I'm thinking about putting snow tires on the front wheels only. Any downside in doing this?

 

yes, not recommended at all... Don't be cheap, buy 4... I highly recommend the bridgestone blizzaks... Had the WS60's on my old car, and have the WS70's on my TL... They are fantastic in ice, snow and slush.

 

Yes. Its called your tail hanging out.

Picture this scenario you take a corner with the winter tires on the front, you will either get insane oversteer where you don't have enough steering angle to correct the spin or you will get a lot of understeer which is typically the reaction you would get given the fact that the rear is not tracking in the snow, ice or road given the surface temprature. Please don't cheap out. You can find used all weather's or winter tires that people sell all the time.

Its not just your life on the road its everyone else's around you too.

 

NO NO NO all four or not at all


FYI, I have snows on both of my Acuras and the TSX will go just about anywhere but the TL w/SH-AWD is unstoppable. I love it when we have a big snowstorm, we pile in and go... nice thing is wherever we go isn't crowded when we get there.

 

Hmmm that's true. Actually quite a benefit to a snow storm. Most just stay off the roads. Having the right hardware and knowing how to tackle the issue makes life easy as pie and convenient too!

 

Don't do it, or else your car's rear end will catch up with the front on slippery roads faster than you can blink your eyes.

 

This might be feasible if you plan to drive in reverse all the time!
We used to drive only rwd (fwd was crazy newfangled foreign idea)
and we used to only have snows on the back driving wheels. It worked but it wasn't great. A fwd car is so much better in the snow (than rwd only) but as others have said, you really need winter tires all around!

 

If u only get fronts, make sure u install a brush guard, bushwacker fenders, rock crawler rear bumper, and a winch.

Ditch boy.

 

ROFL. Wasn't sure where that was going but that was good!

 

As a former Bridgestone factory rep, Blizzaks are preferred, but if cannot afford, go with what you can, on all 4 corners or asking for trouble.


I suggest going with 60 series, even 16 steel wheels, then storing in Spring, should get at least 2 or 3 winters, maybe more out of them, when I lived in Chicago, it was amazing how could go 'rallying' around in the snow and ice with snows, also allows you to buy Summer Perf tires and skip the A/S route, no compromise either way.

 

^^^
Will 16" wheels clear the calipers? I would check this prior to getting 16" wheels.

 

I will go with 4 snow tires. Thanks for the replies.

I'm looking at the Blizzak WS70 & Michelin X-Ice XI3 on tirerack. Any recommendation?

What tire size do you recommend? 225/55R17?

 

I think that would work well. There may be others.
The 225/55 is within 3 mm of the height (diameter) of the 245/50.
Usually narrower is better in the winter, like you are doing.

 

I run 4 - 225/55R17 Blizzak WS70's in the snow of Cleveland. They handle the weather extremely well. They have lasted 3 seasons so far. I just replaced my 100K SH AWD with a new one like it and they have about 1/2 to 1 season left. Good luck. Snow is in the air.

 

Just take the initial hit and buy another set of rims/tires for winter. Since you will be rotating seasonally, it'll delay buying 3 season tires by a few years. Going with smaller rims/tires (-1 sizing should be cheaper, too). With both our vehicles SH-AWD, we still put winters on in mid-October and run it until April. I can't tell how often we were able to avoid accidents in adverse conditions while others were sliding everywhere.

I wish our insurance company would give us discount, though, for using winters.

 

Hey, Gr 6 spd, snow in the air is not so bad! It's the 12" that fell on the ground here yesterday that's the problem!


But thanks for your post.
I drove to Cleveland once to see a double header with Indians and Yankees in 1962. Then home the same day/night. No snow on that trip.

 

Speaking of snows, I can get a nice deal through my local tire guy on 17" wheels and nokian tires. Will 17's clear the brakes on the SH-AWD?

 

I have 17's and they clear the SH AWD brakes. I got them from the Tire Rack with the TPMS Monitors installed. The best part about the Acura is that the car "learns" the wheel's TPMS without having to program the sensor. I change my wheels from summer to winter in the garage.

 

Thanks. We have a '12 grand Cherokee and a dedicated set of winter wheels and tires for that. The sensors auto detect on that vehicle too.

 

I had to have the sensors programmed on my Mazdaspeed6. Our 2012 Honda Odyssey has to be programmed as well. It is good to know other manufacturers are offering that tech.