Winter Tires

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I have done it, but had a tire shop swap the TPMS and mine were cloned to the existing ones so I didn't need to do anything in Leaf Spy.

Do you mean the physical swap or the Leaf Spy part?
 
I tried to swap the sensors myself, that was a no go, so I took them to a shop, they charged me $36 to swap all four from a regular stem to the TPMS.

I tried this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Maunq29ow2U

and even laid a board on the tire and drove up on it with the Leaf and it wouldn't pop off the rim, I thought I was going to break something and gave up and took them to a shop.

I can't help with the Leaf Spy part since mine were cloned to the existing ones
 
kennethbokor said:
I'm getting Michelin XICE3s in a week from Dealer. With steelies $1100 CAD installed, plus tax. Includes yearly storage of original set. No TPMS. Get a good tire gauge and save money by checking them yourself!

Lets try this again (my original post was accidentally deleted by a mod. about a month ago and he wasn't able to recover it. I haven't had the heart to re-write it).

Hey Kennith. I love your videos.

I disagree with you that a good tire gauge is a replacement for TPMS sensors. They serve different purposes.

TPMS is a safety feature for detecting a decrease in tire pressure while you are driving, prior to it turning into a blowout. Those are nasty things that can turn an otherwise good day into the worst day of your life. Not having TPMS sensors can also effect the way your traction control system behaves. Considering winter is when you need that the most, having a compromised traction control system then seems backwards.

A good tire pressure gauge is good for detecting a gradual decrease in tire pressure due to seasonal changes in temperature (or a very slow leak) for the purpose of keeping tire wear even, and thus prolonging the life of your tires (as John Cadogan says, I'm not the type of person who wakes up in the morning exited that I get to buy new tires today, so I like to make mine last longer by minimizing their wear).

My original post also discussed what size of winter tires is best, but I have since bought them, so I won't bother with that now.
 
New Leaf Owner - 2018 SL. Currently it has 215/50R17.

I live in MN and want winter tires. Local tire shop is recommending the Bridgestone Blizzak ws90. If I get a 16" it will save me a decent amount of money but will they fit? I can't find a good answer anywhere.... Per the Tire Size and Conversion Calculator on Discount Tire I can go with the 205/55R16 or the 205 60R16 and should I just get the cheapest wheels that fit? Anything else I need to know?

Thanks!
 
Leaf's have large front brake calipers so be sure whatever wheels you buy have clearance for those. I don't know the exact specs for a 2018 but on 2017 the 16" and 17" wheels are interchangeable. I assume the same is true for the 2018 as long as the caliper clearance (and all other wheel specs) are OK.
 
th3sp3ck said:
New Leaf Owner - 2018 SL. Currently it has 215/50R17.

I live in MN and want winter tires. Local tire shop is recommending the Bridgestone Blizzak ws90. If I get a 16" it will save me a decent amount of money but will they fit? I can't find a good answer anywhere.... Per the Tire Size and Conversion Calculator on Discount Tire I can go with the 205/55R16 or the 205 60R16 and should I just get the cheapest wheels that fit? Anything else I need to know?

Thanks!
If your going with dedicated snows I'd suggest the Micheline X-ice 3's, they are supposed to be LRR rated, one of the few snows rated such. I was personally looking into snows but decided on getting winter tires that were still rated for summer. I ended up with the Micheline CrossClimate +. While maybe not quite as good as the X-ice 3's in the winter they are much better than all seasons and you don't have to mess with changing them with the seasons, which isn't all that cheap or you don't have the expense of extra rims and maybe TPMS.
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=CrossClimate%2B&partnum=055HR6CCP&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&autoMake=Nissan&autoYear=2013&autoModel=Leaf&autoModClar=S
I ended up with 205-55-16's but I'd think you could just get them for your OEM rims.
 
I got the Xi3s and I am happy with them. I think there is still a small loss of efficiency with them, but it is hard to say exactly how much because the temperature usually changes significantly at around the same time the tires get changed. There is a massive difference in traction in cold, snowy conditions though. The OEM tires are awful in the snow, even when compared to other all seasons.
I went with 205/60R16, as they are a better match than 205/55R16 to the diameter of the stock 215/50R17. I also prefer the bigger sidewalls when the potholes start to appear in the early spring. Ideally I would like to use 205/60R16 in summer and 195/70R15 in winter, but 15 inch wheels won't fit and it isn't worth changing the 17 inch wheels the car came with.
 
I went with the General Altimax Arctic 12 since they had them locally for $50 each less than the Michelin X Ice and I needed them that day to get home safely. But they seem to flat spot every night with some vibration until they warm up. I have used the Michelin on my Honda Fit with great grip and longevity so I recommend paying the extra money for them if you plan on keeping the car.
 
