Winter tire and rim combos etc. Best practice.

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webeleafowners

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 5, 2015
Messages
1,306
Location
Okanagan Valley British Columbia
Hi folks. Just looking ahead to the fall. I think the chances of Canadians heading south this fall is pretty slim for a variety of reasons.

- Borders closed.
- Travel Health insurance that actually covers Covid 19 is not available at this time.

So what are people suggestions for winter tires for our leaf.

4 rims and winter tires?
Just change out the tires on the existing rims?
Just front wheel winter tires?

The reality is in winter we may travel a total of 200 km per week once the snow is on the ground.

Also, what hoops have people had to jump thru as far as tire pressure sensors etc?

Fall is a little ways away but I don’t think much will change between now and October as far as non essential travel restriction.

Thanks in advance folks.
 
I'd recommend 4 snow tires, just putting them on the front is not recommended. If you live where it gets icy and studs are allowed, studded snow tires are great but if they aren't allowed, good snow tires are about as good in everything except hard ice.

Buying new rims for the snow tires will save some money every switch-over since it is cheaper to mount wheels than to swap the tires on the rims. Depending on whether you can find used wheels and whether you care about the TPMS sensors, I'd guess it will take 3-4 years to break even on the cost of new wheels vs just swapping tires every year. Either way, you will need to store the extra tires or wheels somewhere.

I usually buy a complete set of used wheels for my cars that I drive in the winter. Mostly because I keep my cars for a very long time and I can swap the wheels myself in my garage. I have a shed in the back yard with several sets of wheels in it and they do take up quite a bit of space. For my Leaf, I recently bought some used snow tires, some 2004 Altera rims at a local junkyard and some TPMS sensors from ebay. I haven't got them mounted yet but I should be ready for next winter.
 
Agree. 4 snows on dedicated wheels is best. You take a one-time hit to purchase, but then spread your miles across 2 sets of tires, so your running costs don’t change much. You also have the option to narrow your all-seasons design to offer better wear, better rain performance or both, either of which hurt winter performance. Turns out, the things you do for snow and ice hurt wet and wear performance and vice versa.

That’s what we do. There are newer “all-weather” designs hitting the market, representing a different set of compromises. Tire wear not so great on those from what I’ve seen. We prefer to run tires more narrowly optimized for our needs.

That’s ultimately what you’d be purchasing: vastly better performance in the slick and potentially better performance in the dry and warm wet.
 
I'm going to go with Michelin Crossclimate tires when the Ecopia's wear out on my '13S. The Ecopia's are fair at best in the snow, I went with Crossclimate's on my work vehicle and they are worlds better than the Continental A/S's that were on it. The Crossclimate's are quieter and much better in the snow, they are snow/ice rated like a winter tire but also rated for the summer use, IOW you don't have to take them off in the summer, they also have the 3-peak icon on the tire. We went with real snows(Blizzacks for a real good price, if price wasn't a factor I would have gotten Michelin X-ice3's which I believe have a lower RR and longer wear) on our '12's mainly because it already had summer tires in real good shape but now I have to pay the $50-60 twice a year to have the tires swapped. Now I suppose you could look for some steel wheels to avoid that cost but then you'd have to pay extra for the TPMS or live without them in the winter when you probably need them the most. The Blizzacks are excellent in snow but not that much better than the Crossclimates to make it worth it IMO.
The Crossclimate's also come in a 5-ply load range C tire, which I got on my work van which is the same size as my '13S Leaf and I'm seriously considering that for my Leaf. They don't cost all that much more, load range C Crossclimates in 205 55 16's were $110/tire and according to the tire guy they wear longer and probably have a lower RR due to less sidewall flex. The downside would be a stiffer ride. The Crossclimate's aren't wear rated but the tire guy thought they'd be around a 500 treadwear rating and possibly better if I went with the load range C tire as I'm thinking.
 
Sounds like a plan. I think mounting and dismounting is hard on the bead. But people make it work.

Added expense of TPMS sensors is a pain. We did spring for them. Extra $45 installed but got a great deal on the tires. So all in all not too bad. Sensors are like wheels. One time thing pretty much.

We spent $30 more per tire for Haakapelitas on the Audi, just tires. Put it that way. And they were on sale.

We don’t skimp on tires. False economy in our view.
 
If you want a quiet ride and no real hit to energy economy, but with superior Winter performance, I suggest the Michelin x-Ices - and yes, you need four of them to stop the car (not the tires, the whole car) from spinning under certain conditions like a crosswind on a slippery highway.
 
