I am about to place an order for a 2004 TL 6MT. I live in New England so having snow tires is a must. I've called Tire Rack (checked their site as well) and because of the large brakes they offer no special snow tire packages for this car - they only offer 17" snows which is better than OEM, but not as good as a 16" setup. Any ideas on this? Has anyone done anything creative?

 

I was told that I needed to stay with at least H rated 17" snows...
They recommended Nokian's 220cdn or all the rest at 280cdn....I would love to find an alternative. Q rated Dunlops will fit... but I am not sure how well they will perform on the TL they are almost half the price... 140cdn.

 

wow...17" snow are hell expensive!!!

 

TL-Rocket - note, even the spare is a 17" rim, look at the pics in the owners manual for changing a tire.

Get the dunlop M3 snows in the 235/45-17 size, they are a great snow, and still handle well (wife has them in a 235/60-16 size).

Available from Tire Rack!

In the summer, go for 18" wheels and tires, what would be better?

 

Hey ricco;

I am looking at the Goodyear GW3's (205/50/R17)and have been quoted $211.00 installed on my stock rims. I went for the 205's because thin is better in the snow.

 

I live in germany, so I have to have snow tires or I'm at fault in a not at fault accident, is the law in germany.

So I have 225/40 Z rate 18"s all season, mud+snow. They are quiet and have a 390 thread rating A+A. They are very good in the summer too.

 

I ended up with the Michelin Pilot Alpin's for a whopping $1200cdn... Not as much fun spending money on tires as it is on stereos, cars.......

 

I run Pilot Alpins on my BMW 325i and love them. Not cheap, however.

Assuming I take delivery of my TL next week (see sticky for recent problems), I will probably try to get through the winter with the all-seasons.

In any event, since I may get snows this winter or next, and I agree with warccm that skinnier is better in the snow, is anybody running 225s or 215s? 205s seem a little small for a car as large as the TL.

 

If you read the post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Normally people with 18's run 225's.....of course this also goes with what persentage of the tire is the side wall like 40's 35's and how wide the rim is, if a you have a 9 inch rim then probably 235's and greater.

 

I am going to use my stock rims with have 215/50/R17's. The tire guy said I had a choice - either 225's or 205's. What would you recommend for a Canadian winter tire?

 

I appreciate your moderation efforts and all, but can do without the lecture, thanks, even if it was supposed to be humorous.

I did read the posts, and nobody above is running 225 SNOW tires, although one person is running 225 ALL SEASON tires, with an 18" wheel.

I don't want to buy two extra sets of rims, nor do I want to run 18s in the snow as I would like to have some sidewall, so I am considering putting 205/215/225/235 SNOWS on the stock 17s.

Anything to add on that subject?

 

Would the different tire size ratios affect the ABS/traction control/ speedometer?


Wouldn't the regular 235 snows be good enough? I know that the skinnier the tire, the more psi on the contact patch, but for the most part aggressive snows should do the trick.


-Chad

 

Not if you pick a combination of width (235) and aspect ratio (45) that is very close or equal to the overall diameter of the stock tire. If you go to a skinnier tire, you would also increase the aspect ratio, from 45 to 50 or perhaps 55 (I haven't done the math yet, but I would guess a 205/50 or so) so that the sidewall height was a greater percentage of the now lesser width of the tire.

A 235/45 has a sidewall that is .45 of 235 mm, while a 205/50 has a sidewall that is .50 of 205. Of course, a tire has two sidewalls when you are calculating its diameter, so in this case the difference would be 211.5 versus 205 (plus the diameter of the rim). Of course, in reality, tire size varies from brand to brand and model to model, but the calculation is a good starting point.

I don't know. I run 225/50/16 summers on my 325i and 205/60/15 snows. I like my results, but I haven't tried 225 snows on the car. I have always read that skinnier snows give better traction.

 

Speedo yes, if the overall diameter of the tire is different from stock.

 

Check out the Yokohama AVS snows on Discouttiredirect.com

 

Ok, can someone set me straight on this, b/c some of the posts here have kind of confused me as to what to do:

I currently drive a 2003 Silver Accord EX V6 (NAV). I just dropped close to $700 at NTB for four Dunlop Wintersport M3s.

(As an Aside -- I gotta tell you, if anyone reading this string is running an 03 or 04 accord, drop those ridiculous Michelins that come stock and get a set of Dunlops or Faulken Ziex. You're seriously missing out on all an accord can do. It becomes a totally different vehicle with good tires.)

Anyhow, the real question is can I, when I trade the accord on my 04 TL, put the M3's on a decent rim and run them on the TL in the winter, so I don't have to drop another grand or so on wintertires? They're pretty much a necessity here in Pgh.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys & gals.

 

Several issues there.

The bolt pattern needs to be the same, to see if the wheels can even be attached to the hubs. I would think they are the same, but I don't know for sure and I don't know what the TL bolt pattern is (it would be a set of numbers like 5 x 113).

If the wheels have the same bolt pattern, the next issue is offset. You need to make sure the wheels will clear the calipers and not rub the fenders. That probably won't be an issue, but you need to find out.

Your Honda dealer should have this info. If not, try www.tirerack.com or www.discounttiredirect.com (although you probably need to call someone at either organization)