porsche man

Anybody have any advice as to whether I need to run with snow tires, or am I good with the 21" DSW's? I live in Chicago and sometimes we can get some snow, not so much last year. Thanks .

dreadlocks

They have tread indicators on em, do you still have the S visible? if not then you have no snow capabilities. How many miles, how much tread? Those are the important questions.

All Seasons are only good for snow for like the first half of their life, the second half of their life they are just summer tires.

If I lived near the Great Lakes, I'd be rocking snow rated tires.. just like I do in the Rockies.

flynavy

I have been very happy with the DWS and it is a remarkable tire, I am currently shopping for a replacement as these are worn out with 20k on them (q7 eats tires for lunch!) I am going to replace them with the same tire, a first for me. As to your situation, I was in your neck of the woods several years ago and it was nasty with snow. In that case a full blown snow tire would be the best option, but this was years ago and I don't know if it was an anomaly or a regular occurrence. As my colleague said, if the W is visible you would PROBABLY be ok in normal light snow/wet scenarios, but in heavy snow I would want a snow only tire and I would get a 19 or 20 in wheel for them and get a lot narrower tire than the DWS.

porsche man

Yeah, I only have 1500 miles on this set and I can feel the hydro plane in rain and I can only imagine the snow. I think you guys have convinced me to grab some winter tires. On my Touareg I went down in size and used all season tires in the winter for one season. I then went to Blizzaks and they wore really quick. Shockingly quick$$$$$

porsche man

Ok. So I just grabbed some 20" rims from ECS. Put snow tires on, or all season tires for the winter?

dreadlocks

Thats why I put smaller wheels on w/All Terrains, I have snow ratings but they are more all season snow tires and have hard enough compounds they wont wear off like butter in warm weather.

All Terrains in 20in are gonna be a hard ask tho, if I were you I'd cancel that ECS order and look for some 18in Touareg/Cayenne/Q7 rims off Craigslist

porsche man

18" are way too short for me.

dreadlocks

?? You put the same size OD tires on em, height remains the same.. they just have more sidewall, which means winter travel is less likely to damage the rims.. ie, potholes, hidden curbs or emergency maneuvers to avoid other idiots.. Ride comfort goes up too; I rock 17's all year long

porsche man

On your 18" wheels/snow tires are you using 235 or 245? Tirerack recommends 245, but 235 makes more sense in this application.

dreadlocks

235/60/18 is same OD as 295/35/21, set of Blizzack light truck are $650.. and holy crap, 21in snow tires are $1000-1400.. and thats without install.

I'm riding on 245/65/17, not 18s tho.. but generally for pure winter performance thinner tires are better as it increases contact weight and you can cut through slush/snow to solid ground for better traction.. for sand/mud that can just get you stuck worse tho.