well.....if it snows where you live then what tires would you buy for the v6 18s. and darn that size is expensive? unless you think i should get that black little steel wheel(is that what its called called????) anyways the tire i want is Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3. its ranked #1 winter tire at tirerack but damn $700+

please dont say i shouldve gotten an i4. i like my 18s. live in chicago and now im on stock tires.

get some billzaks ws 60 17" get the cheap black steel wheels with tpms sensors.
i change over to blizzaks with oem rims in winter. i don't like the michelins because i am biased he he

When my stocks wear out i will. I run my HFPs only during summer/spring time to avoid damaging the wheels during winter and then put on my stocks. Stock tires are pretty shitty as all stock tires.

18" wheels are popular, tires for those wont cost much. Now if you had 19" tires those would cost arm and a leg. I haven't shopped around for winter tires so couldnt tell you the price. Generally winter tires cost more.

I buy mine from Discounttire.com, cant beat free shipping and prices better than TireRack

I got General Altimax Arctic for my stock wheels from tire rack; was about $400 shipped, mounted, and balanced. Can't wait for the temps to drop so I can put them on.

any way you look at if you live in the north winter tires are worth it. 4 cost about 400 last 2 to 4 seasons depending on how much you drive. cost of an accident is always more than 400, plus raised insurance plus the average 500 deductible. it adds up.

For those with 18" - do you keep the winter tires the same size, or drop down to 16 or 17" (also assuming you have different wheels/rims to do so). I'm looking to get some winter tires that will do the job, but I also don't want to look like I took the wheels off a shopping cart either...

Alan

I use plain 16" honda steelies (w/TPMS) for the winter.

I live in upstate NY with $hitty winter on a hill..... never bought winter tires...

will swithc to my OEM 17" rims for the winter...
btw, do you guys think that the salt on the road will rust the stock OEM rims??

I just grabbed a set of Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 for my stock 17s. I believe the '07 Accord we have has them on as winter tires. They rock. :) We usually only get bucket loads of rain so they're pretty much unneeded for the winter, although for the rare occasions we do get snow or ice they're great.

Snow Tires definitely make a difference in the snow.... and yes, the pricing does SUCK. I remember going through some serious sticker shock last year when I was buying mine. I do a lot of driving for work, so I need to be able to get places, all seasons just are not that dependable on some dirt roads up a mountain here, its winters or nothing.

When it rains or snows I drive my truck.

Nokian or Gislaved winter tires FTW

I'll be getting Nokians on steelies next month.

And who cares what they look like? When it comes to winter tires, it's definitely function over fashion!

I just got some pricing for winter tires for my '09 coupe. Going to use OEM 18" wheels for winter and buy some new 19" or 20" wheels for the nice weather (still undecided). .

Here's my short list:
Bridgestone Blizzak LM60 235/45R18. $269 ea or
Pirelli W240 Sottozero 235/45R18. $337 ea

These are Canadian prices. So expensive; no matter which way I go I'm over $1k

I live in Edmonton Alberta and drive an 08 V6 coupe. Winter tires are a must! i decided that after last winter with my all seasons (way too many close calls) I decided to order blizzak LM60's for for my stock rims and just received them yesterday. I'm going to try to mount this week I'll let you guys know how it goes!

Nope have my Land Cruiser for that .........lol :thumbsup:

Yes winter tires are a must, always used them (in Canada). I went with Honda steel rims, they actually had the best price and no one at the tire shops could verify if there rims would fit properly. Didn't bother with the sensors. But my dealer insisted I could not have 2 sets of tires with sensors anyway, well that wasn't correct. For rubber I got a set of Nokia Hakks. Great tires!

Just got the car in Sept. Its got the stock all seasons on it. I will be making some trips up to Vermont from NY for snowboarding. Probably 2 or 3 trips...should we invest in winter tires? I hear that they're awesome but would all seasons be sufficient for those trips?

Thanks for the replies guys. I'll probably end up with 17" steelies with the Michelin X-Ice 2's through my local Honda guys.

Alan

Lived in MI and and now NE. Have never had winter tires in 25 years and never been stuck. Snow is never the problem with all seasons just ice and snow tires won't help with that much. The compounds are better but ice is still ice. Now, if they would let you use steel studded then you get great traction on ice. :nuts: Just drive prudently and give people space it is not worth the $$. FWD is great, go slow, turn slow and you are fine.:thmsup:

Mostly I just stay off the road until the snow plows have cleared them. I am lucky to have a job that allows that. I would have a four wheel drive vehicle with great winter tires and chains if I really had to be out in the worst of it.

