Anyone knowledgeable on car tires?

[digitalwanderer]

My 2010 Infiniti M35x, (or Emmy as I call her), is in desperate need of some new rubber and with winter coming quick I'll need 'em. Last time I bought some truly cheap tires because I was just commuting on the highway for 150 miles a day or so and I didn't see the point in spending a lot.

I've regretted that decision for almost 5 years now.

Can't go crazy since Emmy is old and my wife thinks she'll die soon, (she won't, solid as a rock!), but she also knows the importance of decent shoes on a vehicle. After much, (2-3 hours), of searching and research the best I've been able to come up with are these Firestone Firehawk AS V2...which will appeal to my wife since she's a Costco fanatic.

They seem decent, any other suggestions or comments? It's been a while since I looked at tires, going for an all-season performance tire as it fits my car/driving style/climate best. Thanks in advance!

 

[Silent_Buddha]

My 2010 Infiniti M35x, (or Emmy as I call her), is in desperate need of some new rubber and with winter coming quick I'll need 'em. Last time I bought some truly cheap tires because I was just commuting on the highway for 150 miles a day or so and I didn't see the point in spending a lot.

I've regretted that decision for almost 5 years now.

Can't go crazy since Emmy is old and my wife thinks she'll die soon, (she won't, solid as a rock!), but she also knows the importance of decent shoes on a vehicle. After much, (2-3 hours), of searching and research the best I've been able to come up with are these Firestone Firehawk AS V2...which will appeal to my wife since she's a Costco fanatic.

They seem decent, any other suggestions or comments? It's been a while since I looked at tires, going for an all-season performance tire as it fits my car/driving style/climate best. Thanks in advance!

View attachment 10139

The only thing I can say is, do you want good all season tires or do you want good snow tires? While you can use a good all season tires on snow in a pinch it's never going to be all that good in snow. Even a crappy winter tire meant for snow is going to be significantly better than the best all season tire in the snow. This is mainly due to the specific rubber compounds that are used.

All season tires will use a harder rubber that is pliable in warmer weather in order to reduce wear while still being pliable enough to offer good traction. In the winter, however, they lose much of that pliability.

Winter snow tires will use a softer rubber compound that will be pliable during the winter but will wear out quickly in warmer weather.

On top of that for winter tires, you'll ideally want to have siping (if you don't want or can't get studded which you wouldn't want in the non-snow months anyway). While siping can help all season tires (still won't be as good as even mediocre winter tires) in the winter, it'll also mean they'll wear out much more quickly in the warmer months.

The smart thing is to have decent tires for non-snow and decent winter tires for the snow. Heck even crappy all season tires for non-snow and decent winter snow tires would be better than buying the best all season tires you can buy.

Regards,
SB

 

[digitalwanderer]

Thanks. I'll hunt around for some decent cheap winter ones and try and out snow the Jeeps! Emmy has done it before with all season performance tires, she has a great all wheel drive system and a much better driver.

That being said, I'd really like to have the Wrangler before too much snow comes. I can get that thing through anything now that I know how to use it properly, and a winch helps.

 

[neckthrough]

Continental DWS are great all-rounders, and will be workable in light snow, especially when new.

But nothing beats a set of dedicated snows. Keep them mounted on a cheap set of rims and swapping them is easy peasy.

 

[Sonic]

Continental DWS are great all-rounders, and will be workable in light snow, especially when new.

But nothing beats a set of dedicated snows. Keep them mounted on a cheap set of rims and swapping them is easy peasy.

I agree with this. It may be a larger investment up front but the peace of mind and and being prepped are worth it.

 

[digitalwanderer]

I wish you folks were in charge of my budget. I can't even get snow tires of any sort for as cheap as the Firestone Firehawks V2, goes from $672 to well over a grand fast. Glad it's not my decision, my wife will let me know then I'll let all you know.

