Rotary Nut

I posted a thread
about my new all season radials I had installed last week.

This a testimonial of sorts for these tires
when mounted on the RX-8.

Now remember everyone, that from the get go I wanted a tire that could handle a little bit of everything. I don't intend on driving up snow drifts or heading out on the lake to do some axels or figure 8's. Likewise I do not plan on auto-Xing or drifting it in the summer. I knew that they were not dedicated snow tires and would not perform as such.

SO NO FLAMES PLEASE!

Well the white stuff fell and then it rained a bit making for a crusty, wet layer of snow about 4-6 inches deep.

The car or should I say the tires handled the snow quite admirably. Steering and braking were about a 9 out of 10 and acceleration was about a 8 out of 10. The car went where I guided it and stopped very well. Although the tires would slip some upon the application of the go faster pedal the DSC would kick in and dampen these unwanted slips. I think most of it stems from the fact that this is after all a RWD car and I have been used to driving FWD and AWD cars for so long. I had to relearn some snow driving habits.

Overall I am very happy with the way they performed. Exactly as I had envisioned and well worth the $510 dollars I spent on them.

:D

cueball

Good to see all seasons work as well as dedictated snow tires.

jdaled

I chose ultra high performance all-seasons for the same reasons you did Rotary Nut, and for me the decision was a great one as well.

Gord96BRG

Careful, there - he didn't claim that the all-seasons work as well as dedicated winter tires - he just said that they worked well enough to meet his expectations.

No flames from me - he knew what he wanted and what compromises those entailed. Just don't expect to match the performance of winter tires in snow with all-seasons!

Regards,
Gordon

D MENAC 7

I have been doing a lot of researching for some slight snowy condition tires also. This is the exact tire that I am considering getting after reading about the reviews from tire review websites.

If you are looking at comparing sizes 1010tires.com http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp has a nice size sice calculator which compares both width and diameter based on the measurements you select.

From my searches, tirerack.com is the only online distributor of this tire and the price they are quoting right now is $118 each for a total of $472.00 + shipping and handling. S&H to middle IL is $36.24 for 3 day Fed Ex which would bring the total to $508.24. Mounting and balancing could be as high as $70 so for a little under $600, I could keep the tire on all year long.

Does it work with the Tire Pressure Monitors? Does it fit, in other words?

Wear and tear is a question as how many miles might be expected? I'm sure more than the stock OEMs which have been reported as low as 12,500 mi. with abuse.

The customer reviews on tirerack.com placed this all Ultra High Performance All-season tire at an overall ranking of 5 of 17 in the listing. For many of us non-Canadians and non-Far northerners this looks like a good alternative for those snowy days so long as it ain't a friggin' blizzard out there.

Even with the stock tires I could get out of my driveway and down my unplowed street in a recent 4 inch snow. However, I would not want to drive accross town to where I work on the stock tires so this seems to be a good alternative to me.

Rotary Nut

Yes they do fit and I have had no problems with the TPMS. $508 is what I paid for mine also.

I put 11000 miles on my last set of HTR+s and they showed almost no wear. After all they have a treadwear rating of "360", temp "AA" and traction "A" .This is compared with the 040s tread wear of "140", temp "A" and "A" traction rating.

mjd

I don't know too much about tires, but arent those HTR+ actually wider than the stock tires? Why would you want that for winter? Also I was looking into those today...Sumitomo 245/40WR 18 and Sears told me they don't exist. WTF??!! Everything else they pointed me to cost 250-300 per tire. For only a few months out of the year, no thanks.

LightEmUp

I just got these put on today, wow, it makes a world of difference. I'm in North Dakota so there is no powder snow, everything is frozen over and these tires do the trick.

Rotary Nut

Yes they are wider than stock, just over one inch. The snow around here never really gets more than a few inches deep and doesn't last more than a day so the wider tread is more for increased handling for when there is no white stuff on the ground.

I haven't had a problem yet. If I lived in an area that had snow a foot deep for months at a time then yes I would have dedicated snows.

The ignorant sots at Sears told me the same thing when I had my Sumi's installed on my Passat W8 and I was casually inquiring about the tires. They told me that they do not carry that size! WTF. I used to run Pirelli P7000S/S and they quoted me $280 a piece for a 225/45ZR17 and the Tire Rack was selling them at $88 a piece.

Go to the Tire Rack, Read my previous posts. $118 a piece, $508 shipped. I have been buying my tires from the Tire Rack for over 10 years and will never go back to local retailers except in an emergency. They were at my door step within 48 hrs and could be gotten quicker for a price.

mjd

I saw the HTR+ at tirerack and I'll probably order those so I can buy my "8" in a week or so. I live in WI and snow covered roads are usually not much of a problem where I live. If it snows a lot, the roads are usually clear by the next day, and I do most of my driving on the highway anyway and those are well taken care of here when it snows.

BTW...I don't think I'll be visiting Sears again for tires or tire info.

Omicron

An inch wider than the stock tires? That alone is reason enough for me to buy them! :D

mjd

After looking at all seasons at tirerack, I was thinking about tire life. I have a VW Beetle I'm replacing with an 8. The 16 in. tires on there had a 40,000 mile warranty. Do you think you could find 18" all season tires for the 8 that would have a tread life this long? I'd rather have much longer tread life than high performance since the all seasons would likely be used just for the winter. In the summer, I'd put the RE040s back on and I already understand you will be lucky to get 15,000 miles from those. My point is...for the winter, I don't care about high performance. I just want something that will last a long time. I'll save the "fun" driving for summer when it is nice out.

Rotary Nut

Well I put 11K on my last set in 12 months and they showed almost no appreciable wear.

mjd

I just ordered a set of the Sumitomo 245/40/18 from tire rack. Should have them in a couple of days. Now all I need is the RX-8 to put them on. Should have that within a week or two.

Peakster

I will put these tires on the top of my list for next fall, unless a 225/40/18 all-season tire comes out. Are there any yet?

Gord96BRG

The ONLY advantage of all-seasons is that they provide get-you-by capability in winter. There's no question that they are NOT as good as proper winter tires in winter conditions, but they're far better than the OEM performance summer tires in winter conditions, and they're better than winter tires in summer conditions, but nowhere near as good as summer tires in summer. Not exactly a glowing recommendation, but if you can live with those sacrifices, then it's a cheap way to save money on tires. If you're going to run separate performance summer tires anyway, then there's NO reason to compromise your winter performance. Most winter tires last a long time anyway (Blizzak WS-50s excepted).

Regards,
Gordon

AF-RX8

I think you mean a 225/45/18 not 225/40/18 .. . and btw I agree & wish they would come out with an all season in our stock 18" size