Just got the car in Sept. Its got the stock all seasons on it. I will be making some trips up to Vermont from NY for snowboarding. Probably 2 or 3 trips...should we invest in winter tires? I hear that they're awesome but would all seasons be sufficient for those trips?

you stole my car, blue blue blue. All seasons would be sufficient but just be real careful. I have been driving the ny vermont route since 01 and can tell you when a noreaster hits and you are being stupid and stay ontop of the mountain then drive home in the noreaster, spin about 3 times and take 8hrs to get back to nj you will appreciate those snow tires of course this was in an old beat up car. Since i can afford it no way am i gonna risk my baby getting hurt plus you will love smiling while everyone is stuck. :thmsup: now if you are gonna be heading even further north say mt tremblant or anywhere near the border plattsburg etc, be safe get the tires. If you are heading to stratton I will see you there.

I'm in the Chicago-land area and we have not had our first snow yet but I have ALREADY put my stock wheels away till Spring and I'm riding on 18" Yokohamas winter tires now.

Other than a bit of rain, it's been relatively dry out....I hope I did not put them on too soon....I want to get 3 seasons out of these boys!

Sorry to cut it with my 2 cents.
I put Goodyear Eagle Ultra Grip GW3 (same tire that all cops use).
I used it on two of my last cars and was very happy with them.
This is my Accord on them.

Are you all putting the snow tires on the front only? Or on all 4 wheels?

Lived in MI and and now NE. Have never had winter tires in 25 years and never been stuck. Snow is never the problem with all seasons just ice and snow tires won't help with that much. The compounds are better but ice is still ice. Now, if they would let you use steel studded then you get great traction on ice. :nuts: Just drive prudently and give people space it is not worth the $$. FWD is great, go slow, turn slow and you are fine.:thmsup:

Mostly I just stay off the road until the snow plows have cleared them. I am lucky to have a job that allows that. I would have a four wheel drive vehicle with great winter tires and chains if I really had to be out in the worst of it.

"All-Seaons" = "No-Seasons", it's a compromise, not great in the summer, not great in the winter.

Not getting stuck is not the only indicator, if I can avoid just one accident or even a close call then it's worth the price, I've driven on dedicated winter tires since 1990, and will never go back to the "No-Sesons".

Are you all putting the snow tires on the front only? Or on all 4 wheels?

ALL FOUR CORNERS! Else the care will behave very strangely and you WILL spend the money you think you saved with only two snow tires on the accident deductable you have to pay when the car spins out of control and hits something.

"All-Seaons" = "No-Seasons", it's a compromise, not great in the summer, not great in the winter.

Not getting stuck is not the only indicator, if I can avoid just one accident or even a close call then it's worth the price, I've driven on dedicated winter tires since 1990, and will never go back to the "No-Sesons".


This.

I started using Winter tires about 8 years ago on my Civic and it's amazing what a good set of Winter tires will do for your handling and breaking. Just bought four Blizzak WS60's for my '08 Accord, going to put them on this weekend.

This.

Just bought four Blizzak WS60's for my '08 Accord, going to put them on this weekend.

If I lived in Buffalo, I would put on eight :naughty: :D

Nope. I am not going to buy winter tires. I didn't need them last year.

Trust me - going from a POS RWD 90s Chevy S-10 (no abs, no VSA, etc) to an 08 FWD LX-P was a LEAP in terms of winter driveability......

just put on 4 michelin x-ice xi2 on my stock [17"] wheels for a total price of $590. it will be $660. if i don't receive the $70. rebate from michelin.

15 inches of new snow at Stevens Pass this morning, traction tires are advised, with more snow expected today and tomorrow. Snoqualmie Pass has 6 inches of new snow, with more expected. White pass, no snow YET. Am I going to cross these passes this winter - NO. In our Sammamish Valley we have less than 3 inches of snow a year. Will i get traction tires this winter - NO. I don’t want slush, sand, or gravel washing up in between parts, metal components or sub assemblies. Once that crud gets lodged under car and between metal pieces it seems to stay forever. I can watch it snow on WSDOT web cams. Regards

Richard

By The Way, mountain passes here can get up to over 150 inches of snow a year. In some places during February you enter a dewlling from second floor. Every winter here there is always one person in their car getting trapped during a snow storm only to be discovered later during a spring thaw. Regards

Richard

yes, and swapped them out today since we just had our first snow fall.