 

[WhiningKhan]

Glad it's not my decision,

Yeah, it can get tiresome.
Badada-pssshhh.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

I wish you folks were in charge of my budget. I can't even get snow tires of any sort for as cheap as the Firestone Firehawks V2, goes from $672 to well over a grand fast. Glad it's not my decision, my wife will let me know then I'll let all you know.

Another hint for winter tires. You don't have to have the same width tires for Winter and non-Winter. I actually go with 55 series (wide and flat on 16" rims) for summer and 70 series (tall and narrow, I can't remember if they are 14" or 15" rims) for winter driving. I'm not looking to drive aggressively in the winter and narrow tires generally do better in the snow than wider tires (it's more complicated than that, but in general it holds). Even 65 series tires would be noticeably cheaper.

That saves massively on cost while also increasing gas mileage slightly during the winter even with higher ethanol content in gasoline at the pump. Of course, doing that you really have to have rims dedicated for Winter and non-Winter tires, but you should do that anyway.

I'm going to guess your infiniti has 60 series or wider tires which will tend to be quite a bit more expensive and totally unnecessary (IMO) in winter snow conditions. Unless you get really aggressive treads (think mud tires like you're see on a truck) wider is going to be relatively less safe than narrower tires in snow. Although wider might have a little more traction on ice. Personally, I prefer tires that are more suited to safer driving in snow, hence going with 70 series.

Regards,
SB

 

[digitalwanderer]

45 on 18" all her life.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

45 on 18" all her life.

Oh yeah, those are going to be super expensive. Ouch.

Regards,
SB

 

[digitalwanderer]

And her rear passenger right won't hold air for an hour now, sort of a rock and a hard place situation. I'm gonna get any rubber I can.

 

[RobertR1]

Totally off topic but what happened to Brit and Alstrong? Just moved on from the community?

 

[Albuquerque]

Since you asked about all seasons I'm going to skip the part about buying dedicated snow tires. I too ride on all seasons all year, even in deepAF snow, and it's fine. Maybe it isn't so great as a snow tire, but I don't really care. The only car in my stable which has two sets of wheels and tires is the 500whp Miata, only because the summers are R888's and there's no way they stick to literally anything below about 55*F.

Anyway: my recommendation to basically anyone and everyone for all seasons is to buy as much Michelin AS4+ as you can. I have them on our 2023 Tesla Y Performance, I have them on The 2014 Mazda 6 GT, and they are the "cold weather" tires for the turbo Miata, obviously with the boost turned down to something sane (it makes about 280whp on the 7psi spring pressure.) My 2013 Mazda 6 Sport runs some Bridgestones that were the cheapest thing Costco sold in that size, only because that car is purely utilitarian and Bridgestones are fine for what it is and does.

The Michelins ride well, wear well, and have at least "good" traction in all weather types, they're an amazing all season tire.

 

[digitalwanderer]

I'm gonna pull my wheel and see if I can find the leak and patch it for now, if it's a nail in the tire or something I can fix that pretty easy.

 

[Albuquerque]

Yeah, if the tire compound isn't more than five years old and the nail is in the treadblocks, then you're probably fine to plug/patch it. Most tire places will tell you a patch can't be done on the outermost / inntermost treadblock rows or even the tread "ditch" adjoining those last treadblock rows, but I've had 100% success rate using plugs in any treadblock area. At the same time, it's worth noting that rubber does have a specific lifespan and old tires, even with excellent tread and no visible cracks, can still turn dangerous as the rubber itself degrades in UV light and with heat cycling.

The 2013 Mazda 6 I mentioned above just had the Bridgestones replaced simply because they had aged out, even though they looked like they had probably half of their treadlife remaining. it just doesn't get driven enough to really wear out the tires, and it does live outside for a large portion of its life.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

That made me curious, so I checked them out. Decent but obviously not great snow and ice performance. Doable if you are careful in the winter. I wouldn't want to chance it on some of the hills in my area, but should be OK with cautious driving otherwise. Keep in mind where I'm at we can have snow and ice on the ground permanently for weeks and sometimes months at a time.

