[Snowflizz]

Hey everyone, while I live in Tennessee I am originally from northern NY (Syracuse/Watertown area). When I bought my st about a week ago I didn't give much thought to the tires because of where I live. But my whole family and my reserve unit is in northern NY. I want to know what you guys do for winter tires. I am thinking buying a separate set of tires and rims so I can easily change them when I have to drive up north. I am up here for Christmas and my car was sliding all over the highway today. What brands are better? What kind of setups do you guys use? Have you bought any that did not perform well? Thanks so much!

 

[BrantyB]

Just go to Tirerack.com and build a winter set. changing the actual wheels takes about 15 minutes

 

[cheatingk9610]

if you have a 13-14 ST. I have a set of 16" steelies with blizztak's tires on them. Very good winter tires, never had any issues with them. Good on dry land too.

 

[galaxy7]

http://www.focusst.org/forum/focus-...-all-questions-about-winter-wheels-tires.html

Fortunately or unfortunately, tires are like oil and favorite ice cream threads...there really is no wrong answer. To make matters worse, if 10 people reply, you'll have 15 different recommendations. If you have a current brand tire you're loyal to, see what they have to offer. Otherwise, pretty much splitting hairs and personal preference between top name brands. Blizzak always gets top nods. Michelin Alpin are amazing but expensive. My winter tires will be Alpin 4's. Have had great luck with that brand on the car, tire rack rates them extremely high, and if they're good enough for the RS, they'll be good for me.

 

[ChrisL]

Just get snow tires. Tirerack(EDIT: actually Road and Track did the testing) did a test using the ST that showed that there was negligible difference between all seasons and snows. I assume that you take 81 all the way up so you will definitely need snows for traveling that route between late Oct and mid March.

I use all seasons in NC mainly because of cold temps. I use the same rims but swap my summer tires out in Nov and put them back on in early March.

EDIT: oops, totally misread the post. Use the Tirerack reviews/comparison testing to choose what fits your budget for snow tires. Lots of good options. Hakkapeliitta tires tend to get good reviews.

 

[Mikaila]

Just get snow tires. Tirerack did a test using the ST that showed that there was negligible difference between all seasons and snows.

Got a link for that? usually snow and all seasons comparison tests show a definite winner.

 

[Duchess]

I like Blizzaks, but I'm trying the General Altimax this year and they're also great in the snow (though we haven't had much yet). Not as good as the Blizzaks in the dry, but a good deal cheaper and snow tires aren't for auto crossing, anyway.

 

[ChrisL]

Got a link for that? usually snow and all seasons comparison tests show a definite winner.

I do but thanks for the opportunity to clarify. The findings were with respect to performance handling, not snow driving. I didn't make that clear with my post. Being that the OP is in Tenn. I assumed that he may be considering all seasons and wanted to point out that not much is lost going to a true winter tire (i.e snow tire). And, when temps are cold you should not be pushing the car too hard on the street anyway

" But don't forget that the winter tires put up lap times comparable
to most brands of all-season tires."

Winter Tire Test - Performance Test

 

[cheatingk9610]

If you get snow. You should run snow tires. AS's only work well in light dusting and cold temps. Once Ice and snow/slush pile up. AS's do not compare. Who is doing lap time in winters anyway? LOL

 

[bootdinker]

Do yourself a solid favor and check the parts for sale thread. I got a set of oem rims and almost new tires for less than 600 bucks. They're Yokohama Ice Guards and they've been rock solid so far.

I picked up these tire totes and just shove my extra set in my spare room closet. They're great!

https://www.amazon.com/Kurgo-00036-...id=1482808498&sr=8-1&keywords=Kurgo+tire+tote

 

[xrayruester]

yup, go with a second set. Since it looks like you have a 15 or 16, you can only drop to a 17. I would look on craigslist and see what you can find s far as fusion of focus wheels, as they may be cheaper than buying steel wheels, and they look better. Brand shouldn't matter too much, just get a wheel rated correctly, and sized correctly.

 

[jamie1073]

I live in Watertown and got a set of Steels and winter tires.

