Snow tires - recommendations?

[Tony S]

Just noticed the odd tire size recommendation from TireRack for the snows. The stock 19" are 225 width, while if I downsize to 17" they suggest a 250 section width...which goes against the logic of a narrower snow tire. Unless that has changed?

Yes, it has.

Following

 

[bbbradley]

Why would you choose to downsize? Would that mean 4 new rims as well? The 19 inch might give you better gas mileage.

Yes, new wheels and tires.
1) It is far easier to swap the wheel/tire set myself vs going to a shop for the mount/unmount process. It is something I have been doing for ages and we have plenty of space to store spare wheels...Arguably too much as I tend to forget about wheels/tires.
2) A little more sidewall also cushions the ride on the rougher roads that are in and around winter ski country.
3) Smaller wheels and tires are cheaper.

 

[James]

I’d much rather have a 50 profile than a 40 in winter with rough roads.

@anders_nor might have some opinions on snowtires for an awd Alfa for mostly dry driving traveling to snow country.

Hakka’s are studded, no? If you’re doing the vast majority of driving on dry pavement, probably don’t want studded on a sports car.

I don’t get the sizing thing. That downsize tire at 250mm looks too big in circumference. You’re over 2%. Plus a bigger tire in winter with prob not tons of fender clearance strikes me as not great.
I think it’s a typo? Btw, you sure 17in rims will fit over the calipers?

Here’s 225-

 

[vtrich]

BB, make sure a 17” wheel will fit over your calipers,…looks like you dont have that much room.

Re. Skinny vs fat,…I‘m still firmly in the skinny camp. Skinny feels much more stable in sloppy/slushy conditions. Yeah, probably give up some dry road stability but for me, in the winter, I want crappy road stability.

 

[Tony S]

I think it’s a typo?

That's what I assumed until Phil made his comment.

 

[Uncle-A]

Yes, new wheels and tires.
1) It is far easier to swap the wheel/tire set myself vs going to a shop for the mount/unmount process. It is something I have been doing for ages and we have plenty of space to store spare wheels...Arguably too much as I tend to forget about wheels/tires.
2) A little more sidewall also cushions the ride on the rougher roads that are in and around winter ski country.
3) Smaller wheels and tires are cheaper.

So you were planning on buying rims anyway?

 

[bbbradley]

So you were planning on buying rims anyway?

Yes. It also allows me to have the experience of sitting in my driveway, often in the cold and dark, scrambling to get snow tires on the night before the 1st snowfall of the season. A sacrifice to Ullr of sorts.

 

[bbbradley]

I’d much rather have a 50 profile than a 40 in winter with rough roads.

@anders_nor might have some opinions on snowtires for an awd Alfa for mostly dry driving traveling to snow country.

Hakka’s are studded, no? If you’re doing the vast majority of driving on dry pavement, probably don’t want studded on a sports car.

I don’t get the sizing thing. That downsize tire at 250mm looks too big in circumference. You’re over 2%. Plus a bigger tire in winter with prob not tons of fender clearance strikes me as not great.
I think it’s a typo? Btw, you sure 17in rims will fit over the calipers?

I was on the site too, and that is what made me scratch my head about their sizing recommendations...it seems way off as you noted.

BB, make sure a 17” wheel will fit over your calipers,…looks like you dont have that much room.

Re. Skinny vs fat,…I‘m still firmly in the skinny camp. Skinny feels much more stable in sloppy/slushy conditions. Yeah, probably give up some dry road stability but for me, in the winter, I want crappy road stability.

According to various sources 17" should fit.

 

[Uncle-A]

Yes. It also allows me to have the experience of sitting in my driveway, often in the cold and dark, scrambling to get snow tires on the night before the 1st snowfall of the season. A sacrifice to Ullr of sorts.

I know that scrambling feeling. LOL

 

[James]

So you were planning on buying rims anyway?

Downsizing from 19 inch can save $50-100+ per tire.

That's what I assumed until Phil made his comment.

The skinny bicycle tire concept seems to be out.
It really depends I guess in if you have a need for skinny tires. I suppose, if you are frequently driving through 4-6 in of unplowed snow, skinny could be better.
In stopping though, plowing can be useful and wider helps.

It would be nice if these things were thoroughly tested and presented for an answer.

In Iceland, they use extremely wide tires to stay on top of unplowed roads.

 

[Uncle-A]

In Iceland, they use extremely wide tires to stay on top of unplowed roads.

Kinda like wide skis in powder.

 

[bbbradley]

Downsizing from 19 inch can save $50-100+ per tire.

The skinny bicycle tire concept seems to be out.
It really depends I guess in if you have a need for skinny tires. I suppose, if you are frequently driving through 4-6 in of unplowed snow, skinny could be better.
In stopping though, plowing can be useful and wider helps.

It would be nice if these things were thoroughly tested and presented for an answer.

In Iceland, they use extremely wide tires to stay on top of unplowed roads.

Tire Rack chat:

• "Yes, that's been tested and proven for decades, best example being a pizza cutter vs a rolling pin. Pizza cutter cuts through much easier."
• "Do you have any data to support that? "
• "No"

This was after me asking if their suggested 250 width over a 225 width stock was right.

