Neal@tirerack

iTrader: (25)

Rock on man! Keep us posted

Nemesis3

iTrader: (4)

Hey Neal, What you do think about the Dunlop Winter Sport M3 in comparison to the Conti's? I was doing some looking around comparing tires, I've narrowed it down to these two, so was wondering on your input to maybe bring to the final one.
FYI, I'm in Chicago (Chicago weather and Winter) driving conditions. These tires will be use for winter only, I'll have another set for summer / warmer temps. Just want a good tire for a decent price range, not meaning I want a cheapest price and cheapest made neither. LOL thanks

Neal@tirerack

iTrader: (25)

Nothing will provide you the snow traction like a dedicated winter tire will. If maximum snow traction is what your after, then the Dunlop M3 would be the better tire. The Conti will work very well all year round, but if you have a set of summer tires already, the best thing to do for winter is purchase a set of snows. I would recommend the M3's. For urban based driving where you see more plowed roads/highways that is a great tire to use

boomn29

iTrader: (47)

Neal,
I'm thinking of purchasing an all-season tire (Conti's are in the lead) and putting them on my stock rims. My question is, would it hurt the tire to take them off in Spring and put my factory Yoko's back on?? Then to put them back on in the Winter again?
The reason is, I have only 5600 miles on the Yoko's and they have plenty of tread left on them that I do not want to lose. I'd buy an extra set of rims, but don't have the cash flow of $1200!

Neal@tirerack

iTrader: (25)

Yes, that would be just fine. The only risk you are taking is potential damage to the wheel and tire every time you take them off and on. However, any good tire installer should have no issues with installation. Lots of people do this and it works out fine

DGS

Be very sure you have a local shop you'd trust to do the work without messing up the rims and tires.

Some shops don't like to do installs where they're not selling you the tires. Make sure you avoid shops that try to "enhance revenue" with a schtick like, "oops -- well, it must have been ready to break, anyway". (Caveat emptor)

Many shops get a bit sloppy with the tire machine for alloy rims. (You should see all the dings a midwest shop did to the Speedlines on my summer car when the previous owner had it.)

Find out what a trustworthy shop would charge to mount and balance tires you brought. (Remember, you have to rebalance each time.)

It might not take too many swaps to justify the price of some "beater" winter rims. (It's not impossible that you might tag a curb with a rear wheel, when it's hidden in the snow -- or if you get a bit tail happy in a slippy turn. I'd rather do that with a cheaper rim than with the Enkeis.)

I think the MM HT3s would run about $800. Tha KA-3s are even less (but are 17x7.5 instead of 17x8).

tpm17

iTrader: (38)

What is the bolt pattern and offset on our stock wheels? Is there a minimum ans max. offset?

Neal@tirerack

iTrader: (25)

5-114 bolt , 17X8 wheel, 38mm offset, 67mm centerbore

tpm17

iTrader: (38)

Hey Neal as you said they would my Conti Extreme Contacts arrived today via UPS Ground. Thanks for everything again great service from www.tirerack.com

Neal@tirerack

iTrader: (25)

Anytime! Keep us posted on those Conti's.

spyderturbo

Neal, I'm also thinking about the Dunlop Winter Sport M3 or M2's.

It looks like the M3's are run flats and the M2's aren't.

Is this true and are their any other differences between the 2 tires?

thanks,

Neal@tirerack

iTrader: (25)

They do have a run-flat version of the M3 tires available. However, the 235/45-17 for the EVO is not a run-flat. The M2 and M3 are great tires to have in urban, plowed areas. The main difference is the M2 is H rated and the M3 is V rated. So, the M3 is a better handling tire on the dry roads than the M2's.

Nemesis3

iTrader: (4)

Neal,

Ok, you said that the Dunlop M3 area good for urban, plowed streets...what about during snow falls (med. to heavy) and the plows hasn't go thru the streets/roads yet, will the M3 still provide a good traction or will the Conti do better? I don't mean 1-3 feet of snow either, maybe 1-3"
I've read some of the posting in Tire Rack's from your customers that bought the M3s, but still I'm not certain, I need a set of tires for any winter conditions; cold dry,wet, slush, light to heavy snow, plowed or unplowed.
thanks

DGS

For those who'd like to go slightly narrower for winter, there is a 225/45-17 runflat M3 for the ASA 17x7.5 rim, according to the tirerack specs page, but the run-flat version of the M3 is H-rated. Both the 235/45-17 and 225/45-17 non-runflats are V-rated.

The Bridgestone 225/45-17s aren't all that far off the diameter of the stock Yokos, due to the larger tread blocks. I still haven't heard back from Dunlop about diameters and mounting specs for the M3s.

I'd rather have the V-rated tires, but I might just opt for the LM-22s if Dunlop continues to deny any knowledge of the Winter Sports on their web pages and ignores their feedback email. I can do without an unsupported tire.

Neal@tirerack

iTrader: (25)

There is a very strict policy enforced by the tire manufactures and The Tire Rack when it comes to run flat tires. If your car did not come with run flats, I cannot sell one to you unless you purchase a tire pressure monitoring system at the same time. The reason for this is good.

Because self-supporting tires are so good at masking the traditional loss-of-air symptoms which accompany a flat tire, they require a tire pressure monitoring system to alert the driver that they have lost air pressure. Without such a system, the driver may not notice underinflation and may inadvertently cause additional tire damage or failure by failing to inflate or repair the tire at the first opportunity. Typically, self-supporting tires maintain vehicle mobility for 50 miles at speeds up to 55 mph.

Now I am sure someone here will flame me for trying to sell a monitoring system with tires, but thats the way it is. The tire manufactures MAKE us follow this policy and with good reason. A run flat can come apart like any other tire can with no air in it.