Pretty much forced to put winter tires here in Montreal,Qc,Canada. Can get a $600 ticket for not having winter tires... like a cop can see that from far away :selavie:

ha ha sure you can ideol especially if they have binoculars of course they usually are busy targeting the border crossers who think 100kmph = 100 mph. I am waiting for them to pull me over one day so I can smile and say blizzzzak, of course last time i crossed the border the douanes thought i was a drug dealer or such because of my car :)

They don't bother out-of-province plates, they just think these people are too dumb to realize winter tires are really a necessity in the Canadian winters!

they don't bother you year round except when new years rolls around and the great flood, thats what i call it, invades the border with the 18year olds who head over so they can drink. Thats why I am glad I can blend, ask me something in english and I am gonna look at you like you are crazy :)

Lived in MI and and now NE. Have never had winter tires in 25 years and never been stuck. Snow is never the problem with all seasons just ice and snow tires won't help with that much. The compounds are better but ice is still ice. Now, if they would let you use steel studded then you get great traction on ice. :nuts: Just drive prudently and give people space it is not worth the $$. FWD is great, go slow, turn slow and you are fine.:thmsup:

Mostly I just stay off the road until the snow plows have cleared them. I am lucky to have a job that allows that. I would have a four wheel drive vehicle with great winter tires and chains if I really had to be out in the worst of it.

I totally agree with you. I have lived in New England my whole life and have never needed true winter tires in my ~10 years of driving.

I am a very careful driver who is not in a hurry most of the time. I use my head and thus don't need to spend extra money on dedicated winter tires and rims. It isn't a longshot to theorize this, but perhaps driving a POS RWD 5MT 90s chevy truck from when I was 16 until 1.5 years ago made me a good driver - almost 70k miles I put on it with no accidents at all. Going to a vehicle that actually has ABS, VSA, etc, it was like night and day in terms of rain/snow/slush/ice driving.

Me having snow tires won't help me much when the other aggressive drivers (mainly MA drivers and NH drivers who work in MA) don't know how to drive properly in the snow/sleet/ice/slush conditions and end up hitting me. After all, my only accident so far in my driving history was a Not-at-fault with the 08 Accord in a Boston tunnel..... sandwiched in the middle....

I totally agree with you. I have lived in New England my whole life and have never needed true winter tires in my ~10 years of driving.

I am a very careful driver who is not in a hurry most of the time. I use my head and thus don't need to spend extra money on dedicated winter tires and rims. It isn't a longshot to theorize this, but perhaps driving a POS RWD 5MT 90s chevy truck from when I was 16 until 1.5 years ago made me a good driver - almost 70k miles I put on it with no accidents at all. Going to a vehicle that actually has ABS, VSA, etc, it was like night and day in terms of rain/snow/slush/ice driving.

Me having snow tires won't help me much when the other aggressive drivers (mainly MA drivers and NH drivers who work in MA) don't know how to drive properly in the snow/sleet/ice/slush conditions and end up hitting me. After all, my only accident so far in my driving history was a Not-at-fault with the 08 Accord in a Boston tunnel..... sandwiched in the middle....

It's too bad you're so set in your ways (aka stubborn!) Winter tires make a world of difference. Whether your a good driver or not. Although (and this is just an opinion) a good driver already knows that. ;)

I agree 100% with MrClicko ... winter tires (on all 4 wheels, of course) make a world of difference. It's like driving a rally car when I put those guys on, and run around in the snow!

I'm a middle of WI native, and learned to drive in the snow, but being a Cincinnatian (is that a word?), still really appreciate the increased car control with the winter tires in snow, even though I'm now living in the "near South". Last winter (on Blizzak WS50's, eight seasons old at the time but still with servicable tread depth, on the "old" '01 Accord) I was able to motor around at will, getting home during our one big 14 incher for the year. Many, many others were stuck, shutting down the primary (and plowed!) roads through town. Instead, with the winter tires, I took the (unplowed) side streets, and with judicious use of the throttle and brakes had absolutely no issues getting home.

Now that the '01 is gone, replaced by the new '09, I ordered up a set of Blizzak WS-60's on steelies + TPMS sensors from Tire Rack. $866 for that setup is still less than the $1k deductible on my insurance policy .... I'm a believer!

ha ha einy, i totally +1 with you. When everyone is stuck i am driving around and climbing the mountain to my parking space. I then go around helping all the bmw drivers make it up the hill and get unstuck. I am waiting for the 2 infiniti g37s to get stuck this season then I am gonna try to hold my chuckles as their tires start burning and tranny starts heating up.

