Snow tires for P5
 

I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations for snow tires for the P5.

What brand and size??? I noticed that discounttiredirect.com has 16",15",14" for the P5. I would think my best bet would be to go for the 14's, especially since we just got 7' of snow here (no thats not a typo).

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Sean

I live just west of you and i am dealing with the same thing.As the other guy says 14's won't fit! Discounttire has the best price i can find for new steel. You could find all for the price of one at auto yard. The other option would be to buy a 205/50-16 winter tire. Once again discount tire has mich artic alpin for $101 a piece. FREEshipping That is the route I'm taking for my Vivid P5.

I went with the 15" steel wheel package from TireRack and some Blizzak LM22 tires. I had the pleasure of driving through that area on Friday night and they were just fine!

I'm running Michelin Arctic Alpins (195/55-15) on Steel wheels... a TireRack package.

Fit is great, rolling circumference is nearly identical, and the grip in snow and ice is amazing.

A little noisier and softer then the stock setup, but handling is still sharp.

i've got 14's on my P5, with Blizzak WS-50's - they're great!

steels

The bad and the good...
 

The bad :

205/50-16 winter tires...I couldn't believe it when I read...Anyway I won't go further or else I'll loose it with this one...

The good :

14" steel rims with Blizzaks


My recommendation :

185/65R14 Blizzaks, Arctic Alpin or Nokian Hakkapellita

Good Luck in Buffalo!

haha - i totally agree :)
185/65R14 is exactly my size too

14" Steel rims
 

If I go with the 14" combo from tirerack or discount tire will they fit? I see everyone saying I'll have clearance problems with the brakes (didn't even think about that).

Hey Loose what size are the 14s on your P5? Did you happen to get them somewhere off the net?

talon4x4,

I know of several people online who have 14" on their p5s.

I have 15s and there is more than 1" clearance all around the brakes (you only need 0.6" really to barely fit I think)

What a liar! :p I actually have 185/70R14's Finally got the info on my rims: X40630T 14x5.5, my parts guy (here at GM) sourced them for me from Montreal I think. Sorry, don't know the suppliers name. But maybe that # might work for someone/somewhere?

We had over a foot of snow in the last 48 hours and temps are in the teens so nothign is melting. The roads are slush, snow and ice covered everywhere.

Most weekedays I jsut go to work and come home, but yesterday I had 2 press checks in teh next town over so was on the road most of th eday going back and forth. My Michelin Arctic Alpins have been AMAZING, and HIGHLY recommend them.

Re: The bad and the good...
 

Why is 205/50-16 bad for snow tire? I have been thinking to get this particular size Nokians WR to replace the stock A/S on the stock 16" rims. Should I be anticipating any problems doing this?

Re: Re: The bad and the good...
 

First reason is traction, the 16" has a 205mm tread, whereas the 14" has 185mm. Contrary to bare road traction, snow traction is improved with a narrower tire, because the weight of the vehicle is concentrated and will "bite" better into the snow.

The second reason is cost. 14" steelies plus 14" snows are a LOT cheaper than the 15" or 16" combos.

Re: Re: Re: The bad and the good...
 

That make sense; however, I would still prefer to put Nokians WR on stock 16" rims because I intend to use it as "the" tires year round (as opposed to having separate wheels for winter tire).

I know that the WR have thread life guarantee so I'm not concerned about wear. My main concern is how different the performance of the snow tires in winter conditions would be. Would there be concerns other than less than optimal performance and cost? I was quoted approx $1000 for the 16" Nokians WR; how much money would I save approx if I go with 14"? How much poorer should I expect 16" tires to perform in the snow?

Anyone has Nokian WR on stock 16" rims (205/50/16)? Any problems in terms of rub on the body and bad performance? Is it much more expensive than 15" ones? I intend to use them as A/S and that's why I don't wanna try 15" steelies.

Please help

205/50 wont give you any rub...its just barely larger than stock...i also am looking at winter tires to go on my stock 16'" alloys, i've got them sitting here, not being used, so i might as well keep the car looking good year round, ive got 17's for the summer, and i need winter tires.....i'm from cleveland, and we get a lot of snow up here, and i have gone every winter on either stock or all-season tires, so i'm not gonna complain with 16" snow tires...it will be an improvement over the Dunlops with 25-30000 miles on them last winter :D

I got my 14 inch steel rims and 185/60/14 sympherit tires from discounttire.com for $429 shipped and lifetime warranty on tires from curbs and other things. They computer mounted them, too???? They handle great in dry conditions and do very well in the snow, especially after all the snow we got last winter up here in Mass.

If the info that I have is correct (check at http://www.1010tires.com/tire.asp?ti...+210+Snowsport), you could add the Pirelli Winter 210 Snowsport to your list; they are available in your stock size (195-50-16), are H-rated and have good reviews on this site. On the downside, these are asymmetrical tires and they don't seem to have a treadwear warranty.

I'm currently running Nokian WR 195-55-55 on my Protege and I love them as A/S tire, but I can't say anything at this moment for winter conditions...

The reason I was concerned is because winter tires tend to have a bit higher sidewalls and with load (e.g. 3 passengers on the back) may be a bit much for bigger size tires.
As for winter tires, I have heard great things about Nokians. You can go hard core with the Happa 1. I am planning on All Weather WR because of decent snow and ice performance and thread wear warranty.

I have 185/65R14 with Nokian Hakkapellita Q's. I did have to go to a few different shops to find rims. The cheapo steel rims I bought at Canadian Tire did not fit on the mount. I returned these and bought some from Kal-tire which worked great for me last winter. The performance was great last winter. Having driven these tires I will never go back to an all-season tire again in the winter.