Need Advice on All Season Tires
 

I need to replace my front tires by the end of summer and I will definitely be needing all seasons. Having a tough time deciding which ones I should get, so I thought I would come here for advice. I have the base 18" wheels.

I should mention first that I DO NOT have enough money to buy a separate set of winter wheels/tires. This is why I will be running all season tires throughout the year. I do plan on buying some sport/Nismo wheels somewhere down the line (1-2 years maybe) and then my current wheels will be on winter duty.

What I have on my car now are Yokohama Advan Sport Summer tires on the front and Yokohama Advan S4 All Season Tires on the rear. I bought the car with the tires like this back in January and didn't even realize they were different till like 2 months ago. My rears still have a good amount of tread left, but will need to be replaced by winter time later this year. The fronts are pretty worn and might last till the end of summer at most. Whatever tires I buy for the front now I will also be buying for the rears later. Buying them separately for cost reasons as well.

Also, I will be stepping up the tire width from stock with both the front and rears. Stock sizes are 225/50/18 front and 245/45/18 rear. Thinking about getting 245/40/18 front and 265 or 275/35/18 rear. If you guys have better recommendations for what sizes I should get, please let me know. As I have it, I'm trying to get as much tire on the wheels as I can without having them sticking out and looking stupid. I have also heard a squared setup is better for handling. Should I just do that instead and with what tire sizes?

From doing some research on my own I've found what I think to be my three best options. I want tires that have good dry/wet/snow traction and relatively cheap. The Z is my only car so I will be driving it through snow and rain.

Yokohama Advan S.4. (93W, 27 lbs, $185)

Continental ExtremeContact DWS (93Y, 23 lbs, $166)

Pirelli PZero Nero All Season (97W, 27 lbs, $184)

Any other recommendations are welcome. Thanks for the help guys :tiphat:

Recent test on tire rack that compares the Pirelli's to the Continental's and two other tires

Testing Bridgestone's Potenza RE970AS Pole Position Ultra High Performance All-Season Tire

I would definitely vote for the Continentals since this is your dd and Maryland does see some snow and ice in the winter. It also still rates high in the other areas as well.

Greg

All-season tires present a bit of a conundrum. Usually they break down into three categories:

1. Reasonable in snow, mediocre in the dry
2. Reasonable in the dry, mediocre in the snow
3. Crap all around

There are only a few that fall into categories 1 & 2. The Continental ExtremeContact DWS is a good tire with a wintery twist... it's the highest rated all-season in the snow around. But it's sloppy in the dry. A tire like the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S, however, is about as close to a summer tire in the dry that an all season will get. But it absolutely blows in the snow.

If I had to live with one set of all seasons on my Z and didn't have a second car to fall back on in winter, I think I'd go for the Continental DWS simply because of the snow capability. I'll sacrifice dry weather peformance for winter survivability.

Thanks guys, I was leaning towards the Continental DWS as well. I'm not going to be hardcore tracking the car so I don't really need all out dry performance yet. At the most I will be doing some AutoX and the cruises. Just need something that can get me to school/work in the winter and is a decent tire for the rest of the year.

You're not going to get anywhere in real snow with all season tires on RWD cars but maybe you can bum a ride from your gf or something on real bad days.

Good thing is that in real snow, anywhere I need to go is usually closed. In the winter, it's usually just school which closes if driving conditions are really bad. I work like 10 mins away from home and I work for my uncle in the winter, so no issues there either. At the most, I will need to drive in light snow.

^^ i think you're set then! :tup:

Now what to do with sizing? Should I try a square setup or stick with staggered?

Also, if I order tires from tire rack through an approved vendor will I still have to pay for shipping? Right now it's looking like it will cost me around $400 to buy, ship, and mount the 2 front tires.

i would get staggered and yes you will need to pay shipping to your installer.

Thanks! Looks like it's only going to be $23 for both, so not a big deal. For some reason I was thinking it was like $50 per tire, but I don't know where I got that from. I was thinking about just driving over to there warehouse in Delaware and picking them up myself since it would be cheaper. No worries now :tup:

It's gonna be staggered no matter what you do. The wheel width for the back tires are different from the front. Go with 245's up front (fits perfectly) and 275's in the back (slight bulge, but looks pretty good). I have that setup on the same wheels as yours.

http://architekphotography.smugmug.c.../DSC0199-L.jpg

http://architekphotography.smugmug.c.../DSC0202-L.jpg

Ignore the large bolt :(

Thanks Mike! Doesn't look bad so 275 should be fine.

cmike- that's not a bolt, that's a container lock pin. :D hahaha i had one stuck in one of my car's tires in the past. the tires were brand new too.

lol. That doesn't make me feel any better Kenchan.

To top it all off, the dealer had put the wrong wheel locks on the car (the ones without washers) when I bought it. The locking wheel lug shattered leaving the end piece still on the stud. I couldn't get the wheel off. I drove with this thing for about 10-15 miles back to the dealership.