New User, New Car, and need some new Winters

[Pauly]

Hi Everyone,
I just picked up a 2012 Tech package sedan. Living in Toronto area will need to get some winter tires put on fairly quickly. I am leaning towards Michelin X-Ice XI3. Can anyone share their thoughts on these or other options I should look at? Thanks in advance.

 

[Epiphany]

X ice or Blizzaks are good choices, despite the name the michelin will be a bit better on cold dry pavement, where the blizzaks will be a bit better on snow and ice. Hard to go wrong with either of the two though.

 

[OneFunGenesis]

I have blizzaks and love them. I live in an area that gets plowed when they feel like it or plowed by ricers . Blizzaks do me really well. That coupled with the ESC keep this car in line fairly well!

 

[stuofsci02]

Hi Everyone,
I just picked up a 2012 Tech package sedan. Living in Toronto area will need to get some winter tires put on fairly quickly. I am leaning towards Michelin X-Ice XI3. Can anyone share their thoughts on these or other options I should look at? Thanks in advance.

I have the same car and I am going with 235/55/17 X-Ice XI3. I am out in the Whitby area, so should be similar conditions to you...

 

[katman0]

I have the same car and I am going with 235/55/17 X-Ice XI3. I am out in the Whitby area, so should be similar conditions to you...

I live in Toronto area also and got a set of X-ICE 3 last year when I got the car. They were great but pricey. I also had to get alloy rims as the steel wheels would not fit over the calipers on the front. This added to the extra cost. I only have the premium pkg. I think your car has the same calipers as mine though.

 

[stuofsci02]

I live in Toronto area also and got a set of X-ICE 3 last year when I got the car. They were great but pricey. I also had to get alloy rims as the steel wheels would not fit over the calipers on the front. This added to the extra cost. I only have the premium pkg. I think your car has the same calipers as mine though.

Yeah.. I have to get the Alloys also to clear the calipers.. You are correct about the same brakes for all 3.8s.

It is looking like I am going to be close to $1850 taxes in.. There is a $70 mail in rebate from Michelin right now also when you buy 4 new tires.

 

[Epiphany]

Yeah.. I have to get the Alloys also to clear the calipers.. You are correct about the same brakes for all 3.8s.

It is looking like I am going to be close to $1850 taxes in.. There is a $70 mail in rebate from Michelin right now also when you buy 4 new tires.

Are you going with 18"s? I managed to find a set of 17" alloys that cleared the brakes, with Blizzaks and it ran me $1297 taxes in then then $70 rebate. This was in Calgary so we both pay the crappy tire pricing Canadians get.

 

[nfetterly]

Hi Everyone,
I just picked up a 2012 Tech package sedan. Living in Toronto area will need to get some winter tires put on fairly quickly. I am leaning towards Michelin X-Ice XI3. Can anyone share their thoughts on these or other options I should look at? Thanks in advance.

Bought Xice 3 from Tire Rack on 17" rims. Installed them on car on Saturday, snowed Monday. Okay - it's Southern Ohio, so it's not that bad. (my previous car - Bonneville I ran Michelin Hydro edges year round)

I should note that I also have the tech package (18" wheels) and I wanted to go narrower than the 235 on the 18" wheels. Going with 17" wheels there are two options with the narrower one being (from memory) 215/65 (versus 225/60). I felt that going to winter tires as well as having a tire that had the weight on ~10% less area (235 vs 215) would help alot. The 215/65/17 tire was also ALOT cheaper than the 235/50/18. All in with aluminum wheels (apparently no steel wheels available for Genny) was ~$1100ish. (No state tax ordering from Tire Rack for me, but the ~$100 shipping leveled that out). The alloy wheels from tire rack come with a "centering ring" mounted on them that ensures a proper fit on the hub.

I've got very little road time on the tires ~100 miles, but they do feel great. Formerly being from Canada & provinces that allowed studs this is only my second non-studded winter tire. It's also the first time in the last 15 years that I did not buy from Costco where the $25 seasonal change out of (Mount / Balance etc) of four tires makes buying new rims a tough choice. With dedicated rims for winter (& summer) I can afford to run the summer tires a bit longer and it opens up more options for me as what I buy for a summer tire.

Interestingly - one of the reasons I bought the winter tires was because I figure I'll get up to Toronto or Ottawa about once a winter - and will need them up there alot more than in Southern Ohio.

 

[cspartan]

'10 4.6 w/tech. Live in MN and I went with 17s and General Altimax Artics, total from TireRack was just over $1100. LOVE these tires. They may not give you much for performance when it's dry, but the only thing stopping my Gen in the winter is clearance now. Combined with the ESC these things make the Gen a tank in the snow, stop great on ice/hardpack and ride very comfortably.

 

[stuofsci02]

Are you going with 18"s? I managed to find a set of 17" alloys that cleared the brakes, with Blizzaks and it ran me $1297 taxes in then then $70 rebate. This was in Calgary so we both pay the crappy tire pricing Canadians get.

No this is for 17 inchers...

Do you mind sharing what 17" rims you found that cleared?

Thanks

______________________________

Help support this site so it can continue supporting you!

 

[Epiphany]

No this is for 17 inchers...

Do you mind sharing what 17" rims you found that cleared?