 

[FoST2016]

Hey everyone, while I live in Tennessee I am originally from northern NY (Syracuse/Watertown area). When I bought my st about a week ago I didn't give much thought to the tires because of where I live. But my whole family and my reserve unit is in northern NY. I want to know what you guys do for winter tires. I am thinking buying a separate set of tires and rims so I can easily change them when I have to drive up north. I am up here for Christmas and my car was sliding all over the highway today. What brands are better? What kind of setups do you guys use? Have you bought any that did not perform well? Thanks so much!

I bought a set of Blizzarks back in November but I couldn't stand how soft the sidewalls were. I've never owned dedicated winter tires before though and its obviously personal preference but we don't get enough snow in Denver to justify them for me. Anyway, I sold them on Craigslist and took a risk on a set of A/S Falken Pro G4s, but I've been very happy with them. They got me safely to work in -10 F with six inches of snow on the ground that wasn't cleared and they handle relatively well in warm weather. I will say the most noticeable performance decrease was braking distance.

Buying another set of rims is nice, but I would recommend doing cost analysis. I can get my tires swapped out for $30.00 at the shop down the road. I can't rationalize the convenience to my wife when it would cost 10 years for a cheap set of $600 rims to pay for themselves. Then again, there is higher risk of wheel damage during the winter though. You can probably get a set of steelies for a few hundred bucks.

 

[Theoden]

I live up in Michigan and have been very impressed with the all-season factory tires. However, most ST owners up here either have a second set or use a valet service at the tire store where they swap out your tires and put the summer tires in a warehouse till spring for you. The factory all-season tires are significantly better than what I even imagined possible. However, if I get stuck once than I'll be going to the tire store.

 

[davesST]

I'm also in Michigan and am running a set of Hankook i*cept 2 tires, which are mounted on an extra set of snowflake rims I bought here on the forum. So far they seem to work well. This is also my first go around with winter performance tires.

 

[Snowflizz]

I live in Watertown and got a set of Steels and winter tires.

Do you work at a school? I've seen a black ST with the steelies at my brother's school every time I go pick him up.

 

[Snowflizz]

I do but thanks for the opportunity to clarify. The findings were with respect to performance handling, not snow driving. I didn't make that clear with my post. Being that the OP is in Tenn. I assumed that he may be considering all seasons and wanted to point out that not much is lost going to a true winter tire (i.e snow tire). And, when temps are cold you should not be pushing the car too hard on the street anyway

" But don't forget that the winter tires put up lap times comparable
to most brands of all-season tires."

Winter Tire Test - Performance Test

While I am down here I just am keeping the stock tires on, I just need the true winter tires for my very frequent trips up to NY!

 

[Snowflizz]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I went ahead and got a set of 17" tires and rims from tirerack and they should be here on Monday! They were sold out of almost everything so I ended up with Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice.

 

[JJ91284]

I bought a set of Blizzarks back in November but I couldn't stand how soft the sidewalls were. I've never owned dedicated winter tires before though and its obviously personal preference but we don't get enough snow in Denver to justify them for me. Anyway, I sold them on Craigslist and took a risk on a set of A/S Falken Pro G4s, but I've been very happy with them. They got me safely to work in -10 F with six inches of snow on the ground that wasn't cleared and they handle relatively well in warm weather. I will say the most noticeable performance decrease was braking distance.

Buying another set of rims is nice, but I would recommend doing cost analysis. I can get my tires swapped out for $30.00 at the shop down the road. I can't rationalize the convenience to my wife when it would cost 10 years for a cheap set of $600 rims to pay for themselves. Then again, there is higher risk of wheel damage during the winter though. You can probably get a set of steelies for a few hundred bucks.

If you purchase winter tires again, purchase performance winter tires (H or V speed rated). I personally use Dunlop Wintersport 4D and enjoy them since the sidewall is firmer and they perform as well as all season when there's no snow, but perform significantly better than all seasons when snows on the ground.

 

[cardwzzle]

I decided to get "cheap" snow tires put on my stock rims. Vitour Polar Bear W1's, bought on Amazon for $86 each....wayyyyy better than expected, but just have to see how long the tread lasts.