As per usual, lots of good info from the members of this forum. Thank you all for taking the time to reply. I have a little time to decide and of course who knows, maybe the border will be open by November and this won’t be necessary.

Thank you all again. Now go wash your hands. :).

John.
 
Heh. I call your pun and raise you: a woman I know online mentioned that she and her partner attended their first online cocktail party last night. I replied that, pretty soon, those would be turning into Encryption Key Parties.
 
LeftieBiker said:
Heh. I call your pun and raise you: a woman I know online mentioned that she and her partner attended their first online cocktail party last night. I replied that, pretty soon, those would be turning into Encryption Key Parties.

ROTFLMAO.

Wait, is this not a great idea for an APP? Hmmmmmm
 
LeftieBiker said:
If you want a quiet ride and no real hit to energy economy, but with superior Winter performance, I suggest the Michelin x-Ices - and yes, you need four of them to stop the car (not the tires, the whole car) from spinning under certain conditions like a crosswind on a slippery highway.
Any idea how the X-ice's RR compares to the Crossclimate"s? I'd think the Crossclimate might be better to it being also a summer tire but I have no proof, I agree though for true winter tires you can't go wrong with the X-ice tires.
 
Any idea how the X-ice's RR compares to the Crossclimate"s?

Sorry, no. I have a very little experience with the Toyo Celsius tires on the Prius, but know nothing about the Crossclimate. If the CCs don't mess with the centering action of the steering like the Celsius tires do (at least on the Prius), I'd suggest them instead.
 
Our own experience in Vermont, with lots of dirt road and curvy mountain highways, and over the last 50 years, has been 4 studded snows. The ONLY way to KNOW you will be able to slow down when it gets icy. New separate rims allows me to change whenever I want, even for a trip to the cities occasionally. We bought new rims and Nokias, but skimped on the sensors so during the winter our Leafs have always started the day with that Tire Pressure warning- may not be the wisest but there we are. Maybe next year we will buy the sensors- when the Virus Buyout Check comes!
 
My only experience with studded snows was driving my Dad's P1800S one time in Winter on them. I don't know how he tolerated them: the tires were tall and skinny, and on wet pavement it was like driving on a forerunner to drifting tires. Ice-skating with no ice, yet! Have you tried modern, soft compound ice-rated tires, dmacarthur?
 
We have the Leaf, Honda van, and VW jetta wagon TDI and all three have dedicated snows. Our favorites are Nokian's, then x-ice and then Blizzacks. I finally gave up and bought a TPMS programer and "blank" TMPS's for the Leaf and Van, the wagon doesn't have them. It was not intuitive to use but not that complicated and now I can clone my tires and replace TPMS's myself. So when I swap to snows the van or Leaf never even knows, it just keeps reading them :)

https://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=24701&p=507690&hilit=tpms+cloning#p507690
 
Morning All,
Concerning studded snow tires. I also live in Vermont and almost all of my driving experience has been here. 40+ years.
I've found that the tire you choose, like the car, should fit your normal application. If you live well off the main paved roads and have to climb much you might want studs. All wheel drive might let you get by without if your travels take on the higher speed roads for distances a lot.
Studs are best on non paved or covered surfaces. They do slip on warm pavement. Wet or dry. They also are usually on tires that have rubber compounds that will disappear when it warms up.

I run Cooper evolutions with studs on my 2019 SV+. I need to climb a steep paved hill first thing in the morning often before its plowed and then get into the unplowed yard and hill where I work. I am the plow guy. It's a 3 mile commute. I live in town. I might make the trip to Burlington a couple times a month now.

When I worked near Burlington,VT 31 miles one way, I ran the X-Ice on my 2016 SV. I was again the plow guy so I needed to travel early. I needed all the range I could get for that trip. Studded tires take my range down to 2.7 in cold bad weather and 3.4 or so when dry in the 30sF.
For the 2016 I needed the range so I took the hit on better action. I drove accordingly. The heavy Leaf does very well at reasonable speeds in snow if you're calm and plan. If you rally drive on the highway any car with any tire will become a hockey puck if pressed. I have seen many dotting the medians in the 12 years I made that trip.

Studs are loud. Studs don't grip that well on dry or rainy pavement. They don't really belong there.
This was a bit long but I wanted to show the reasoning.

As with choosing which EV to purchase, look at what you do most of the time. Get the tires that suit that need.
I wish the sand paper retreads were still made. They were amazing in the snow and ice. Just don't run them after April. I know the tech has improved and the current stud-less tires are very good.
The GoodYear F32 was another amazing non studded winter tire.

Hope this helps,
Greg
 
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