grifferjr

hey guys,
time for the million dollar question, or rather 1-2 thousand dollar question, cause the answer will determine what i have to do.

first off i love my Z and the thought of having to store her away for the winter makes me wanna cry. i drove her last year with the oem tires and it was hell to put it lightly.

so here is the situation. when i had the tire warranty thingy done, nissan ended up giving me new fronts that were bridgestones all weather RE-92's. The rears were left with 040's. A month ago i got 19's put on my baby, thus i have the oem 17's sitting in the garage. They will definately go back on for the winter. here is the question:

Can I get by with just throwing Blizzacks on the rears, since they are bald and the fronts barely have any tread wear at all??? I know everywhere I read the "experts" say that the blizzacks should be installed in sets of four only, but come on would you expect them to say any different?

My thinking is i should be okay. Not only do the fronts have plenty of tread and are at least an all season, but the rears would be blizzacks and those are the driving wheels anyway with the RWD car. Am i being too cheap here?

Strife350z

iTrader: (4)

My opinion is not to do it... it's always dangerous to mix tire brands/tread patterns front and rear... and winter is an even more dangerous time to do it

with that said though, I understand your logic and in theory, you should be OK... but in the real world, driving conditions can vary signficantly... and you can't predict how rear winters will handle wet weather for instance, versus the front all seasons

anyway good luck... but for your safety, I would recommend buying a whole new set of front and rear tires for your 17s, and just try to sell the re92s that Nissan gave you

rjaustin

Driving in snow is not just about having enough traction for the rear wheels -- you need good traction for steering, too.

JPrivi23

If you research on tire rack Bridgestone has a blurb that says Blizzaks should only be installed in sets of four. I wouldn't do it.

03Z33

iTrader: (49)

should be fun for a while... until you get sick of drifting all the time....

Most winter tires like Blizzaks are too different to be mixed with others... the compound is meant to work under different temperatures... I would not feel comfortable driving that setup (and I love drifting! )

grifferjr

I must be missing something here cause I cant see how this combo could be any worse than going through the winter on the OEM tires, which i already did unscathed, miracle though.

Is it really that bad??? Cause if I have to get all four blizzacks I think i might just go for the winter beater. My plan was to go through this winter with the two on rear and then get the fronts for next winter. Ohio snow is never all that bad. maybe at most 2-4 inches on the road, and that would be blizzard conditions for us.

Luke@tirerack

Today's winter tires are better at providing ice and snow traction than ever before. The technology used to develop the tread designs and tread compounds has evolved beyond what you may have used previously. Every one of our tire manufacturers and 7 out of 10 vehicle manufacturers recommend four winter tires be used on rear wheel, front wheel or four wheel drive vehicles. This is because if you use two dissimilar types of tires on your vehicle, you'll have a vehicle that has a "split" personality. One end of the vehicle won't react and perform the same as the other in the dry, wet, slush and snow conditions you'll encounter before the end of winter. Especially in emergency situations, you'll find that your vehicle will probably understeer in one condition and oversteer in another. It is preferable to keep your vehicles handling as consistently as possible by "matching" all four tires. Our customers who have matched their tires tell us they're glad they made the extra investment in four winter tires (and wheels) so they can accelerate, brake, handle and better control their vehicle through winter's challenges.

SoFl_G

iTrader: (1)

Don't forget, the front wheels do the majority of braking. I'd run them on all 4 wheels.