I live in Upstate New York. We tend to get a fair amount of cold weather and snow in the winter. Spring and fall are relatively mild, and summers have been quite warm as of late.
In particular, I'd like to get something that performs well in the winter. What would you recommend?

 

Most people on here that live in the north end up getting a second set of wheels and put dedicated snow tires on them. If you don't want to go that route, I recommend the Continental Extreme DWS.

 

pirelli PZ Nero all seasons are great, i have them on my car right now

 

Short of getting a set of dedicated winter tires (or rims & tires), Continental DWS have preformed well for me. In the long run, cost between running dedicated winter/summer tires as compared to running solely all-seasons is pretty comparable considering the limited wear the seasonal tires get per season. So the up front cost is offset by the longevity you'll get out of each set.

Living in Philadelphia means we could get almost no snow, up to the ridiculous amount of snowfall we had last year. With last year in mind, my Conti DWS held their ground quite respectfully. I've also been using all season tires on every car I've owned since I've been 16 (now 32), so I am used to knowing the limits of the tires. Most people that chime in are going to say get dedicated seasonal tires, and they're right to an extent. Dedicated seasonal tires will always out perform an all-season tire, but it really depends on how you drive, and where you live. I am a HUGE fan of the DWS and know that it gets the job done for me all year round, but we don't see the amount or the frequency of snow fall that you will in central New York. If you can, I would recommend getting winter/snow tires, if you can't swing that, the Conti DWS is your best all-season bet IMHO.

 

Continental Extreme DWS

 

I just ordered some Falken ZE-512... I probably won't survive the winter.

 

me so pissed!! everywhere in lower mainland, bc is sold out of DWS!! and tirerack is on back order for like 2months!!
farrrkk!! apparently, vancouver is going to have it's worst winter this year due to "le nina" **sigh...

 

If you head south, they have DWS in stock @ the discount tires in the seattle Area. Maybe check Bellingham.

 

Order the 225/40/18. Tire Rack has plenty, and they fit great.

 

I checked that, it was a good option, but they don't even have any in stock... it says closest location "usually up to 24hours" but i highly doubt that since everywhere quoted me 6weeks - 8 weeks. that, and aren't you supposed to break in new tires, and go back after 50km to have them check the torque on the bolts??

do you have some pictures of the /40/?? i kinda want a slightly larger sidewall though.. hahaha i duno..

 

^ The sidewall pretty much looks the same. There is only a tiny difference in the diameter of the 215/45 and 225/40 tires.

 

i wanna fill as much of the wheel well space as possible without lowering yet.. hahahah but yea... maybe i will get that if i hear nothing back come november...

you running dws yourself?? heard nothing but good stuff about these a/s

 

Yeah, I had to get the 225/40 DWS's last month because everyone was out of the 215/45 and 225/45 DWS's. They are great tires. Handle really well in the rain. I'm kind of hoping it snows down here this winter, so I can see how they do in really slick conditions.

 

There is about ~.9 of inch difference in over all diameter between 225/40/18 & 225/45/18

225/40/18 will have approx. a 3.5" sidewall

225/45/18 will have approx. s 4" sidewall

215/45/18 will have approx. a 3.8" sidewall, so you really can't go wrong with either size

Handy Tire Size Calculator

 

Do the Continental Extreme DWS's even compare to dedicated snow tires?

Can a Ralliart with snow mode engaged compensate for some of the traction loss between the Conti's vs most snow tires?