Hey guys, I live in Victoria BC and we generally get very little snow. However, this year looks to be different, so I need some winter tires. Currently I had Dunlop Sport 5000 RFT, 195/55/16.

Big O Tire has a set of Pirelli Winter Sport 210 RFT on sale for $239/ea. I don't really need runflats but it is down from $410/ea which sounds like a good deal. Does anyone have experience with this tire?

MINI Victoria can give me Pirelli Winter 190 on 15" Steel Wheels for $1065 all in.

Ideally I'd like to spend less money, and I'm looking at TireRack. The Pirelli Winter 210 Sottozero are right in my price range. If anyone has some suggestions I would really appreciate some input. I'm sure this has been covered, but I know little to nothing about tires and navigating previous threads is a little confusing.

Thank You!

 

BridgeStone Blazzak FTW......

http://www.tirerack.com/winter/bridgestone/blizzak.jsp

 

IN Victoria, I would recommend you go to a local tire dealer or tire/wheel dealer ask about getting a package. If you buy an entire set, you usually get better pricing. I got an entire set of 4 15" alloys and Snowtires for under $600 balanced and installed and changed over, taxes included. Problem is, I had to find room to store my summer tires, which wasn't really a problem.

If money is an issue, then I would go aftermarket and avoid runflats.

MINI Victoria's price is probably a bit higher than a aftermarket tire dealer's for the same thing, but within range of being considered competitive.

Good luck.

 

I've been phoning around today and since we got the dump of snow almost everyone is out of stock. The shop with the Pirelli RFTs says they can give me Arctic Claws for $154/ea, a total of $785 all in.

Is there any benefit to steel wheels other than avoiding the harsh conditions for my "good" aluminum wheels?

 

Steelies are generally a bit less expensive than alloys. But if you get a deal, the difference in cost is negligible. Some aluminum wheels are painted with an enamel clearcoat for winter use so they can fend off the salts. However, eventually, you do get cuts and scrapes in the clear coat and salt does manage to get at the aluminum. Makes the wheels look somewhat ugly.

Some places don't have steel wheels though.

 

Biggest advantage is simply the cost of the twice-yearly mounting of the tires. Get a set of winter tire/wheels and simply swap over when needed. No need to spend anymore money at the tire shop for swapping out the tires.

 

I fully agree here. Also, swapping from winters to summer and vice versa allows you to do tire rotations at no additional cost.

 

Just cause an outrageously priced item is on sale does not make it a better deal....
I run the those tires (nonrunflat) in a 15 on a second set of rims..mooting and remouting tires multiple times are not a good idea.
The p210 IMO is a good tire..decent snow performance, and handles well in the dry, good in the rain..a not all out snow tire, but good for many folks.
Check the production date on the tires...they are good for about 6 years... If the "sale" ones are 4 years old.....you might have then dry out before they wear out....
Non runflats are great on a mini....after running non runflats for a winter, I could not wait to dump my Dunlop runflats!!

 

Thanks so much for the input guys. It looks like the snow is letting up for a week or so, so I may have time to order from TireRack and get a better deal overall on a better product.

Any input on stuff on TireRack would be great. I will probably see more slush/ice than snow overall, and even a few dry cold days so I need an all-around winter sport tire more than a snow-specific tire. Are Blizzaks really all they're cracked up to be? Primacy Alpin? I'm really overwhelmed with all the options!

I'm excited to switch to 15" rims and non-runflats though, should be a big improvement over the 16" RFTs overall.

 

If you are looking an inexpensive but effective snow tire, then I would look at the General Altimax Arctic. I have run these snow tires in the mountain winters of southern Colorado (tons of snow) and they seem to work just fine. Good grip in harsh conditions and decent road manners. Not to mention they don't cost nearly as much as Pirelli or Bridgestone.

 

rtjtrout2000, I will check those out, thanks. How did you find the handling and wet/slushy performance?

 

They actually do really well for weather capability. They aren't the best tire in the world when it comes to all out perfomance, but snow tires should not be purchased as such. I loved them in all forms of bad weather and they lasted two seasons with a bit to spare.

 

One tip...with an S, going with the just-a-Cooper width 15' tire, you might be wishing you had a bit more rubber on the road...sure, it is traditional to get narrower tires for winter to help in deep snow, for the other 90% of you driving, sticking to about you current width will serve you well IMO.
I went with 195/60r15...within a % or 2 of the 16' size, and about the same width...looks surprisingly good too!!

 

Thanks for the input guys. The store with Pirellis has phoned me again, and is now offering a 15" Konig wheel package. The name of the tire has slipped my mind, but he says it's a tread/compound knockoff of blizzaks. It's about $800 all-in, which is the best price I can find so far. They were 195/60r/15 if I recall though. I won't be doing much deep snow driving, if any, although I don't have an S.

If the tires check out I'll probably go that route.

 

That sounds like a fair price for south coast BC area for tires and wheels. Good to know it worked out okay.

 

Thanks, I am about to have 4 put on my spare rims with studs, I drive a lot and just sold my winter suv.

 

Tirerack.com is good, but don't forget about discounttiredirect.com.
I've found them to be better priced, and have a great replacement program.

Also, as another person mentioned, Blizzaks are very good, and I can personally recommend General Arctimax Arctics. Both are good winter tires IMO.