Their chat rep is 100% useless

 

[Jerez]

We also need a set of 4 snow tires.

To be used on our new Jeep Grand Cherokee (bought against our will -- long sad story). The tires for our beloved old Jeep do not fit. I've run goodyear, Nokian Hakkas, and Bridgestone Blizzak tires on the old Jeep. the goodyear (don't recall exact tire as it was long ago) not so good. Hakkas maybe a little better than Blizzak but not a big difference that I could tell.

We have a very steep, west facing road that leads to our sharp cornered driveway. The road frequently has snow on it and also often has refreeze due to the west facing nature. So, I need excellent traction to get up the hill from a turn from the driveway and even better traction to slow down on the steep, sometimes icy toad to turn into the driveway.

Should I be looking at any other tire than these two and do you have an opinion if one is really better than the other?

 

[James]

Tire Rack chat:

• "Yes, that's been tested and proven for decades, best example being a pizza cutter vs a rolling pin. Pizza cutter cuts through much easier."
• "Do you have any data to support that? "
• "No"

Their chat rep is 100% useless

There’s not a definitive answer, depends on what you want to optimize. If I lived in NE snowcountry I’d get studded. Just because of all the ice events.

Last year had a friend roll his truck into a ditch, totaled it. Was coming down a long hill with ice very late at night. He downshifted, that was enough to break the rear end free, went into a ditch and rolled over back onto tires.
Ironically, his cars have studded snows, but the truck tires were kind of worn out, not snows.

Has the Alfa had winter tires before?

 

[David Chaus]

You might consider Cooper, I have the Discoverer True North on my Forester. I like them better than the Michelin Xice, and Blizzaks are a bit too soft for my winter driving which is mostly long pavement miles.

 

[x10003q]

Please do not drop down to a 17" tire. Unless you are always on super rutted and potholed roads, you are just going to ruin the Alfa's excellent handling for a marginal increase in rim protection - plus you are buying rims anyway. Stick with the 18". As for type of snows - I have always drifted to a 'highway' style snow tire. Most of our winter driving is on dry or wet roads until we get near the ski area.

 

[bbbradley]

There’s not a definitive answer, depends on what you want to optimize. If I lived in NE snowcountry I’d get studded. Just because of all the ice events.

Last year had a friend roll his truck into a ditch, totaled it. Was coming down a long hill with ice very late at night. He downshifted, that was enough to break the rear end free, went into a ditch and rolled over back onto tires.
Ironically, his cars have studded snows, but the truck tires were kind of worn out, not snows.

Has the Alfa had winter tires before?

Cool video! I want to go to Ivalo!

The Alfa hasn't even seen weather below 60*, much less snow! I just bought it 2 months ago.

 

[anders_nor]

I’d much rather have a 50 profile than a 40 in winter with rough roads.

@anders_nor might have some opinions on snowtires for an awd Alfa for mostly dry driving traveling to snow country.

Hakka’s are studded, no? If you’re doing the vast majority of driving on dry pavement, probably don’t want studded on a sports car.

I don’t get the sizing thing. That downsize tire at 250mm looks too big in circumference. You’re over 2%. Plus a bigger tire in winter with prob not tons of fender clearance strikes me as not great.
I think it’s a typo? Btw, you sure 17in rims will fit over the calipers?





Here’s 225-

profile doesnt matter much for winter grip, ironicly nor for feeling, feeeling wil be a bit mushy regardless, comfort goes up with sidewall though. I usually size down 1 or 2 inches in rim diameter for winter tires

Nokian hakkapellita comes in both studless, and studded tires.

nokian, and their hakkapellitas, but as well the viking contact 7 is the goto winter tires here. we do 60-70mph.. and above on studless tires and drive like its summer. a good studless tire on good frozen road of snow has MUCH MORE grip than a bad'ish cheap'ish tire on rain! I've hot 170-180mph and such on them on closed roads (water), they are not really rated for it, but.. now you know they can do it!


I have both 21 and 20 inch sets of studless tires for my porsche cayenne, and 21/22 for summer. my a3, saab, and now e-up are all on 15 inches for winter, since I'm sometimes a cheap bastard.

on the 911's and panameras we run 21 and even 22 inch for winter as well, 0 issues, wide huge winter tires, are much better than one would think. we go ice racing and just hoon around on snowfilled fields a lot as well.

 

[Uncle-A]

You might consider Cooper, I have the Discoverer True North on my Forester. I like them better than the Michelin Xice, and Blizzaks are a bit too soft for my winter driving which is mostly long pavement miles.

I have had Cooper M&S tires in the past always worked for me. I think I may have recommended them in some other thread on the same subject.

 

[anders_nor]

read first post not what just james posted

if you drive more on ice/snow, get the nokian R3, if you drive more on dryer, and wet roads, get the viking contact 7. the R3 will have a mushy feeling on dry roads, way more than the continental viking contact 7. if you can do studs, like the noise, and ice racing.. hakka 10s! only tire you can daily, and ice race.

x-ice is also a fairly decent tire, but for snow ice it not quite there if you wanna drive like there is no snow on the roads. for the cayenne my 21" set are R3's and the 20" set are x-ice, the Porsche Approved Warranty made me do that stuff... the "N mark tire shenanigans"