elmer

Before the flames start, I will be driving my 350z in the winter but only when it is dry. The wife and I can carpool when the roads are wet. Here in Ottawa, it takes the trucks less than 12 hours to dry up any snowfall so for the most part, I am looking for a tire that will perform well when cold (10C to -30C). I am less concerned with its ability to cut through snow, etc.

I have a performance model with 18's (225/45R18, 245/45/R18) so I have VDC. I want to go down to factory 17's and retain full functionality of the VDC.

I don't know what the stock 17" sizes are but I've found 225/50R17, 225/55R17 to be a close diameter match to my existing 18's. Less close but probably still acceptable is 225/50R17, 235/50R17.

Can anybody tell me what the stock tire sizes are on the 17's?

Would my selections above work?

Would I be smarter to go to a thinner tire? What is the thinnest tire that will fit on the stock 17's?

Any tire recommendations? I've been told Blizzaks wear quickly and are not that great once they've worn 50%. For the first combination, the only tires available in Canada are the Blizzak WS-50's. If I choose the second option, I can get the Blizzak LM-22's or the Pirelli Winter 210's.

Is one of these better than the rest? WS-50's are definitely the least expensive.

Any insight is appreciated. Thanks,
Elmer.

ZpikeZ

Michelin Pilot Sports are an all season tire and I believe they perform very well in both the cold and warm weather. Some people here switched the stock tires out immediately to Pilot Sports because the RE040's are terrible in poor weather (cold, snow).

Stock sizes for the 17s are 225/50/17 for the fronts and 235/50/17 for the rears. You should definitely keep your next set of tires (if you get snow tires) at the stock specs. Getting thinner tires (like 215 fronts, 225 rears) will probably handle a little better in the snow, but not in the dry, and having these small tires would just look weird on the Z. For this upcoming winter in the Northeast, I bought Blizzak LM-22 snow tires and will have them mounted on my 17s. I hear these are quite good. I got them for a little over $700 at tirerack.com. (Hurry up because they are running out). WS-50's are more of a hardcore snow tire. They will probably be much louder and won't handle in the dry as well as the LM-22s. Hope this helped.

DMONTE

I will be going with the Michelin pilots sport A/S went through last winter with the stock tires horrible they should be outlawed above a certain latitude after October, even on totally dry roads if it's under 40° you can be sliding at any moment.

I have been researching the pilot sport A/S their expensive but from what I am finding out worth every penny. Even for year-round use supposedly handle as good as A summer tire.

elmer

Thanks for your replies guys.

I think I am going to get the LM-22's on the factory 18" wheels since its only $100 more than the 17s for all 4 tires. Like you said, the WS-50's are gonna suck bad performance wise.

I have a line on another set of 18's that will become my winter rims.

Here in Canada the LM-22's are 280.57 x 2 + 275.87 X 2 = 1112.28 before tax before shipping before mounting, etc.(tiretrends.com).

Can any Canadians get a better price than this?

Thanks,
Elmer.