Loking for suggestions I have Potenza run flat performance tires not all season. Looking for winter tires, my winter weather conditions are 40" rain annually on a good year with minor amounts of snow maybe three days during the winter. Looking for both run flat and non run flat please let me know what you think? Thanks One & All 2009 328i sedan with Sport Package 255/40R17-94V rear 225/45R17-91V front
With that little snow and fairly warm temps you are describing, I would look at an all season tire instead of a "winter" tire. Unfortunately, I can't give you a recommendation on a specific tire since I do the summer wheels/tires to winter wheels/tires switcheroo here in Nebraska/Iowa.
Sounds like you live in the Seattle area like me. For the Pacific Northwest I just get A/S tires that are highly rated for wet driving. For the few days we get snow, the A/S tires will get you around if you know how to drive in snow. I can work from home on snow days. That's even easier. I know the A/Ss are a compromise but it gets rid of having to switch tires twice a year and always storing one set. The new A/S Continentals look to be very good in the wet according to tirerack.com.
I think the original poster is wanting to keep his high performance summer tires for most of the time... the all seasons would only be used for the "winter" season . (at least that would be what I'd do given the described weather as all seasons are NO FUN compared to summer performance tires)
they do make them, seems kinda stupid to be basically encouraging drivers to drive "spiritedly" during winter
i love my Bridgestone Blizzaks...works well in the DC winters. we don't get much snow either, but we do get ice and temps can get damn cold, and the Blizzaks are designed for cold weather driving.
It's not so stupid when you have an AWD car that's quite good at it. I faced such a choice a few years ago with my wife's Jaguar X-Type Sport. It's a shame to hobble such a capable car with crappy snow tires, so I shopped around and settled on the Dunlop Winter M3 (Yeah; I know ...) in a 'Minus One' fitment for it. These 16"s are so good in the dry that she actually prefers the ride over the 17" sport set the car uses for the summer. In the snow, with the traction control engaged, the car is nothing short of remarkable. Simply punch it from a snowy stop and it does things even I am not crazy enough to do.
a good point, but I'm thinking more of the average person who will buy them thinking that they can go flying around corners and stuff and the tires won't break traction
I agree with the previous poster who suggested performance all-season tires as "winter" tires for the conditions you describe. I live in middle Tennessee, and real Winter tires are not appropriate for what passes for winter here. If your winter temperatures are typically above 40F during the day, real Winter tires will wear out very quickly.
my suggestions for winter tires I live in MD, and I recently removed my Potenza RFTs and replaced them with the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S PLUS.... these are NON RFTs, and are all-season tires. Through Oct-Dec (no snow), I found that they handled just as well as the Potenza summer tires (daily driving, city and Hwy.... no track and no racing!). I haven't had to drive them in any kind of snow yet, just a little slush a few weeks ago - without incident. The fact that Michelin has a 45,000 mile warranty on these low-profile tires was a big factor. Many reviews on tire rack also were very favorable. Naturally, they won't be as good as pure snow tires..... but for the conditions you specify, my guess is that these would work good for you. Good luck.
