Good cheap 19" snow tire?
 

After finding out that my Yoko Advan Sports are NOT all season (lol... misread "good in rain" as all season) I think I should wrap my stock 19" rims in some snows just in case we get blasted here in Seattle again, especially since I'm moving and will be seeing more freeway time.

Looks like I can get some Blizzaks in 245/40/19 but they're $269 a tire. Ugh... do I want to spend that much? Any decent alternatives from Discount tire?

I went with the Tirerack suggested winter tires, and they seem pretty good so far. $223/tire.

245/40/18 Dunlop Winter Sport 3D.

I think these are also the tires that Audi uses for their S4 winter package.

Doc, get a good all-season, you will pay a good deal more for a pure Snow tread.

$206 a pop for the Conti's that everyone has been trying to get on their car (Bruce has them and you know he drives in snow and is finicky about what he has on his car)

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

Yeah, if it's good enough for Bruce, it must be good. $206 is still up there... only saving $60/tire, which I guess isn't bad. ($240 overall!) Was hoping for better! lol

I didn't realize snow tires were so expensive... seems like such a waste for something that I'll probably only need a few times. I guess I better buy that seasons pass to make sure I use them more.

I'll see if I can find them from Discount Tire... I normally use them for everything. I'll also see if those Dunlop's come in 19".... do some cross shopping. Any other suggestions?

cough... I am running Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position UHPAS tires right now (255/40/18s). The Conti Extremecontact DWS UHPAS tires are supposed to be pretty nice and a good value. A couple people that work with me have them and like them.

Bruce

Could have sworn you had those - oh well :)

I know they come VERY highly rated from everyone who has had them, enough to have issues with Conti keeping them in stock, and Tirerack.com has a ton of very high consumer ratings from the owners who reviewed them.

Discount stocks the Conti DWS, no problem getting them there. It's spendy, but look at it this way: You are front loading the cost of your second set of tires. Since you are parking the summers half the time, and the winters half the time, you will get twice the normal amount of time between wearing out tires for the most part.

DrGP likes to push the Conti DWS tires ;) When I bought my tires, the Bridgestone RE960 AS was on top of the tire rack surveys. I have run 4 tires on that UHPAS chart from tire rack so far. (Michelin, Pirelli, Yokohama, Bridgestone) on S4s. All work fine in the snow.

Bruce

That is what I will put on mine when the OEM Dunlops wear out( for next winter season). There seems to be a periodic back order on the Conti DWS tires. So if you want them and can get them, get them. But be aware, I have the Contis on my wife and daughter's Lexus Is 250 AWD but have never driven in snow with them yet. The Lexus came with some Bridgestone RE 92 A/S tires that were horrible in the snow and emitted a lot of road noise. They did get over 20K on them though. My previous experience with the Conti Extreme contacts on my 04 S4 was extremely positive. But the reality is that I have a 1 mile commute to work and I don't drive my s4 in really bad weather so as to not beat it up with the excessive cindering in my area.

Looks like more snow next week... I'm going to order those Conti's. Thanks!

DrV- The 255/19/35 Conti DWS are only 4$ more than the 245/40/19 Conti DWS FYI.

Bruce