[losian79]

I've been torn between better performance tires and snow tires. I found a category of tires call "Performance Snow Tires" that are supposed to do well on wet/dry as well. tirerack.com had this category but I believe many companies such as Michelin just group them with "snow" so I'm having a hard time searching.

For example the Pilot Apline PA3 tires:
Pilot Alpin PA3 | Michelin Tires

tirerack.com has 5 options for 225/55 R17 but no options for 225/60 R17 required on the 2011 2.5i Premium.

Does anyone know of a Performance snow tire that is manufactured at the right size (225/60 R17)?

Can I drop down to the 225/55 R17 w/o voiding my warrantee?

 

[Saint J VT]

I am aware of the better snow tires that supposedly have a softer rubber that is used to grip shear ice. I am not sure that they are as good as having studs, as I have used studs all my life for winter tires.

So, I opt for studded, dedicated winter tires. When I change the tires on both my vehicles (my second one being only 2WD), I always install four studded winter tires. Where we live, dedicated winter tires and dedicated summer tires are really a "must" if you want to be out and about when the roads are the most treacherous! Sometimes, we have no choice, we must be driving somewhere, regardless of how bad the roads are. If we had the convenience of just going out when the pavement is dry, we would only need one pair of all-season radials for all year 'round, but that is not us!

Yes, they ride some on the studs, however I can drive winding roads using the studded snow tires, and I can drive them about as good as I can the summer tires. There is a bit less traction on dry pavement due to the studs, however I believe to measure the difference would be a pretty difficult job to do, the studded snows handle that well.

So, that leaves me with a choice. Do I get soft rubber snow tires without studs, or studded tires? I still prefer the studded tires as, on glare ice, I have found nothing to be better. And, where I live, in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, we get glare ice and black ice on many days. Many times, I swear, the studs are the only thing that have literally kept me (and my wife's Subaru) on the road and have kept us from hitting other vehicles, when all the other vehicles are at a standstill and sliding SIDEWAYS to the contour of the Interstate -- those days, a pair of ice skates would work perfectly.

 

[losian79]

I am aware of the better snow tires that supposedly have a softer rubber that is used to grip shear ice. I am not sure that they are as good as having studs, as I have used studs all my life for winter tires.

So, I opt for studded, dedicated winter tires. When I change the tires on both my vehicles (my second one being only 2WD), I always install four studded winter tires.

Studded=Best snow traction
Winter=Better snow traction
Performance Winter = Snow traction, but still performs well on dry/wet.

I'm looking for tires in the 3rd category here. I live in Los Angeles but spend 3 months in the Sierra Nevada.

 

[Saint J VT]

I'm looking for tires in the 3rd category here. I live in Los Angeles but spend 3 months in the Sierra Nevada.

And, may I add, that, for where you live, that would be best for you!

 

[Novablue]

Feel free to ignore this post, I'm violating the title with this link:

Michelin X-Ice Xi2

Hear me out though, I have these and I think they are the tire you are looking for. They do perform well on snow and ice (have not tested them on "glare ice" just the wet stuff the PNW has) and they seem to perform well on dry pavement and really well on wet pavement.

I'm interested to see how they perform this winter after they have 20k on them.

 

[MToutback]

I also have/use the Michelin X-Ice Xi2 on my car and my wife's car. They are awesome in my opinion. Everyone has some idea about what the best tire is for winter. Granted there are more aggressive winter tires out there. I had to balance many variables. We often get snow and then lots of cold dry then snow. So, I needed something that performed well on snow and ice, but also didn't feel like a tank on dry/cold pavement. There are many videos online, studded isn't necessarily the best. Just depends on your conditions and driving style. My 2cents.

 

[foxrider68]

Buy snows this year and performance summer tires next year.

 

[scoobydoo2]

...This is a good read. Nice to have user opinions. I am changing my snows for this winter and am leaning heavily toward the michelin Xi ice tire too. This is where my subscription to the consumer reports web site comes in handy. They too have this tire rateed at #1... Now, to find them on sale because they are a littly pricey.

I have had studded tires but no longer use them because of the increased road noise. The new tires are generally just as good except in real ice conditions.

 

[VicVinegar]

I've read good things about the X-Ice too. Problem is that in my area, I'll drop all that $$ on winter tires to see it be 40 all winter and get snow or ice twice. I'll probably wait and see how the Continentals do (seems to be mixed reviews on here) and how the winter starts out conditions-wise. I'm more worried about ice than snow in this area.

If it tells you something about quality of road treatment, I never considered snow tires when I lived in Upstate NY. Now that I am outside of DC in Virginia, I feel like I could really use them against ice and "hit or miss" road treatment when it snows.