Thanks

Yeah that's a fair bit too much I'd say, even once you account for PST. The ones I got are RTX Contour in black. 17"x7.5", 5x114.3 pattern, 40 offset 73.1mm hub. The problem with all of the other ones I tried was the drop center on the rim, which caused the very top of the caliper housing to scrape along the inside barrel of the wheel. There was also an Enkei wheel that fit, I want to say the konig but I'm not 100% sure. They only had it in stock with gloss black and a red stripe which didn't work with the gold car at all.

 

[stuofsci02]

Yeah that's a fair bit too much I'd say, even once you account for PST. The ones I got are RTX Contour in black. 17"x7.5", 5x114.3 pattern, 40 offset 73.1mm hub. The problem with all of the other ones I tried was the drop center on the rim, which caused the very top of the caliper housing to scrape along the inside barrel of the wheel. There was also an Enkei wheel that fit, I want to say the konig but I'm not 100% sure. They only had it in stock with gloss black and a red stripe which didn't work with the gold car at all.

Where did you purchase the rims and what price should I be looking at.

Thanks

 

[Epiphany]

Where did you purchase the rims and what price should I be looking at.

Thanks

I got them from a local wheel and tire shop called Urban Expressions. I paid $120 per wheel and $185 per 225/55R17 Blizzak WS70 tires.

 

[stuofsci02]

I got them from a local wheel and tire shop called Urban Expressions. I paid $120 per wheel and $185 per 225/55R17 Blizzak WS70 tires.

Thanks.. I think I see where the prices differ..

These rims are a good price.. About $150 less then the ones I was looking at that were gaurenteed to fit. Also the Blizzak is about $40 per tire cheaper then the XI3. Once you include PST that accounts for it.

So the RTX contour for sure fits? I am worried about this now after having oodles of trouble last year fitting rims on my Carvan R/T.

 

[Epiphany]

Thanks.. I think I see where the prices differ..

These rims are a good price.. About $150 less then the ones I was looking at that were gaurenteed to fit. Also the Blizzak is about $40 per tire cheaper then the XI3. Once you include PST that accounts for it.

So the RTX contour for sure fits? I am worried about this now after having oodles of trouble last year fitting rims on my Carvan R/T.

Those are both pretax prices. The Contour does for sure fit, I've had them on my car about 2 weeks now. I will try to get some pictures tomorrow once it is light out again.

 

[stuofsci02]

Those are both pretax prices. The Contour does for sure fit, I've had them on my car about 2 weeks now. I will try to get some pictures tomorrow once it is light out again.

Thanks.. I appreciate it!

 

[nfetterly]

Bought Xice 3 from Tire Rack on 17" rims. Installed them on car on Saturday, snowed Monday. Okay - it's Southern Ohio, so it's not that bad. (my previous car - Bonneville I ran Michelin Hydro edges year round)

I should note that I also have the tech package (18" wheels) and I wanted to go narrower than the 235 on the 18" wheels. Going with 17" wheels there are two options with the narrower one being (from memory) 215/65 (versus 225/60). I felt that going to winter tires as well as having a tire that had the weight on ~10% less area (235 vs 215) would help alot. The 215/65/17 tire was also ALOT cheaper than the 235/50/18. All in with aluminum wheels (apparently no steel wheels available for Genny) was ~$1100ish. (No state tax ordering from Tire Rack for me, but the ~$100 shipping leveled that out). The alloy wheels from tire rack come with a "centering ring" mounted on them that ensures a proper fit on the hub.

I've got very little road time on the tires ~100 miles, but they do feel great. Formerly being from Canada & provinces that allowed studs this is only my second non-studded winter tire. It's also the first time in the last 15 years that I did not buy from Costco where the $25 seasonal change out of (Mount / Balance etc) of four tires makes buying new rims a tough choice. With dedicated rims for winter (& summer) I can afford to run the summer tires a bit longer and it opens up more options for me as what I buy for a summer tire.

Interestingly - one of the reasons I bought the winter tires was because I figure I'll get up to Toronto or Ottawa about once a winter - and will need them up there alot more than in Southern Ohio.

Hmm, did not seem to be way to edit post - know there should be but well into bottle of wine.

Should be 215/60/17 - which I have or 225/55/17. Not 215/65.

Can still edit this post..., must have been too late for earlier one,

 

[Epiphany]

Thanks.. I appreciate it!

Grabbed a couple quick pictures today. 2 that show the very small amount of clearance these gave, and one of them on the car. You can see the pictures here: http://imgur.com/a/XpjbW. Just to ensure there is no confusion, my car is a 2009 V6 Sedan with the premium package, can't say whether these would clear the V8 model or any other years.

 

[katman0]

Grabbed a couple quick pictures today. 2 that show the very small amount of clearance these gave, and one of them on the car. You can see the pictures here: http://imgur.com/a/XpjbW. Just to ensure there is no confusion, my car is a 2009 V6 Sedan with the premium package, can't say whether these would clear the V8 model or any other years.

Your calipers look a lot different and smaller than mine. I guess they changed them for 2012.

 

[stuofsci02]

Grabbed a couple quick pictures today. 2 that show the very small amount of clearance these gave, and one of them on the car. You can see the pictures here: http://imgur.com/a/XpjbW. Just to ensure there is no confusion, my car is a 2009 V6 Sedan with the premium package, can't say whether these would clear the V8 model or any other years.

Thanks for this.. I did not know yours was a 2009.. That will be important since I have a 2012.. I am not sure these will fit for me...

Man, you already have snow there.. That sucks.. Was 14C and raining here today. I think I still have a couple of weeks to work this out.