any advice on tire replacement?

[voltamps]

FWIW, we just purchased new Vredstein Wintrac Pro snow tires in 205/55R17 XL size.

Very good choice.
In Colorado like you, I chose a stronger ice/snow tire in a tire & brand I've had great luck with over the years with: "Michelin X-Ice Snow".
Vredestein Wintrac Pro tires are better in the wet.
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=284
The Michelins might last longer (I leave them on year around) since that company came up with tread compounds which do great for winter traction and yet still stay intact better, using some proprietary tech of theirs.

Also, getting XL provides an extra strength margin, as does keeping the speed rating up at T or above (H,V,W,Y,Z all good).

Clever going to the 205/55R17 size, only causing a 1/5 inch increase in ride height , & should fit nicely compared to the 215/50R17 OEM size I stayed with on my SV+.

This tire was also recently recommended by Consumer Reports, for what that's worth.

They are a pretty good source of tire test info. I use Tire Rack's tests, since they appear to go technically deep enough to see differences.

Car and Driver, also a decent source, tests tires once in a rare while, and a few years ago found Nokian Hakkapeliitta tires to be the best snow/ice tire. Hakkapeliittas likely wear too fast though, and don't do great when it's warm outside.

Bridgestone Blizzaks have been the gold standard for many years, and still do well, although I've found they give up slightly too much performance in warm or wet conditions, and wear pretty fast.

 

[frontrangeleaf]

We run Hakkapeliittas on our Audi Q5 - Love 'em. They've held up well, but we don't put many miles on that car anymore.

Their WR G3s are more of an all-weather tire, still severe winter rated, but intended for year-round use. They wear better than the Blizzaks I've tried, and have comparable grip. The Blizzaks go away like pencil erasers, and are squirrelly in drier and warmer weather in my experience.

I also rely on Tirerack's tests. Much more info.

 

[Bouldergramp]

Discount Tire had these in stock:
NOKIAN TIRE
ENCOMPASS AW01
205 /55 R16 91V SL BSW
Item #89181
I bought them because I wanted tires with decent winter performance.
Discount Tire is nearby and I like their service.

 

[frontrangeleaf]

I've been a regular customer at our local Discount Tire for many years, until it was destroyed in a wind storm a couple of years ago, and hasn't been rebuilt.

I recently tried our local Big O, and won't be going back. Not a confidence-inspiring experience.

 

[voltamps]

NOKIAN TIRE
ENCOMPASS AW01
205 /55 R16 91V SL BSW

Great choice, though not available in 215/50-17 or 205/55-17 for Leafs with 17" wheels.

Nokian is a good brand, and for the 17" wheel Leaf crowd, their Nokian WR G4 is V speed rated and XL (95), 3-peak mountain snowflake rated, but also works as a full-year all-season tire, no changeover required. The asymmetrical tread is nice as well.

 

[Toby]

[Nokian is a good brand, and for the 17" wheel Leaf crowd, their Nokian WR G4 is V speed rated and XL (95), 3-peak mountain snowflake rated, but also works as a full-year all-season tire, no changeover required.

I use Nokian WR G4 on a Crosstrek and like them but I have never used them on our Leaf. Have you? How are they with noise and range?

 

[voltamps]

[Nokian is a good brand, and for the 17" wheel Leaf crowd, their Nokian WR G4 is V speed rated and XL (95), 3-peak mountain snowflake rated, but also works as a full-year all-season tire, no changeover required.

I use Nokian WR G4 on a Crosstrek and like them but I have never used them on our Leaf. Have you? How are they with noise and range?

Nokian WR G4's fit the Subaru-tough, go anywhere, AWD theme, no doubt!

Range will go down by about ~3% or so with the WR G4. They probably aren't as good for range as an Ecopia or the OE Michelin Energy Savers.
I'd only put them on a Leaf if you want better traction and grip, especially on snow or ice. Worth the slight range hit.

If I lived where it rarely gets snowy, no Nokians for me, just Ecopias or OE Michelins.
Colorado really makes you think about sliding into stuff!

I ran the Nokian WR G4 on an old mini-van I had for 3 years recently, and they were grippy as far as I could tell, not an accurate test, but impressions are good. Certainly a reliable well built tire brand.

Noise? I didn't notice anything on the mini-van they were on. Hard to measure, I know.
.... Actually, you can look at a tread and see if annoying noise is likely, by looking for different sized tread blocks (spreads the energy around many frequencies, like pink noise, less noticeable acoustics). Nokian WR G4's have a variety of tread block sizes, and varies it from side to side too (asymmetrical).
https://www.motortrend.com/features/nokian-wr-g4-tire-weather-not-season/

 

[Toby]

Thanks, voltamps. Where I live we get snow but it doesn't stay long. Most of the winter we drive on bare pavement. (We stay off the mountain passes during the winter.) It now costs too much to change tires twice per year and I'm too old to haul tires out of our crawl space.

The OE Michelin Energy Savers did better last winter than the Ecopias on our 2018.

 

[frontrangeleaf]

Thanks, voltamps. Where I live we get snow but it doesn't stay long. Most of the winter we drive on bare pavement. (We stay off the mountain passes during the winter.) It now costs too much to change tires twice per year and I'm too old to haul tires out of our crawl space.

The OE Michelin Energy Savers did better last winter than the Ecopias on our 2018.

We run the WR G3s on our Audi precisely because Denver area is generally pretty mild, but we drive into the mountains, which definitely are not. Great all weather tire. Prolly a little loud for the Leaf. I'm not sure about the latest generation, but Hakkapeliittas are definitely the real deal if it's winter traction you're looking for. The Audi has separate A/S (Conti DWS06s) for hot weather. We still change 2x/year.

As for the stock Michelin Energy Savers, I found them downright dangerous in the slick, and not great in the wet. (I generally think in terms of dry - wet - slick when considering tire performance). Good for range in the dry though. Hence the winter tires for that car mentioned above.

 

[Toby]

I've wondered about using Michelin X-Ice tires and running them all year.

 

[LeftieBiker]

I've wondered about using Michelin X-Ice tires and running them all year.

I ran mine one Summer, and at least in a gentle use case, they hold up fine.

 

[voltamps]

I've wondered about using Michelin X-Ice tires and running them all year.

I ran mine one Summer, and at least in a gentle use case, they hold up fine.

A few years ago when the first of the "X-Ice" Michelin line of tires came out, some engineers from Michelin were saying they figured out a way to make them last on dry pavement, in the summer, and still be very close to Blizzaks on ice/snow. Wish I could find that old link now.

I bought them for a Ford C-Max Hybrid several years ago, ran them year around in the Denver area, where summers can get into the 90's F.
They seem to really last. And if you look at Tire Rack's tests of them in snow/ice, they are about equal with the gold-standard Blizzaks.

I consider Michelin X-Ice to be similar to the Nokian WR G4's, that is, for year around use, although I'm guessing the X-ice is a better winter tire than WR G4's,
and WR G4's beat X-Ice in the summer a little.

Tire choice is all in where you like to compromise, and where you want performance.

 

[Chad E. Mo]

I just found a lightly used set of four Nokian R5s (215/55 17) on 17x7 38 MB Vision wheels, for a good price.

Will these just bolt up? The ET is 38, so not the 45 I see for the stock SV+ alloy wheels.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Chad E. Mo]

I found this nifty wheel and tire calculator: Wheel Size Calculator