Omori

2 weeks ago I purchased a 2004 Silver RX-8 with 6K miles. Almost immediately, NY got hit with a blizzard and some other smaller snowfalls. I quickly learned that the stock Poteza's are DEADLY in the snow.

I was forced to make a quick decision on winter tires. Unfortunately, many tires are already hard to get this late in the season.

2 of my stock 18" rims have some slight curb damage from the previous owner so I decided to make these my winter rims and get new rims for the summer.

I mounted Continental ContiWinterContact TS790 225/45's on the stock rims and man, what an improvement. I thought that the performance winter tires might be lumpy or mushy but in fact, aside from some slight reduction in the steering sharpness, the ride is better in everyway. Quieter and less thumpy. And I can actually drive through the slush and light snow without having my rear slide all over the place.

I haven't seen too many people here riding on the ContiWinterContact TS790's, but I do recommend them.

BTW, it turns out that 2 of my original Potenza's were basically shot at only 6K miles! The 1st owner probably did not rotate them but 6K is a mighty quick decline.

mlx8

I went with a set of the ContiExtremeContact in 245/40zr-18's. Haven't been forced to try them in any snow yet. But have been pretty happy with them in the wet so far. Don't know how the tread compound might compare with the WinterContact TS790. I suspect your may be a better snow tire. The Extreme's OTOH, are a "z" speed rated tire, so I can run them year round, which was part of the rational I used on my self in using them to replace the OEM Bridgestone RE-040s. I have trouble beleiving these have a UTOG treadwear rating of 400.

AQA101

I tried to get the Conti TS790 in November last year, but the delivery date here was February 2005. Somehow the dealer managed to get the new Bridgestone LM 25 though (18/225-45 seems to be a rather rare size for winter tires).

From test results, the Conti is superior on wet roads, but I'd recommend the LM 25 too, fantastic traction on snow and ice and also very good (though not as perfect) on wet roads.