Titanium48 said:
I got the Xi3s and I am happy with them. I think there is still a small loss of efficiency with them, but it is hard to say exactly how much because the temperature usually changes significantly at around the same time the tires get changed. There is a massive difference in traction in cold, snowy conditions though. The OEM tires are awful in the snow, even when compared to other all seasons.
I went with 205/60R16, as they are a better match than 205/55R16 to the diameter of the stock 215/50R17. I also prefer the bigger sidewalls when the potholes start to appear in the early spring. Ideally I would like to use 205/60R16 in summer and 195/70R15 in winter, but 15 inch wheels won't fit and it isn't worth changing the 17 inch wheels the car came with.

My original post (which got deleted) had that same question about tire size. I ended up going with the P205/55R16 (the same as the S trim) Xi3 tires on my 2019 SV, as I felt it would give more room for snow buildup in the wheel wells, but I did also think about ground clearance and bigger sidewalls (for potholes). So far I haven't had any issues with them, but we have only had small accumulations of snow so far this year (less than 10cm at a time). I do like the way the Leaf handles in the snow though.
 
I normally buy Nokian winter tires but thought I’d try something new. Here in Canada OKTire has Black Lion winter tires. I got the W506 with studs installed and on steel rims for about $1000. They have worked really well so far.
 
superfunkomatic said:
I normally buy Nokian winter tires but thought I’d try something new. Here in Canada OKTire has Black Lion winter tires. I got the W506 with studs installed and on steel rims for about $1000. They have worked really well so far.

Where in Canada are you? Here in Ontario, it is illegal to use studded tires.
 
roger1818 said:
superfunkomatic said:
I normally buy Nokian winter tires but thought I’d try something new. Here in Canada OKTire has Black Lion winter tires. I got the W506 with studs installed and on steel rims for about $1000. They have worked really well so far.

Where in Canada are you? Here in Ontario, it is illegal to use studded tires.
Actually in parts of Northern Ontario studded tires are not only allowed but encouraged. Friends we visit north of Lake Superior told me it's a law that they have at least winter(not A/S) tires and again many have studs.
Studded tires are illegal in MN and I'd assume southern Ontairo where you might be?
 
jjeff said:
roger1818 said:
superfunkomatic said:
I normally buy Nokian winter tires but thought I’d try something new. Here in Canada OKTire has Black Lion winter tires. I got the W506 with studs installed and on steel rims for about $1000. They have worked really well so far.

Where in Canada are you? Here in Ontario, it is illegal to use studded tires.
Actually in parts of Northern Ontario studded tires are not only allowed but encouraged. Friends we visit north of Lake Superior told me it's a law that they have at least winter(not A/S) tires and again many have studs.
Studded tires are illegal in MN and I'd assume southern Ontairo where you might be?

Interesting. I hadn't heard that before. According to the MTO's website:
Studded Tires:
  • are allowed on vehicles registered in Northern Ontario
  • are not allowed in Southern Ontario, unless you’re visiting from out-of-province or a resident of Northern Ontario

I'm actually in Eastern Ontario, but we tend to get lumped in with Southern Ontario from a regulatory standpoint, even though our weather conditions are closer to those in Northern Ontario.
 
I've got a question I haven't seen posted, it has to do with winter tires. I know they say you shouldn't drive true winter tires in the summer because they wear out quicker, my question is just how much quicker? I purchased a used set of Blizzack's for one of my Leafs, probably has 70%?? tread left. This Leaf doesn't get much use, maybe 5-6k miles/year. Assuming this is it really worth the expense($70 twice/year) and time to swap them with the summer tires that came with the car? I mean even if they wore twice as fast, at 5k miles/year they may likely last many years. Now if they wear out 4x as fast or if they are dangerous to use in the summer for some reason, I might reconsider it. Range isn't a big issue either, the car only has 8 bars but just gets local use, occasionally freeway use but not far.
Does anyone have a ballpark number on summer wear on a winter tire?

Oh I live in MN, while not the desert it does regularly get in the 80s and occasionally the 90s in the summer, can't remember the last time we got 100 but we do get the dreaded humidity.
 
It would vary by tire type and driving conditions. Aggressively treaded hard compound tires, soft compound tires that get hot, lots of highway and freeway driving... It sounds like you have a situation well suited for an experiment to see how well somewhat soft compound tires like Blizzacks do in marginal conditions...
 
Funny you should bring this up. Last spring I had a set of Hakka snows that were about 3mm and wouldn't make it another winter so I just left them on. I would estimate they wear about twice as fast? It's hard to say for sure. I will say they were more mushy or squirrely when it was really warm, but still had good traction in the rain. So I would say go for it. But let us know your thoughts in September :)
 
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