All season's in VA weather?

1/4atatime

So the factory tires are coming to the end of their life and I'm looking to buy some new tires. My car is my daily although in extreme weather like lots of snow I have another vehicle I can drive but for the majority of my driving I drive my Z. I know the P4 are the best tire for the Z period. However I have to consider the fact that I do daily drive it and the weather in VA can have drastic swings. I was thinking of two different options for tires. 1. getting summer tires and dealing with the last month or two of winter here it hasn't been too bad so far knock on wood and then switch to all season's or snow tires (I don't know which would be better for cold but rainy and light snow VA weather) for the winter. Or just go all season's now since we are still in winter technically and we will get lots of rain in the spring. I'm not trying to sacrifice performance but at the same time I'm not trying to slide into a ditch from rain or a random really cold morning. I'm just not sure what is the best option. I'd appreciate any advice y'all can give.

crazy4oldcars

I deal with the same thing down here in Texas. I can't afford to put new tires on every 6 months due to wear, and our winter weather is usually torrential rains, not snow.
I settled on Cooper Zeon RS3-G1's. AA traction, 500 Treadwear and excellent wet traction. A full set for my NISMO runs less than a grand, installed.
I sacrificed a bit on dry traction, compared to the OEM's, but I'm not racing the car, so it was a reasonable compromise.


Kirk B.

1/4atatime

Yeah I'm leaning all season's I know they get a lot of hate for being mediocre at everything however I don't track it and if I do decide to track it I would buy different tires anyway. The weather is just all over the freaking place in VA and it makes it hard to only feel like your getting the most out of your tire 3 months a year. I've heard a lot of good things about the PILOT SPORT A/S 3+

somms

The most important factor isn't so much the weather as the temperature. If you find yourself driving in sub-40 degree temperatures, you should put on snow tires. Even on dry pavement you'll notice the improved grip when braking and cornering. If it does happen to snow, all the better.

Since using winter tires, my high performance summers have lasted several years; it's not wasted money.

__________________
Fast Intentions 18 inch resonated catback, Fast Intentions resonated HFCs, Stillen Gen 3 CAI, EcuTEK tune, 311whp

DrBacon

Depends on what you want to do in my opinion. If you can justify it the ideal option would be to get a second set of wheels, let one be your all season (or snow) tires, and the other set be the summer performance tires then swap them as needed.

Or, you can be like me and rock all seasons year round with 450whp and not get **** for traction in 1st, 2nd and part of 3rd even on warm dry days (all part of the fun I guess?)

Zingston

Mmmmmmmmmmm! Bacon!!!!

1/4atatime

What about rain for summer tires VA can see a lot of rain even on warm days and I don't feel like hydroplaning into a ditch or end up driving so slow a dude on his moped could pass me.

1/4atatime

I mean it's not like I'm filthy rich but I can afford two sets no problem. Maybe I would be better off with two sets hmm what to do what to do.

DrBacon

I was mostly making fun of myself, but to be honest I never had any issues with traction with decent all season tires when the car was naturally aspirated making ~335whp. If you dump the clutch and launch it of course it's going to spin, you also won't have as much grip in corners if that's a concern. If you're worried about summer tire performance in rain generally as far as I'm aware of summer tires have better rain performance than all seasons, where all seasons shine is colder temperatures.

Personally my plan is once the temperature starts warming up again is switch the tires on my nismo wheels to some summer tires then once the weather starts to get cold next winter is grab a set of cheaper (yet still nice) wheels and put my all season tires on them.

somms

My high performance summers do great in the rain. I’m a lot more concerned with water getting into the intakes than I am with hydroplaning during the summer.

__________________
Fast Intentions 18 inch resonated catback, Fast Intentions resonated HFCs, Stillen Gen 3 CAI, EcuTEK tune, 311whp

1/4atatime

Thanks for the feedback and help guys I think I'm going to go with a summer set then switch to winter tires

240se

Where in VA are you? I'm on the coast and get by with summer tires but I take my wife's subaru the one or two days we get snow here a year.

1/4atatime

I'm near Richmond I doubt I could get by on all summer tires because I live out in the country and the back roads can get a little bad even when main roads are clear during winter. I also have a steep hill that would not be fun trying to get up if even with a small amount of snow. I think I'll be best off with a winter and summer set.

Quicksilvers

Yes what part of VA are you in? Purchasing two sets of tires one for spring/summer and one for fall/winter would be most beneficial to you. Choice your tires carefully though. The summer tires I would recommend would be the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S,Yokohama Advan Sport,Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+. For your winter driving it really depends on how harsh your winters are? I’ve used the Yokohama Advan Sport A/S+,Yokohama Iceguard IG53,Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 with and without chains in winter driving and they all worked well. I have always been a fan of the Yokohama’s though.

__________________
Mr. Clean

240se

Or you could get a beater vehicle for bad weather use.