Hopefully this question won't make me sound too dumb. But having never lived somewhere where it snows alot I felt it appropriate.
Living in Loveland can I get away with using all weather tires during the winter months or do I need to buckle down and pick up snow tires?
Right now I'm rolling on Hankook Ventus V12 Evo's (215/45/17). It's a great summer tire and here in Texas I can roll on summer tires year round, but I have a feeling that I'm going to at least need an all weather if not a snow tire.
Any info would be appreciated

If you're planning on swapping tires with the seasons regardless of type, I'd say go with snows. Realistically, the only car I've "needed" snow tires on was the RX8. I made it through winter, although not very happily, in my Mazda6 on Kumho Ecsta SPTs. Other than a few larger storms during the year, we don't get a ton of snow.

Depends on how you drive, lol.

RX-7 Chris wrote:Depends on how you drive, lol.

I'm a "spirited" driver I guess. I don't haul *** everywhere I go. But I go fast when I need to lol

If you just plan on having one set of tires than go with all seasons. If you don't mind changing out the tires and having 2 sets than get a set of summers and a set of winters.

Snows !

There have been a few "spirited" discussions on the matter so you might research some previous threads. I run the stock RE50's in summer (till I chew them up) but have had VERY good luck and performance with Yokohama "W" Drive snows. I'm not sure what to do either but All Seasons I think = compromise. When you really want to corner in the summer or when winter conditions are max (which happens here also) the right tire for the season will prevail. Like the members have said "depends how you drive". I would like another set of wheels eventually and have two sets to optimize performance.... that's just me....

I second what's been said. In a front wheel drive car, you should be ok with some all seasons that are M+S rated. But I would say that if you can afford to keep two sets of wheels / tires, definitely keep your summer tires, and buy a cheap set of rims to put snow tires on.

If your looking for a set let me know. I have a set of all-seasons on 18x8 RX-8 rims for sale. PM me for more info.

Don't waste you're time with all-seasons. Tires that are OK for all four seasons aren't going to be great for any one season. AS tires will only hinder your summer driving, and won't be as good as snows if the weather gets real bad. The upfront cost of snows and wheels will be more than offset in the long run when you don't have to pay mount/dismount charges every winter/spring.

Snows. Tire selection is as much about temperature range as it is about tread. Snow tires have rubber compounds blended to grip better at temps under 40 and will actually do better on dry pavement than all season tires at low temps.

Definitely a separate set of snows and keep summer tires for summer. You can even get performance winter tires that do pretty well on dry roads in the winter. I'm extremely happy with my Michelin Primacy Alpin PA3s. I had always gone with dedicated snow/ice tires like the Hankook Icebears and General Altimax Arctics before this past winter and loved how they performed in snow but hated how squishy and floaty they felt on dry roads. Plus my ABS would kick in much easier on hard stops on dry pavement. These Michelins have done great for a winter tire on dry roads and were also very good on snow.

dommo_g wrote:AS tires will only hinder your summer driving

I disagree with this statement. I tear **** up with my AS. With that said, I've gone through winter with my Goodyear Eagle GTs. I plan on switching to a winter tire when I get the money, but with you, I'd suggest you keep your summers until winter comes around and then get a dedicated set. You'll definitely save money that way.

If you tear shit up with all season tires, you'd tear even more shit up with summer tires. There's no getting around the fact that all season tires do not perform as well as summer tires on (warm) dry pavement. You are willing to compromise for the convenience/cost and that's fine, but dommo's statement is true.

Another thing to consider Lyssa is that you don't have traction issues in a regular 3. In an MS3 it becomes a struggle to get the power to the ground so having good tires becomes even more important. I could never run an all-season tire on a performance car. Just seems completely counterproductive to me.