Rob Heath

My car is a DD with about 75 miles / day round trip, higher speed highway driving. Switch to winter wheels and all season tires end of October through mid -
April. Wheels are 16"; 205 55 Front and 225 50 Rear.

Last 2 years have been on Toyo Proxes and while they have been good, did get caught in a snow storm or two which made for some "exciting" driving. Once any snow gets packed at all, I try to make my drive short by heading to the nearest bus stop.

Proxes have tread left, but looking to see if there is a suggestion for a "better" all season tire?

Did looked at Tire Rack and Discount Tire and they do not carry any winter tires in my sizes... all season at TireRack, but not winter / snow tires. Anyone have any snow tire suggestions?

Thanks!

Jay H

It's amazing that there are no winter tires available in the relatively common 911 16 inch sizes.

What about the Pirelli Winter 210 tire in 205/55/16 and 215/55/16 sizes? That rear size will be about .4 inches taller than the stock size of 225/50/16, but that would allow you to run true winter tires which are always better than all seasons in cold weather.

The Blizzak WS70 also comes in the 205/55 and 215/55 combination. I'm sure there are other brands and models that could have this combo as well. The Tire Rack has a good tire size choice tool for different fronts and rears.

I would think that the extra height of that 215 wouldn't be too much of an issue on the rear of a 911. Hence my thinking of leaving the front size as is and finding a compromise rear tire size.

Otherwise for all season use, that Continental DWS model is a great high performance all season.

Rob Heath

Jay - thanks for changing the tire size thought to go to winters.

Had not thought about that and it was an idea like this that I was looking for.

Thanks!

911Dave

Rob, I would advise looking at all season tires, not snows. Denver/Boulder gets occasional snow storms but 90% of the time the roads are dry. Snow tires are made for hard pack snow and wear out very quickly on dry pavement, and they don't handle well on the dry either. For our mild winters, I highly recommend all season tires, which will last several years and do very well in all conditions. With the 911's weight bias over the rear drive wheels, it doesn't need much help to be a great car on snowy days.

Jay H

Modern winter tires are specifically designed for not only snow conditions, but also dry and cold pavement.

A winter tire will provide superior braking and handling than any all season tire in temps below 40 degrees. If your winter temps never drop below freezing, then winter tires may not be needed. But if you have to drive on cold dry pavement on a regular basis, I'd still suggest winter tires over all seasons.

The Tire Rack has articles on how winter tires work in the snow and on cold dry pavement verse all seasons and summer only tires.

Tires are everything. Buy exactly what you need to be safe and don't compromise.

w00tPORSCHE

+ 1 for Jay H's comment.

Rob Heath

Dave911 - thanks for the thoughts on all seasons vs. snows. Only had three "really" bad driving days last winter (but they were pretty bad) and so I wanted to explore the idea of snows. As you point out we don't get that much snow on the front range, but the hill in and out of Boulder on 36 can be pretty funky. Nice picture of your car! Looks like it was taken at the CPCO charity car show. We met there 2 years ago. I was a couple of cars down from you in a red 912.

JayH - I'll spend some time on Tire Rack reading up more now that you suggested a different tire size so there are some options.

Thanks!

911Dave

Yep, that's where it was! Is that 912 of yours Polo Red? If so I believe I've seen your car around town once or twice. I love red on early cars with chrome.

BTW, my 86 911 was my only car for two winters in Denver. The car had all season tires on it and it did very well in the snow. In fact, I thought it was great fun! I drove all the way across town in a Christmas Day blizzard about 3 years ago and I whizzed right by a lot of SUVs that were spinning their wheels. No question that dedicated snow tires would have been even better, but I never had a problem. Boulder does tend to get more snowfall than Denver does, of course, and you have more hills to deal with!

Rob Heath

Dave - Yes a polo red with lots of shiny chrome, steel wheels and hub caps. Back of the car seen in avatar photo (picture taken when wife / her car not at home.)

Drive 912 to Denver to work on nice summer days or when I am heading to Eisenbud's for some help.

They suggested the Toyo Proxies all season for my 911 winter tires and have two seasons ( approximate 12 months / 15K miles on them) so I was just exploring.

Thanks

syzygy

The Nokians have a stellar reputation for their Hakkapeliitta winter tires. I have also heard good things about their all weather WRG2 tires. They are available in the 205/55 and 225/50 sizes you want.

http://www.nokiantires.com/tyre?id=1...me=Nokian+WRG2

racer

Or, buy a set of 15" wheels.. Cookies, Steelies, Fuchs, phone dials etc.. and run 195 front, 215 rear. Snows should be a "-1".. so taller and skinnier than stock is preferred.

All Seasons, imho, are "no seasons" since they don't do anything particularly well. Dedicated snows will also give decent "dry" traction since the rubber stays softer in the cold than, say, "summer" tires.

mclaudio

I like Nokian WR G2. They are called, "All weather" Tires as opposed to all season. These tires are designed for Finnish (Scandinavian) conditions where winter is much longer and summer is much shorter. I've used these on my 996, 3.2 Carrera (and recently on a Benz) in Seattle area all year round. No issues up in the mountains with these tires and 911s.