Just bought an 08 TL and need advice and experiences of owners

Car came with all season's 235/40/17

I live in Toronto - should I get winter tires and rims or stick with the current ones or get higher profile all season's like a 55 series (current tires need changing soon anyways)

Please discuss / advice as obviously I need the cheapest and as safe as possible option

Thanks

 

235/40/17 on stock wheels? Interesting. They should be 235/45/17.

Getting tires with a thicker sidewalls is an option but doing so will throw off your speedometer.

I would get a 245/45/17. That way you get a little more rubber on the road while keeping the proper sidewall size.

 

FOR WINTER?

I would do 225 or 235 (OEM). Thinner is better for winter. It can cut thru the snow better if the tires have a slimmer profile.

 

Having a proper winter tire would be much better/safer than an all-season tire in most cases I'd assume. I'm not sure how bad the winters are in your area but I'm sitting on OEM-sized Continental DWS all-season tires and they've done fine during the past few New England winters.

 

Yeah, the DWS's are pretty good in snow but offer good handling in the dry.

It's always a trade off though. It's hard to find a tire with both excellent dry handling combined with great snow gripping.

 

Just got an 08 TL too.car came with michelin pilot sport a/s plus 235/45/17 and im from toronto too.i think we're okay for winter..

 

It will depend on where you live, where you commute to. Sometimes Toronto gets a crap load of snow and/or freezing rain. Personally I don't think you can beat 4 good snow tires if you do any amount of driving in Canada! I'm just running some cheap Dunlop graspics (this will be 4th winter with them) 225/45-17 still lots of tread left.

 

DSW ftw! Had them for most of my cars. Been very reliable for the winter.

 

Im doing the same as Franchise, running oem sized continental dws. The handling is not perfect in the dry, theres a tiny bit of wobble, but I'm willing to give that up for a good grip in the winter.

 

Get the winters .. once your down past 7C the rubber compound in the all seasons doesn't flex well enough to release the snow .. Snow is a concern but the biggest concern is the compacted snow and ice .. all seasons don't do well there because they don't flex.

Stick with oem size or 1 down ... thinner the better. Happyboy has the right idea ... matter of fact I had the same tires for 3 years and they were great in all conditions.

 

I live in Toronto also, your best bet would be to go down a tire size to 235/55/16. 16's are a lot cheaper. I got a set of new sport Blizzaks on steel rims for 850 cash a few years back.

 

Nothing beats a dedicated winter tire when driving on snow and ice..... even dry pavement traction is better as the winter tire rubber compound stays soft. You can usually find a set of used wheels on CL or ebay for cheap, mount up some winter tires on those and get a nice set of summer tires for your OEM's.