I have a set of 16" 5 star wheels that I'm going to put run flat snow tires on but am having trouble deciding on which ones. From my research, the following tires are available:

Continental ContiWinterContact TS810 S SSR

Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D ROF

Dunlop Winter Sport M3 DSST

Pirelli Winter 210 Sottozero

We live in Seattle so they will see mostly wet roads and slushy with the occasional local snow and trips to the mountains. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks

 

The M3s we have on our Saab have been fantastic. We didn't have much snow last year so most of the driving was on wet or dry cold roads. They did well at speed. When we did have snow the car was very comfortable when those around us seemed edgy.

 

Thanks for the input. That is the way that I was leaning but they are $50 each more expensive. Anyone have experience with the others?

 

I have Bridgestone Blizzaks, and I noticed they're missing from your list.

That is actually good, because the Blizzaks may be overkill for your conditions. They really favor the deep snow, so again, they'd be overkill for your needs.

I just wanted to verify what you may have already been thinking...

 

I had blizzaks (ws-50) and they were a little too serious for my NJ needs. I did all of the research and found the contis to be the best deal for my needs at this moment. The price certainly helped - I can let you know how well they handle the first time it snows.

Blizzaks were fantastic in any snow/ice/slush. They were not fantastic on the dry highway; I knew that when I bought them, just thought I could deal with it.

mb

 

I agree with Jonnieoh and mbcoops. My experience with Blizzaks has been very good in deep snow conditions, but not so good in anything short of, well, a blizzard. The tread blocks are very "squishy" in dry and wet conditions, and can lead to less stable high speed or abrupt turning characteristics. I ran the last two winters with the Pirelli snows in 205/45/17, and they are great. Good high speed stability and wet weather traction, and decent deep snow performance. I think they would be a good choice.

 

Have you considered running All Season if you are worried about the pennies. I have Avon Tech M550 A/S, they did very well in 3 or 4 inches of Wisconsin snow late year, and in the summer they handle better (yes noticably better) than the Dunlop SP9000 that came on the car. I have 17" MiniLite wheels.

 

I was checking out the M3's on tirerack last night and there is a $50 rebate if you buy a set of 4. If I recall correctly they are $108 each, so that's $432 less $50 rebate for a total of $382 + shipping.

Actually, the rebate would be a mail-in, but you get my point.

 

OK, I just checked tirerack again. The Dunlop M3 DSST (runflats) cost $140 something, are only available in 205/55 for 16" rims and weigh 26lbs!!!

The non-runflat M3's cost $109, are available in 195/55/16, and weigh 20lbs. That's what I'll be going with. Also, the rebate offer ends at the end of September.

EDIT - sorry, the rebate offer is good through the end of October.

 

Thanks for the replys. The reason why the blizzaks aren't on the list is because they are not available in run-flat. I'm also not looking at all season because I have a set of summer wheels/tires and in my experience, all season do neither very well. Due to sizes it looks like the Dunlop Winter Sport M3 DSST is out now.

I am leaning towards the Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D ROF because they are available in 195/55 R16 and I've heard good things about them. If you get the rebate form from the Dunlop site, it is good until the end of Oct http://www.dunloptires.com/img/promo...te_020580W.pdf

Anyone else try the Pirelli or Continental?

 

Just ordered a set of Dunlops from my local Discount Tire because I was spending way too much energy on this decision. Thanks for all the input!

 

I know about the energy spending bit, there's too much information! What about the Conti's ,TS810S SSR's ? 195/55/16. They are almost the same price as non RF's.

 

If you contact Alex at the Tirerack directly he responds in a very timely manner...he's the man at the Tirerack for Mini stuff. I've hit him up a few times myself with questions regarding getting winter shoes for my Mini, he's been extremely helpful!