Tire Advice Badly Needed!

[Steve]

Ok i'm looking for some advice from everyone..

Currently I Have stock 18 Inch wheels on my car and I just went ahead
and ordered some new 20"s... Doesn't make much sense with WINTER right around the corner but I was like a kid in a candy store and had to have the wheels NOWWWWW (that plus the low AUD helped ;) )

I Live in WA State, and we get occasional snow (last year was quite a bit). On my prev car we had Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Tires, and they really were GOOD tires, but with a lot of snow & ice going uphill in an rwd car.... not so much ;)

So i'm looking at 2 options and i'm just LOST in all the tire options.

a) Slap All seasons on the 20's and drive'm year round (Most likely 245/35/20 up front and 275/30/20's in the back)
Michelin Pilot Sport A/S (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Pilot+Sport+A%2FS&partnum=83YR0SPORTAS&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&place=15)
BridgeStone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Potenza+RE960AS+Pole+Position&partnum=83WR0RE960PPXL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&place=14)

To be honest i'm really leaning toward going with a summer & winter set - keeping my stock 18'ers as my winter set since traction in winter weather with this car is something i'm sorta concerned about ;)

b) Put winters on the 18's and Summer tires on the 20's (285/30s in back)
Winters:
BridgeStone Blizzak LM-25 (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Blizzak+LM-25&partnum=445HR8BZLM25&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&place=1)
Michelin Pilot Alpin PA2 (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Pilot+Alpin+PA2&partnum=445VR8PA2XL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&place=7)
Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3, (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Pilot+Alpin+PA3&partnum=445VR8PA3XL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&place=8)
Michelin X-Ice Xi2, (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=X-Ice+Xi2&partnum=445TR8XI2XL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&place=10)
Dunlop SP Wintersport M3, (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Dunlop&tireModel=SP+Winter+Sport+M3&partnum=445VR8WSM3XL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&place=4)
PirelliWinter 240 Sottozero (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Pirelli&tireModel=Winter+240+Sottozero&partnum=445VR8240SZ&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&place=9)

Summer:
* BridgeStone Potenza RE760 (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Potenza+RE760+Sport) (leaning towards this one)
* BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW 2 (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=g-Force+T%2FA+KDW+2)(or this one)
Yokohama S.Drive (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Yokohama&tireModel=S.drive&partnum=83YR0SXL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&place=13)
General Tire Exclaim UHP (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=General&tireModel=Exclaim+UHP&partnum=83WR0EUHPXL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&place=12)


Then there's the Falken 452's (http://www.falkentire.com/xhtml/tires.php?category=3) which seem pretty popular down under
but no idea if they're all seasons or summers only (guessing the latter)

I would've put a poll but since there's so many combo's let me know what YOU guys would do if you were in the same situation or if you have had any experiences with any of these tires (especially any of the two summer tires marked with the '*').

Thanks so much

[SRG963]

Easy, the answer is B. What do I win? LOL

I can't decide on the tires. I like Firestone Firehawks, but I'd get Michelins all around if I could afford it.

[Steve]

haha lol THANKS! That's exactly where i'm stuck at too.. can't decide on the actual tires..

[SRG963]

Have you looked at Dunlop SP Sport 7010 A/S DSST
RunFlat All seasons for the 20's, and they perform.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Dunlop&tireModel=SP+Sport+7010+A%2FS+DSST&vehicleSearch=false&partnum=835WR07010DSST&fromCompare1=yes&place=2

After more research, I'd go with the Pilot Sport A/S with road hazard and save some money :)
and drive them 20's all year round.

[Steve]

I'm so torn on this..
on the one hand i'm worried about traction and think I should go winter tires on the 18s.. on the other hand I'd hate to get these nice 20's and only drive on'm 8 months out of the year... of course 2 sets = 2x the cost for new tires, while if I go with just the 20s I could try to sell the stock 18's.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh I'm so :confused::confused: haha

[G8Smitty]

Have you looked at Dunlop SP Sport 7010 A/S DSST
RunFlat All seasons for the 20's, and they perform.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Dunlop&tireModel=SP+Sport+7010+A%2FS+DSST&vehicleSearch=false&partnum=835WR07010DSST&fromCompare1=yes&place=2

After more research, I'd go with the Pilot Sport A/S with road hazard and save some money :)
and drive them 20's all year round.

We bought run flats for my wifes car and they didn't perform well and they were really heavy. I'm not sure that is the case with the Dunlops. Something to consider too.

I like your idea of running the 20's in the summer and the 18's in the winter. I've never been really satisfied with any tires I've purchased. It seems if they perform well then they are gone in a season. If they last, they usually don't perform well. I bought some Conti's on my last perchase and it seems like they are middle ground. They are all season so they are not as sticky as the stockers from the 19". They seem to be last okay so far.

Good luck.

[SRG963]

Yeah, I'm stuck on your decision to LOL

[Chewy]

Winter tires and summer tires and you're done! :woohoo:

Dunlop and Blizzak's are nice IMO.

I'd run some Kumho's on the 20's unless you're looking for all out performance.

[MtbDoc]

Be careful about too much wheel and too little tire. I really like the look (but not the ride nor traction) of the 19" wheels on the GTO. With the slightly larger circumference on the G8 you get slightly more section width, but honestly DON'T go too big!

Looking at aftermarket wheels for this car I don't want to go ANY bigger than 19" for ride and performance.

[GRRRR8]

Steve, Get winter tires for the 18s it will get better traction and no worry of any winter type damage to the new 20s. Put a summer only tire on the 20s so you can have maximum traction and handling to be able to really enjoy/maximize the car.

[Panther 2]

Put on the 20's , leave the car in the garage for the bad weather and , buy a cheap truck. problem solved, you get what you want , the car doesn't get any salt damage ,or slidding off the road damage. It's a win, win deal. Lol

[Steve]

yeah that'll go over well with the mrs.. hahah

[-Ray-]

Put on the 20's , leave the car in the garage for the bad weather and , buy a cheap truck. problem solved, you get what you want , the car doesn't get any salt damage ,or slidding off the road damage. It's a win, win deal. Lol

I agree!

[Devilish34]

Steve what tires did you guy for the 20s

[Steve]

Bridgestone Potenza RE960 AS in 285/30 in the back and 245/35 in the front

Like'm a lot so far