talon4x4

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

ry_clark

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.

JJB

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!

Sporin

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.

LooseCannon

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

LooseCannon

steels

iroc326

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!

LooseCannon

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

talon4x4

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?

Fulminatus

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)

LooseCannon

What a liar! 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?

Sporin

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.

zerodk

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?

multipath

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.

zerodk

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?