Winter is Here

[T.J.]

Any sugg's about snow-tires for the old G8-GT? With the stock tread, I have no traction at all. Can't even get out of the driveway...

[laserred]

Cheapest are the Firestone Winterforce with some cheap 17s from the Tire Rack. If you are looking for a good 18" snow tire plus rims from what I can see you're looking around $1400 or so at least.

[DRCUSTOMPARTS]

I have Goodyear Eagle GT's and ran them the last 2 winters and they do very well in the snow. If you don't want to buy another set of wheels that's an option to consider. I swapped out wheels every winter on the Grand Prix and that got old fast, so I bought all season tires for the G8 and I have no complaints.

[Mich's04]

I used an old set of 17" GTO rims I had laying around with Dunlop Graspics DS-2 on the wife's V6'er. = $860 total w/ new TPMS.

Since I picked up a fully loaded '09 GT this past spring for myself, I decided to try out one of her 17" GTO wheels on the GT.
It just fit. But I did take my die grinder and massaged the top edge of the strut bracket a tiny bit to give me about a 1/4" clearance. So I bought another set of 17" GTO wheels for about $300.
Then ordered a set of Firestone Winterforces for $429 delivered via TireRack. Mounted and balanced myself. =$729 total and used the TPMS sensors from another set of wheels I had laying around.
I bought closed end chrome lugnuts from Napa. If you try to use the stock G8 lugs it's a very tight fit with the GTO wheels. I wouldn't want to have to change a flat in the middle of winter. The Napa lugs solved this potential problem.

From personal experience I'd have to say the Dunlops are great on ice, but the Winterforces are much better in deep snow.

I agree with DRCUSTOMPARTS about being a pain swapping out tires for the season. I have a lift and it's still a pain.

[Slizzo]

I bought a full set of 17x8" rims (MSW Type 15) and Michelin X-Ice Xi2's in 225/55/17 from tire rack 2 years ago. Tires and rims have been great. A set of good winter tires for the G8 would have been $900; I got the full winter setup that I can swap with basic tools for a hair over $1100.

When it comes time to replace those tires, they're much cheaper in 17" than 18".


Also, I don't feel it's a pain to swap rims/tires twice a year. I have to do it in my driveway as I don't have a garage. Also only use basic hand tools; I have a single jack, breaker bar, torque wrench and a couple sockets. Takes me only 30 mins to an hour to swap them by myself.


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[DRCUSTOMPARTS]

You forgot to add the time it takes to pull the other set of wheels out from storage, clean the wheels you removed from the car, then put them back into storage. Since I didn't have room to store them in the basement or on the garage wall or floor, I had to put them in the garage attic. Those suckers were pretty heavy to be lifting above my head when I was on a step ladder, making sure I didn't drop one or fall off. Plus when you get to be 50+ years old like me, it takes a lot more effort to swap out wheels twice a year.

[TomPierce]

DRCUSTOMPARTS is right. (Actually, he's not, but if you don't tell him he is correct, he goes and gets all depressed on you...)

I bought 4 Firestone Winterforce tires and inexpensive 17" rims from TireRack for $849 shipped. I've used them for 2 seasons now and I'm pleased with how they've held up. I wish their wet traction was a little better but they are great in deep snow.

You might also consider buying 5 tires instead of 4 - if you damage a tire and the only spare you have is a summer performance tire, you're going to have an 'interesting' handling vehicle. I went back a year later to order another tire only to find out that they do not carry the rim I bought anymore. So my spare tire is going to be on a different rim - it's a good thing snow tires aren't for looks :)

[DRCUSTOMPARTS]

I doubt you'll see much deep snow in Atlanta GA. You must be driving around on bare pavement most of the time with noisy bad handling snow tires. We've only had 2 or 3 snowstorms this winter in the Chicago area that were of a substantial amount, so being that far south I really can't see the need for snow tires. But it's your car so you can do what you want. By the way, why don't you keep your personal comments to yourself, you don't see me making smartass comments towards you.

[Chewy]

I've thought about spooning on A.S. tires for the summers, but I like the fact that these cheap wheels get beat to death in the winter, while my stockers sit on the rack high and dry. Snow tires handle like crap for sure, but when it's cold out, there's NO substitute for them. They are amazing in the snow and ice. I am amazed EVERY time I drive it in bad weather.

Chris

[vert]

I have been using my RSA's the past 2 winters with little to no problems. Of course I am on my second set of RSA's on the rear, I was lucky to pick up 2 new ones this year for 50 bucks.