Sponsored by The Tire Rack

[Rekrul]

Good stuff gents. Now I'm thinking of going 245/40/18 square instead of the 235 all around or the staggered set up.

[gthal]

Originally Posted by Rekrul

Good stuff gents. Now I'm thinking of going 245/40/18 square instead of the 235 all around or the staggered set up.

That's the size I ran last winter and it worked well. Good luck with whatever you choose.

[pbonsalb]

I am running the 3Ds on stock 18s, in 235/40 and 255/40. They were all I could find in January. I might have gone with the LM60 if they had been available. I wanted a performance snow, meaning I was willing to give up snow performance to get better dry performance. I have run the 3D or M3 before on, but they are probably getting old in terms of design by now, which is why I might have tried the LM60. Something like the Nokian Hakka2 would be a more serious snow tire, but not much fun in the dry. I have run the older Hakka before. The WRG2 is really more of an all season tire than a snow tire. I would not bother running it.

[signes]

Originally Posted by Rekrul

Good stuff gents. Now I'm thinking of going 245/40/18 square instead of the 235 all around or the staggered set up.

Great choice...

[Chowster]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

I am running the 3Ds on stock 18s, in 235/40 and 255/40. They were all I could find in January. I might have gone with the LM60 if they had been available. I wanted a performance snow, meaning I was willing to give up snow performance to get better dry performance. I have run the 3D or M3 before on, but they are probably getting old in terms of design by now, which is why I might have tried the LM60. Something like the Nokian Hakka2 would be a more serious snow tire, but not much fun in the dry. I have run the older Hakka before. The WRG2 is really more of an all season tire than a snow tire. I would not bother running it.

In fact not true. The WRG2 carries the M+S symbol.

[Rekrul]

Originally Posted by Chowster

In fact not true. The WRG2 carries the M

Have you used them?

[pbonsalb]

Originally Posted by Chowster

In fact not true. The WRG2 carries the M

Even Nokian markets them as "All Weather Tires"

http://www.nokiantires.com/tyre?id=1...01&name=Nokian

[bigjae1976]

Originally Posted by w00tw00t

this thread is so depressing.... does this mean winter is here? :-(

yesterday it was 103 in San Antonio and I was baking in the sun. Winter tires have not crossed my mind recently.

With that said, I have a set of Hankook icebears for my 330 which were very good in Korea. Cost about $480 for a set of 4 235/45R17s. I could easily get up the many VERY steep hills in light snow and they gripped pretty well in the dry. Even felt good at 100mph.

Not sure about their ice capability. If I know anything about Korean made stuff...it will probably be extra terrible.

[Chowster]

Originally Posted by Rekrul

Have you used them?

Yes, I have them on my MDX. Hard to compare them to Dunlops on my M3, but the WRG2s have gotten me around in the winter/snow no problems. However, if I were getting a dedicated winter setup, I'd get a dedicated winter tire. WRG2s are made for year-round usage with with winter capabilities, so they MUST give up some winter goodness for their summer usage.

[2thdr]

Originally Posted by horsie

I had a set of WRG2's on my 135i for 2 brutal Canadian winters. They were great in everything except deep snow or very slippery conditions. Impressive all-season tire, tire compound is a bit softer, so it wears faster. Good handling and grip in the summer and quiet. I'd compare the winter traction to be on par with a good high performance winter tire, like the Pirelli Winter Sottozero II 240 I have on my M3.

FWIW, I had a set of Dunlop M3's on my '07 530xi Touring, and that car could go anywhere anytime in the winter, but surprisingly a set of Continental ExtremeContact all-seasons performed just as well in the winter. I got tired of the fall and spring swaps between winter/summer sets, so I tried a set of all-seasons. Worked perfectly. Obviously the AWD made a difference.

I would agree with this 100%. I used the Wintersport M3 on my e46 M3 and that thing was a mountain goat. And they wear exceptionally well with the V-rating.

I have also ran (and continue to run) the WRG2's on a FWD Honda civic. When I first put them on one winter, I took them through a blizzard with 30cm of snow and made it home through a 5 hour drive. I have used them for 3 years and they wear exceptionally well. Not as grippy in my opinion as a true winter, but I think the real thing you have to ask yourself is how often you will have to drive through lots of snow. In my city, the snow is cleared off major roads within 24-48 hours. Residential is not so fortunate, so snow can accumulate, but also gets packed down very quickly as well. I find that more often than not in the winter, I spend about 90% of my time driving on roads that have been paved, sanded, and salted and really are bone dry. At that point, I think is kind of sucks to be confined to tires that are squirrely.

IMHO, I would source the Wintersport M3's. Aggressive tread pattern, wears fantastic, and you don't sacrifice handling in the drier conditions of winter.