I just moved from Cali fo Michigan and would like to know what to do about the snow when winter comes?

I have a Type S and am considering buying some smaller wheels to put snow tires for a set of wheels for the winter. Is this a good idea?

What recommendations are there for safety, tires, wheels, etc.

-Jack

 

What part of michigan are you in? Im in Ann Arbor and usually the roads are cleared pretty well. Most people I know, which are students, just keep all season tires and are just more careful when they drive. I didn't know there were many people on this board from michigan.

 

yah here i sit in central new york, and i figured i would eventually need the same kinda setup. i think im going to go with pirelli's, mostly because you need snow tires around here, i dont want to go to smaller rims, and i like to have as much protection as possible. these seem to be the only 'snows' i could find for our stock rim size. but tirerack carries them and they seem to get a great rating, so i think ill enjoy them. here they are, let me know what you guys think.

from tirerack
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

from pirelli-
http://www.us.pirelli.com/en_US/tyre...productid=2657

 

In Michigan watch out for potholes. Well, in Flint anyway. I don't live there but that is the main reason I DON'T take my TL-S there to visit the in-laws. 50 series tires there can get eaten up faster than a union job at GM.

 

man, i'm lucky i live in New Orleans... i have never had to drive through snow in my life. Actually i have never seen snow in my life..... around here, the rims u have on your car stays on your car... i have a prelude at home, that rides on 19" chrome axis hagens with some 225/35/19 tires, and it rides on that year round...

 

Up here in Canada, I just use my stock 16" rims and tires.... Then when the snow melts I put on my 18" rims for the summer. Winter here lasts from about mid October to about mid May (Call me crazy for living here??)........ when it snows it really snows..... but our city is good enough to clear the streets right away. It also helps living on a bus route, because they are the streets they clear first. I use my factory rims and tires and works well for me!!

 

The potholes actually aren't as bad as I thought they would be. The type-s handles them well I think. It absorbs the big ones well but the constant bumps on certain roads make me feel like I'm driving over an old brick road. I can't believe how poorly paved and maintained the roads are here. They even have these "speed bump" sized lumps on the freeways and when you hit them at 70 mph you think your shocks are gonna pop. I wonder what the life of shocks are around here.

I don't want to buy tires for my stock type-s wheels because I want to have it easy to switch between the two sets between seasons. I just don't know where I'm gonna keep a 2nd set of wheels with tires yet though.

Can those tires from Pirelli be kept on all year round? Maybe I'll just get a really good set of all-seasons then.

I don't see many people here with import cars. I think I've only see one other Type-S this whole time and it's been 2 weeks. In California, I saw a Type-S every day. Any tips on what to do to protect myself and my car while I'm here? I heard lots or stories about people having their car broken into and/or stolen.

 

hey man, i'm from MI... i drove all year with my stock tires and didn't have a problem at all... just drive slower than usual and don't gun it and you'll be fine with what you have

 

I used to live in Cleveland - land of the giant winter pothole... I suggest you get a set of snowtires on a set of lower cost rims (I did Borbet E)

I chose to go with 16" to put a little more rubber between the rims and the bottom of the potholes - gave up a bit of handling, but didn't bend any rims in the 2 winters I had the tires.

Now live in AL, so not much chance of snow - the tires are sitting in the bsmt collecting dust

 

wanna sell me your rims and tire combo?

 

From Wisconsin... I have always driven all season tires in the winter. Last 2 vehicles were a 95 Maxima and a 90 Integra.

I bought Blizzak snows for my 03 TLS last fall and put them on the stock rims. I did a bunch of travelling last winter and it made a BIG difference having snow tires. Night and day compared with all season tires. I bought chrome rims and put the stock tires on those. Now the tire place swaps them in spring and fall for free as part of lifetime rotation.

Very glad I did it.

 

Snow isn't the primary reason to get winter tires, temperature is.

It's very hard for one rubber compound to behave optimally in -5 and in +100.

You should be able to get some 16 inch wheels for $100 each (I got stock TL 16's). The best thing about this is you no longer have to be limited in the summer with the "all season" compromise tire. With 17 or 18 inch z rated summer tires you can REALLY drive this car woot!

Oh, and you'll SAVE money with two sets of wheels because 16 inch snow tires tend to be cheap $80 or so and ever mile driven on an $80 tire is a mile of wear saved on a $200 tire.