DCAWD.com

This is a rip off of Sabre's discussion last year. But since I am new to the DC area and came from the south where the term "winter tire" falls into the same category as "snipe hunting", I figured I would reopen the thread. I am curious to hear the feedback since last year there was even more snow here then usual. Me personally I am looking at a cost versus gain and also whether or not I need to get a new set of cheap rims? so let the bullets fly!

I think you'll find that most of us here are in the two sets of wheels/tires category.

I personally keep a set of stock wheels with either all season m&s or dedicated snow tires as well as a second set of (prettier) wheels with summer-only performance rubber.

It's worked well for me in the last ~10 years of driving in this area.

I keep all seasons on my two subies and the old lady's car year round. Haven't gotten stuck yet. Lookin to put steelies or my cheapy rims on her car so I protect her Volks. I'll prolly have the STi parked for most of the snow and use the Saabaru for winter duty.

Since I'm from NY, I have a dedicated set for winter, and one for summer. Haven't gotten stuck once in the winter weather we get back in cny.

this area doesn't really get the kind of snow (anymore) that requires winter tires. last year's snowpocalypse was an exception. if you're going into the boonies or up north a lot, then they might be necessary. but for the most part you can get around just fine on performance all-seasons.


fwiw - i got around just fine in both blizzards last winter with stock re-92s. they seemed to perform quite well in the snow. amazing, since they are absolutely horrid in every other respect.

I'm in the two-sets camp.

A set of cheap wheels with a set of snow tires for Dec-Feb and some nice (light) wheels with some "summer only" rubber for the rest of the year.

A set of snows should last a couple of years easy in this area.

I'm in the same category as all of the above, go figure! I have HTZ III's for summer (great tire for the price!) and WS60's for the winter (again, great tire for the price!). The WS60's have handled everything that I have thrown at them, which is a couple feet of snow and ice. They are the best performing snow/ice tire I have ever owned in other words. That being said, they are pretty soft so I'm curious how many miles I get out of them. So far, so good

I ended up with some Conti DWS on stock C63 wheels for my ''winter'' set. They're noticably softer turn-in than the GY F1 Asymmetric I run for summer.

I wanted full on performance winter tires but waited too long to get what I wanted (out of stock for the season at Tire Rack)

So after much gnashing of the teeth I ended up with:

215/55R16 Bridgestone Blizzak WS70 with 16X6.5 Black Steel Wheels.

Because of my initial hesitance to buy I missed a good deal on the Altimax Arctic's, but live and learn. For those in the 2 sets of tires camp, how long does the winter set historically last?

The new shoes should be here by mid week and I will post new pics once mounted!

and totally off thread but because I have OCD, I was looking at summer tires and was surprised that the highest rated were also very reasonable. Does anyone have any feedback on Continental ExtremeContact DW Tires? they were highly rated and only ~ 120 a piece.. Thanks in advance.

I'm guessing you'll love the WS70's. I get about 2.5 seasons out of the WS60's (Nov -> April)

RFBurn wrote:and totally off thread but because I have OCD, I was looking at summer tires and was surprised that the highest rated were also very reasonable. Does anyone have any feedback on Continental ExtremeContact DW Tires? they were highly rated and only ~ 120 a piece.. Thanks in advance.

highest rated amongst its peers, i.e. budget summer rubber. You can do better but it will cost more.

I got a set of used General Altimax Artics for $150 of Clist and mounted them on a set of RX7 FD wheels. I have another set of FD wheels for summer but not tires for those yet. I am unsure if I want to run them or sell em' for 17's. I was hoping to pick up a set of rota boosts of a guy on one of the Mazda forums, but no reply back I love the fact that the FD wheels are 16x8 and 14lbs/ea, but tires will leave a massive wheel gap, unless I get some springs.

I have had my car for almost 10 years now, but only have 80K. Blizzaks for 6 of them with a fair amount of non-snow driving on them.

So Tirerack.com literally got the tires to me in less than 48 hours from ordering them. pics in the am when it is light out!

I'm a fan of Tire Rack: good people and decent prices.

Mr Kleen wrote:I'm a fan of Tire Rack: good people and decent prices.

agreed. they've always done right by me. plus their discounts on mounting and balancing at participating garages is fantastic.

I bought a set of BBS LMs with RE11's they swore would fit my STI. Well, they didn't. Return shipping kit with all the stuff I needed to pack them up, prepaid labels and a full refund, no BS. What other vendor does that? $5k, by the way....not chump change.

Sorry I took an extra minute, but here they are:

There is something to be said for the steel wheel look. Merry Christmas everyone and see you in the New Year!

Steelies FTW!

Steelies with some mean tires! Nice!