Recommended winter tires in stock size?

[tommyv2]

As many of you know, 195/50/16 is a very rare tire size, especially for winter applications. What's everyone running for winters?

And before you ask, no, steelies are not an option, nor are staggered sizes. My winter car will rock chrome until April!

 

[njaremka]

subbing, because i want to run "stock" snows this year too

 

[tommyv2]

TireRack only shows 3 choices, the Kumho Izen, Dunlop Graspic, and Pirelli. The Dunlop can be had cheap at Wal-mart, Sam's Club, Costco, etc. Most places would special order them (very rare size) so I gotta call around and get some prices...

 

[Reitrof]

I have the Pirelli Snowsport 210's that I got from TireRack.

 

[P5SurchJunkE]

I bought a set of Hankook Icebreakers this past winter and they worked great. Got them from Discount Tire.

 

[thrasher]

Lots of standard sizes will fit without any problems except for a slight speedo difference, but they're winter tires so who cares? Just look for a deal:

205-55-16
205-45-16
195-45-16
195-50-16
195-55-16

 

[Lord_Zath]

My winter Dunlops are 195-50-16's.

 

[fonzinator]

I'm not seeing Kumho Izen snow tires listed on Tirerack.com at all? Please post a link.

I live in Minneapolis, MN and bought a set of 16" steelies and Dunlop Graspic DS-2 from Tirerack last fall. The tires are great in the snow/ice/rain, but they are so far from a performance tire that they render the P5 worthless in cornerning. Paying for a performance snow tire wasn't worth it to me.

Also, I probably won't do a set of snow tires again. Living in Minneapolis, the city plows so efficiently that I found the snow tires rarely useful. After these Graspics wear out, I'll replace them with a decent all-season instead.

FYI - I run Kumho SPTs on my stock rims during the summer and love them.

 

[Jaysanooch]

I was really impressed with my Dunlop sport m3's...like really amazed by them. The thing is..they are abit pricey and are considered "high performance winters". I put these on my stock racingharts..in stock size but you can get them for the P5 rims and you'll be styling all year round. Try these...you'll never go back.

p.s. I got them from tirerack....saved a couple of hun even after the custom/duty fee's. Can't beat tirerack...well for specific tires anyway. I saved $480 when I purchased my summer tires...the bf g-force kdw 2's...just to give you another example.

 

[MonkeyBone]

go get some 14 inch winter rims with 185/65 on 'em it will slice the sludge and snow and eveything

 

[tommyv2]

I'm sorry, I'm not driving anything in 14". IMO, nothing looks cheaper or more tasteless than a nice looking car with lawn mower wheels. I'm not a kid, I can swing any brand, any size, I just want them to go on my stock wheels. This is my winter car, those factory rims will never see summer.

 

[the tortoise]

I'm running the Kumho KW-17s in a 195/55/16 and find them to be so-so. They're quiet and handle pretty well. They're more of a highway winter tire so if you get lots of deep snow you might want something more agressive.

I've also heard great things about the Dunlop M3's and the Toyo Garrit HT's (replaced by the KX's).

If you're sticking with the stock rims you'll probably have better luck with a 205/50/16 tire size. Don't worry about the increased diameter, it will actually make your speedo more accurate. Also, I can't imagine that an extra 10 mm of tread width will make a lick of (real world) difference with a good winter tire.

Regardless of what you get, if you want to keep the handling close to stock I suggest you get an H-Rated winter tire.

 

[MonkeyBone]

wanna keep the stock rims?

go with michelin x-ice 205/50

i used to have them on my altima 2 winters in a row and they were great!!
(size was 185/65/15)

oh...and humm I will get some 14 inch rims with 185/65/14 this winter
I suggest we can have a little race in the snow?

(the more sidewall you get the more snow you plow and the less snow you got on your brakes)

thats why rally cars dont have foot large tires! if i remember correctly they are 185/65/15

 

[Tom03es]

+1 for the Michelins. I have them on my VUE and they are great.

I'm in the process of refinishing the Konig wheels I bought last winter before this winter rolls around (I don't like the bronze with the polished lip on my laser blue anymore). The tires were also made in 2002 and the rubber is hard and unresponsive so I'm replacing them (even though there's a TON of tread left) with some Hankook iPikes and I think they have a size that will work for the factory sized 16" wheels.