Braking is much better than summer tires, but that goes without saying. Not so great compared to a dedicated winter tire.

Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4

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Quite nice for an all season tire, however!

Regards,
SB

 

[Albuquerque]

Memphis gets ice every year, it usually sticks around for a few days at most. I had the Tesla Model Y Performance (~500 all-wheel-drive horsepower) out in the ice early this year and the Michelin AS4+'s did absolutely fine. I think no small part of this conversation is driver behavior; snow tires might permit more unsafe decisions because they can eek out more traction from really bad traction situations. At the same time, should any sane person be trying to push those limits on ice and snow?

Part of it is the technology too though. The Tesla has absolutely amazing traction control, it's something stupid like a 500Hz sampling rate, entirely possible because it's a purely electric drivetrain and can respond that fast. Someone over on Reddit actually did a very solid analysis of their Model 3 Performance wheel speed behavior on an icy road, and provided plot data for others to review. Two notable quotes from the post:

At the 1 second mark the wheels are only rotating at ~80 RPM, meaning these adjustments are occurring as frequently as 7-8 times per wheel rotation.

...and...

One other noteworthy section of the graph occurs around the 14 second mark when the regen power on the front motor is first observed to drop for about 0.15 seconds followed by a similar drop 0.28 seconds later on the rear axle. At the car's approximate speed of 36 km/h at the time, the 0.28 second delay equates to a travel distance of 110 inches, which almost exactly matches my car's 113 inch wheelbase. This means the traction control reacted to a single patch of ice that first traversed the front wheels by slowing regen braking and then resuming full regen on that axle before doing it again when the same patch of ice had reached the back tires

Sure, a dedicated set of snow tires would improve braking performance. But let's flip the script: what would you say if I insisted you NEEDED a set of R888 100TW compound tires for summer, because they absolutely destroy the dry, hot weather traction of your all seasons? You want safety right? You want maximum braking efficiency and emergency lane change grip, right? You love and care for the family you're hauling in your car, right? Then why don't you right now own a set of wheels and 100TW tires for the hot portion of the summer?

There will ALWAYS be a very specific option that solves a very narrow problem. Does Digi live in a place where more than $1500 makes sense for buying a whole new set of wheels, and tires, and TPMS sensors, and then finding a place to store them, just so they can be dragged out for a few months every year when it's truly cold enough to matter? Would you do the same with a set of 100TW wheels and tires?

I of course do this on my Miata, because bluntly it weighs far too little and generates far too much power to be safe without such tires. The rest of my cars simply do not necessitate separate wheels and tires for summer and winter, even though we certainly get ice literally every year.

 

[WhiningKhan]

I'm actually happy I don't have to think whether winter tires are worth the money or not. Would have probably killed myself on the road by this age cheapskating (sic), were they not mandated by law here...

 

[digitalwanderer]

Ok so I got my tire repaired and found out my other tire with a slow leak has a bent rim, aluminum cast so difficult to repair the guy at the tire shop said. They didn't charge me anything, but I'm running 2 different makes of tires on my front and rear on an awd vehicle which ain't really good for its transmission. (again, according to the guy at Discount Tires)

I started looking at steel rims and can get them in 17" or 16", I'm currently running on 18". If I drop down to a skinnier 16" rim what would I be looking for in height? The ratio number of rim to tire thickness thingy. I'm currently running 245/45 on my 18", what would I need for a 16" that is 6.5" wide? 65? 75? A set of steelies and some really good snow tires are now a very realistic option that would give me time to consider my new wheel options for summer.

Appreciate all the help and thanks in advance for any advice. No rush, I got a reliable auto again but she ain't optimal yet so the quest continues.

EDITED BITS: This is what I found very late at night when I was very baked, so I'm not at all sure why or how I decided on them. The bolt pattern is correct at least.



And using their visualizer:

 

[Davros]

Digi you could have got a set of these :