So I'll differ from a few of our other New England drivers, and talk about how I've embraced snow tires for my 36 years of driving up here in NH. If all you worry about is driving on a paved road that gets plowed and treated, then I can fully understand the idea of not needing snow tires, and being able to get around with a decent set of all season tires. But the problem is, I live in new england where many of the roads resemble those you see on Ice Road Truckers for most of the winter. Anyone who travels back roads in NH - those that are twisty, hilly, shaded and typically only plowed semi-weekly - know that it's not the "as you drive" you plan for, but the "what happens if..?" that you plan for. Like when you have to pull to the side on a 1.5 lane backroad to let another car by, and you then notice your rear end is sitting in a 4' snowbank. Or when you have to stop on an uphill because the idiot in front of you doesn't have decent traction, and you have to grab whatever traction you can get to get moving again. If you stick to I93 or the Everett Turnpike all the time in my area, then knock yourself out. But drive roads that don't offer the sight of pavement for months at a time, and you need more.

Trust me - if I HAVE to get by without snows, I can. Having owned non-limited-slip camaros and pickup trucks, you know the tricks of how to get yourself out of trouble. But when you have your family in the car, you don't want to have to work at it if you don't have to. I started out with snows only on the drive wheels, and then started putting them on all 4 corners - if not for anything more than to save the alloys from the salt/crap you get in the winter. I've graduated from no studs to studs to new-designed tires that grip like a sherman tank. I've even begun opting for AWD on my vehicles to give me that extra grip, as I don't have the time nor patience to want to manhandle my cars in the winter as I go into the 2nd century of my life. Maybe I'm lazy, but I just have better things to worry about.

So while there are those who choose to get thru the winter without, count me in with the group that believes 4 snows on dedicated wheels provide a ton of advantages over the alternative. And you can't wipe the smile off of my wife's face every time she crawls up that mountain goat entrance road to her school in rural Wilton NH with her AWD Ford Freestyle and 4 Bridgestone Blizzak WS-60's. Trust me, if she got stuck on that road, I'd call someone else to get her out - it's that bad....

andy

could i just buy winter tires and put them on my OEM 17's? not sure what the salt would do to the alloys... i'm wondering if i can use OEM rims and switch the tires on them from winter to summer so i don't have to worry about TPMS for now... could anything go wrong doing that?

nothing would go wrong, just cost you over time if you keep doing that having to take off summer, put on winter, road balance them etc. As for salt I had no issues last season with oem 17's in winter and will have mine on come 1st december.

Seasonal mounting and dismounting can take a toll on the tires and wheels over time, even if you find a shop with the newest mounting equipment. Many times, even if they're prepped right, removing the tire from the wheel can cause even minor damage to the tire bead, and you might run into issues with air loss. Also, if you add up the mount/dismount cost over a few years, you can easily justify the cost of a 2nd set of wheels. Running alloys in the winter isn't a real problem as long as your religous about washing the car, especially the undercarriage. But over time the winter will cause some pitting and other things to the alloys - it's just tough to keep them pristine in that situation. In my case, the OEM alloys that I run during the 3 non-winter seasons only are like new after 4-5 years - whereas the ones on my Pilot (which I ran year-round without tire changeover since it was AWD) had a fair amount of impurities after only 3 years at lease-end.

andy

steel 16s with 205/60/16 rubber

steel 16s with 205/60/16 rubber

Hey,

Just realized you were in Ontario, where'd you pick up your tires from? and what kind?

i don't plan on doing it every season, just this season, i want to go with HFP 18's or 19's later on, but my original tires still have like 90% thread (only 6k miles on the car, in 5 months though) so i don't wanna rip those perfectly good tires off and throw them away, and selling used tires is a pain...

so i figured i'd do a swap this winter then come next season put my originals back on, run them for as long as i can, and then make my OEM rims dedicated winter rims next season...

if only Honda's 17's would actually sell...

Nokian or Gislaved winter tires FTW

I'll be getting Nokians on steelies next month.

And who cares what they look like? When it comes to winter tires, it's definitely function over fashion!

+1

I have Nokians but I also recommend Gislaved or General both made by Continental tires.

I run on Dunlop Graspic DS2 225/50/R17 on my stock 2009 Accord Tourer 2.2 diesel. It feels like being Bambi on the ice.... no grip at all unless it is pure snow condition. Will change to something else next time, maybe even stepping down to 205's for better traction.