Not your typical tire question

[b_palmer22]

Hey guys I'm over here from the 240SX forums. I'm going to school up in maryland in the mountains where they get dumped on snow wise. Ive got an Sr20 in my 240 and im thinking that id probably die if i drove that thing in the snow, its bad enough in the rain. But ill cut to the chase. I'm buying a 1g Gsx to handle the snow and Im looking for the absolute tallest/widest tire i can put on there. think like all terrain big. I dont care if i have to take a sawzall to the fenders i can make it fit. im just worried about hitting suspension components. Its a bone stock 92 Gsx he said he has both rx7 rims and stock ones if that helps any. Thanks for any input.

 

[disciplekyst]

I just don't know why you would want to put such big tires on your GSX, maybe you want it to look funny, anyway. I live in Canada, and from the experience i got with snow tires is that the narrower it is the better. Just look at rally cars: "350 whp with bicycle tires..." I used to have 195/60/16 for the winter and I can tell you it really digs in the snow. Now I got 205/55/16 and it feels like my car floats, good for drifting but nothing as fast as the last set.

So it depends on the type of fun you want to have, wider makes you float, narrower makes you faster than those Grand Cherokees (given you choose good quality tires like blizzaks for example).

Hope this helps

 

[b_palmer22]

what do you do for ground clearance though besides coilovers im not putting any money in this car? id imagine that with 4+inches of snow my gsx will become a pretty effective snow plow

 

[Locke]

AWD + DSM = Snow plow.

It'll push through a good amount of snow pretty easily, given decent tires.

 

[luv2rallye]

I drive my dsm year round in Mn. The narrower tires the better for snow. Blizzacks are great but only for 1 season. Nokian Hakkas (from Finland) are even better and last many seasons. I swear by them and use them all winter here (especially on rallys). http://www.nokiantires.com/en/DEFAULT.ASPX

 

[wret]

Relax. You're in Maryland, not the Yukon. Four inches of snow all at once is rare. I haven't even bothered with all season tires since moving to MD six years ago. I think I had to borrow the wife's Xterra once last winter.

 

[TunaTalon]

what do you do for ground clearance though besides coilovers im not putting any money in this car? id imagine that with 4+inches of snow my gsx will become a pretty effective snow plow

Don't try plowing snow with your GSX at speed. I got caught in a heavy wet show with 225 series tires and stock ride height. Low speed was righteous, but at 60 MPH my AWD Talon really wanted to swap ends.

Raising ride height with tall tires is not such a good idea. That will change the final drive ratio, throw the speedometer off, and fool the ECU about your actual speed.

With Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires my Talon can pull away from V8 Jeep Cherokee’s throwing snow from all four tires. That’s good enough for me.

 

[laserspeeddemon]

I drive my dsm year round in Mn. The narrower tires the better for snow. Blizzacks are great but only for 1 season. Nokian Hakkas (from Finland) are even better and last many seasons. I swear by them and use them all winter here (especially on rallys). http://www.nokiantires.com/en/DEFAULT.ASPX

What models do you recommend, the Hakka RSi? 2? 4? 5?

I like sliding in the snow, something with a little more traction might give me some more speed doing it. You'll understand in my next winter video. I had the wheels spinning in 3rd gear at WOT on a closed road covered in snow.

 

[b_palmer22]

your right in bel air 4 inches is rare however up in western maryland it just dumps all the time 4 inches is a weekly thing in the middle of winter.
I was going to ask the same thing witch ones to go with both with the blizzak and the ones you reccomended. im looking for traction if i wanted to spend time sideways id just bring my 240 up. like i said though i dont care about throwing the speedo off or anything like that its my beater.

 

[jlucas05]

Dude you live in florida, you probably wont have to worry too much about snow , unless you've moved or something, correctioin i now see you are in maryland, sorry!!!

 

[boostcrazyawd]

the hancook winter pike is a knarly snow tire. if you want traction its a great tire, they also wear pretty good for winter tires. iam thinking about get a set for my gsx for the crazy mich winters haha.

 

[vmac]

maybe you could put some studded tire on in the front. (traction in the back takes out all the fun for me). i think the car would look just a bit odd with big tires.

 

[TheMadCheshire]

I would highly recommend some skinner tires as opposed to some big old mudders. My sentra has 155/80R13s on it and it rocks in the snow. Its fun to go e-braking in too.

As for tires, the Michelin X-ices are like the meanest snow tire I've ever seen. From personal experience though, I like the Alpine PA3s. I had one car come in to my shop and we put these tires on. I had to take it for several test drives to try and find this customer's complaint and the tires never gave up in the snow. This was during last winter when Colorado got hit with a huge snow storm in December.

 

[luv2rallye]

What models do you recommend, the Hakka RSi? 2? 4? 5?

I and many performance rallyists here and in Michigan swear by the Hakka RSI's on winter rallys (most other Hakka winter models have studs which is illegal in most states). They are extremely siped. Siping traps snow in the tread which is how you get your maximum traction - snow against snow. It's not how knobby the tread is on a snow tire as some will lead you to believe. Knobby helps with mud or dirt traction but not snow. They are also very soft which is why you only use them in winter (they will wear out quickly in summer) so I have them on separate steel wheels. I leave them on all winter after the first snowfall hits (and always on all rallys in winter as well as mud rallys in summer). I put them on my wife's car in winter too. I've rally'd for 30 years and have found no better snow tire (although many have copied Hakka's characteristics and aren't too bad now). The Fins with all their long snowy, icey winters have made sure they have designed the best gripping snow tires in the world.

What ever brand you get, whether Hakka, Blizzack, Hancock, Alpine, whatever, make sure you get the narrowest and tallest snow tires for your diameter wheels (smaller width number and higher aspect ratio number than stock). Try to get at least a 65 aspect tire ratio if you can. You want a narrow tire so it can get down to the road surface through the snow for traction. A too wide tire will just ride on the snow and spin and you will spin out or go nowhere. Also get separate cheap steel wheels (even used if you wish) for them so you can take them off after winter and remount them next winter (many tire shops sell cheap steel snow tire wheels - just make sure it clears the caliper). And don't worry about raising ride height, final drive ratio, throwing the speedometer off (ya it will a little w/o stock tire size but you now know this so compensate), or ECU fooling. It will all work just fine - I've done it for 30 years.

More advice: If you want tires that grip on snow, then get SNOW tires. All these "all season" tires are B.S. and just P.R. hype as any rallyest will tell you. They all handle like crap on snow. Also throw a 80lb sandbag in the rear hatch. It will amaze you how much better traction you'll have, even with a FWD DSM like mine!

[I used to get an inch smaller diameter wheel than stock so I could fit an 85 aspect ratio Hakka on a CRX - it was totally awsome and beat every car/truck/jeep out there on snow. Man was it fun to drive on snow - even on unplowed roads. It cut through the snow like butter. I'd go out at 3am before they plowed after heavy snow just to have fun with it in the city!]

 

[Defiant]

maybe you could put some studded tire on in the front. (traction in the back takes out all the fun for me). i think the car would look just a bit odd with big tires.

Both ends only on an AWD DSM. Unless driveline repair entertains you.