuting tires will be all seasons that hopefully don't suck, good in the wet, and not horrible in very light(<2in) snow. Lateral grip basically won't matter. For boring highway miles.

 

[eyeballs]

They lose a lot of their grip, and are NOT tolerant of even a trace of snow or freezing rain. They are truly summer tires.

Good to know! I guess I'll be trying out the neogen then, they seem awfully old by now though. I wish kuhmo would just make the 4xII in more sizes.