Summit1

Sorry if this topic has been 'beat to death', but I'm not finding the info I need:

I have a 2010 Evo X SE, came with stock advans. I have a few questions:

1) Which tires would you recommend for winter driving (New York/Long Island), we get a couple 6-10" snows a year, occasionally icy driving conditions.

2) Do I need to get a new set of wheels (or is it fairly simple for my local tire store (mavis) to swap the wheels into the winter tires?

3) Studs vs. studless??? I suspect studs produce a lot of added road noise (something our cars seem good at making sure we hear... like every dang pebble in the road). I assume that unless I plan to move to Alaska, I'm better off studless.

I bot my Evo X in Jan this past winter. Dealer sent me on my way with the Advans, and it became immediately clear that Advans shouldn't be used in cooler temps. Thanks, and feel free to post links to other threads.

BTW, I've read several mentions of the Blizzaks (I'm assuming we're talking about the LM-60s), but surprised they don't rank at the top by consumer reports:

RANKINGS of WINTER PERFORMANCE TIRES (Best to less):
Nokian WR G2, Price: $205
Hankook Winter i*cept evo, Price: $176
Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 , Price: $195
Nokian Hakkapeliitta R , Price: $207
Goodyear Ultra Grip Performance 2, Price: $150
Continental ContiWinterContact TS830P, Price: $290
Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D, Price: $176
Bridgestone Blizzak WS60, Price: $151
Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme, Price: $243
Toyo Snowprox S952, Price: $246
Bridgestone Blizzak LM-60, Price: $168
Nokian Hakkapeliitta 5, Price: $210
Pirelli Sottozero Winter 240 Series II, Price: $211
Yokohama W.drive, Price: $170
Nitto Winter SN1, Price: $155

BTW, don't pay too much attention to the prices quoted by CR, the LM-60's are quoted as $268 ea. (!) installed by Mavis

Smike

iTrader: (8)

They're old in the world of snow tires.

GY Ultra Grip 2 are the newest GY offering for snow tires. Meant for hi-performance cars. I would get something like that for an Evo. High speed rated, performance snow.

1. You might be able to get away with all-seasons. However, I am willing to bet you will get a lot of snow this winter. I'd go snows in all snow regions this year.

2. Extra set makes it easier to swap, but there is an upfront cost of getting another set of rims. I'd just use the OE wheels and have the tires swapped every season.

3. Studs are old technology. New compounds, tread designs, carcass designs render studs less effective. And most states do not allow studs. You'll have to check your states (and surrounding states) DOT for if legal or not.

Summit1

thx, great advice (much appreciated).

saw these O.Z. wheels in orange (i have graphite gray evo) and my son (and I) went gaga:

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/MiniW...Clar=SE&sw=800

have a look... what a sweet mashup. can you picture these riding through a half foot of fresh white powder!

Answer_1

Definitely an unique look, but $435 a wheel for a winter setup? You'd be better of buying a used set of stock Enkei's for like 500-600 for the set...

And for the tires, I personally went with Toyo Observe Garit KX, had great feedback on them.

Subi.convert

iTrader: (2)

you'd need a second set of TPS sensors too unless you want to deal with the warning. Just anther thing to think about.

sovietEVO

iTrader: (1)

I used the bridgestone blizzaks here in colorado with a ton of snow and drifting and they were great

Summit1

That was my next thought... Toyo... I had a set on my BMW and they were relatively cheap and great quality, wore like nails. Yeah, that set of wheels are pricey--I'll look around, but I like that look so well, I'd consider making them my all-year wheels.

The TPS sensors add $190 to the package, so its the price you pay, but worth it, imo.

xi

Another thing about TPMS. Unless u know someone, you're gonna have to take em into the dealer to get them memorized by the carputer. And that's twice a year. They're probably gonna charge u like, an hours worth of labor, twice a year.

BTW I just drove up to harriman state park from brooklyn and back this afternoon through this huge snowstorm we had and my conti dws all-seasons did fine, even on the back country roads with about 4-5" on the ground. I mean, I didn't drive like an idiot but I did pass quite a few people in all types of vehicles. I do have a set of michelin x-ice xi2's for going upstate and vermont this winter. They're in my living room right now but I can tell you, those suckers have very stiff sidewalls. Definitely stiffer than the continental dws's.

Summit1

If you're correct then that would argue for going with an 'all season' and just forget about screwing around with swapping them. I like having the sensors - I had a slow leak in one tire and probably wouldn't have noticed it early enough if it hadn't been for the sensor. I do not like visiting the dealer's service dept -- a huge inconvenience.

thisisagame24

iTrader: (1)

i have the Blizzaks on the stock wheels. cant afford a second set of wheels. townfair tire swaps between the summer and snow tires for free if you buy them from them. all you have to pay for is a balancing. I took make trips 50 miles each way up and down I 95 before it was plowed and had no problems at all. the Evo is a tank in the snow with some blizzaks and snow mode

Ladogaboy

iTrader: (1)

I'm personally a bigger fan of all-seasons, and a separate set of high performance summer/track tires. Then again, I live out West, so the likelihood of long periods of snow isn't as high.

xi

No one's found a way around the fact that the car only stores 1 set of TPMS id's as far as I know.

In terms of winter performance, the continental DWS is light years ahead of any all-season tire out there, on par with performance winters ~20F (honestly when does it go below that in NYC?). Problem with studless is that unless you're on glare/hard packed snow/ice, you're going to be stopping 3 car lengths sooner 5% of the time and stopping 2 cars lengths later 95% of the time. Friend of mine has Generals and he says doing panic stops in the wet takes like almost twice the distance at 60 (not having ABS doesn't help).

I looked into this a while ago and here's what I came up with: https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/8779101-post1.html

Also I'd like to disclose that I did pick up a set of full on studless winter tires because I go snowboarding a lot and frequently put my car in harm's way to get up there during the biggest storms, ahead of the plows. On the flip side, I drove through the 3 largest snowstorms we had last year with my DWS's, including the largest storm vermont saw driving 8 hours back from jay peak and 16 hours back from the catskills when the christmas storm paralyzed the tri-state area (the plows were stuck). I passed many people, including RWD and FWD cars with full blown snow tires on a lot of sweeping back country roads (though they probably weren't pushing it as hard as I was). The only time when it got hairy was with glare ice and snow (which is why I'm going full blown studless winter this year).

YMMV. You have to see what type of situation you plan to drive in and plan accordingly. Also keep in mind that as an A/S wears, you might not have enough tread depth to get another winter out of em whereas with winter tires, you put em away for next year in the spring.

Subi.convert

iTrader: (2)

I don't want to hijack the thread but does anyone know if the tps warning light can be turned off with evoscan/evoflash?

malves85

iTrader: (3)

Tehpra or someone is actually close to releasing a way to disable the light. Search on here in the ecu thread.

Over here in ny we just got bombarded by a big snow storm. Luckily last weekend I had my winters put back on. Dunlop 3d sports. Have used these since 08 and have never got stuck or spun out. I went out a few times yesterday in the 8in or so of snow and climbed hills everyone else got stuck on. The tires and car were a tank through the snow.
I got enkei rpf1 rims the same size as stock. I have the summer and winter tires on these rims. Get them swapped at mavis each season. This way I keep tpms and dont have to deal with the light.

Summit1

??? I have a local Mavis. How do you deal with the TPMS? It sounds like you just leave the TPMS on the OEM wheels and swap the tires... is that right?

That may be the only option to avoid the whole TPMS reprogram/recognition issue.