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Winter Wheels and Tires

Can you
After much deliberation and multiple Tire Rack orders I went the all season route. Even though it has been an extremely mild winter so far I am just not going to drive this car in snowy conditions. Remote work and teenagers with a car I can use made it a fairly easy decision. I had Conti DWS06 on my GTI and really wanted them again but no XL load in the rears made me go with Michelin Pilot Sport AS4 - so far so good. Appreciate all the ideas and brainstorming on this topic and will keep an eye on it to see where it goes with wheel and tire options down the road. 400 mile OEM Pilot Sports for sale in the classifieds if anyone needs a second set already:

For Sale - FS: CT4-V Blackwing Tires
I don't have easy warm storage of the summers if I go the winter tire route, so may go with your choice of all seasons. I've heard the handling isn't THAT much worse with the Pilot AS4 all seasons. Winter tires are superior for snow, of course, but I have another car for winter duty.
 
So has anyone been driving with Toyo Proxes Sport AS and if so how have they been?
 
After much deliberation and multiple Tire Rack orders I went the all season route. Even though it has been an extremely mild winter so far I am just not going to drive this car in snowy conditions. Remote work and teenagers with a car I can use made it a fairly easy decision. I had Conti DWS06 on my GTI and really wanted them again but no XL load in the rears made me go with Michelin Pilot Sport AS4 - so far so good. Appreciate all the ideas and brainstorming on this topic and will keep an eye on it to see where it goes with wheel and tire options down the road. 400 mile OEM Pilot Sports for sale in the classifieds if anyone needs a second set already:

For Sale - FS: CT4-V Blackwing Tires
When my original tires wear out I think I'll have to consider all seasons too. I won't drive in snow or salty roads, but I'd like to drive occasionally in under 40 degree weather and not worry my tires will shatter and crumble under 20 degrees. But, when part of the deal is the OEM tires were spec'ed to the car, my mind thinks I'm getting cheated out of some level of performance. Of course, it's probably performance I'd never be able to detect, but that little voice will still be there nagging me. I'd love to see real testing to verify if there is any significant difference to a set of high performance all-seasons.
 
While I don't have a BW, the difference between the Pilot Sport 4 and Pilot Sport A/S3+ on my 2009 CTS-V is substantial. With the A/S3+ 1st gear (manual transmission) is unusable past 1/2 throttle without spinning the tires. Braking action is similar, but when you want to take a hard turn and actually get on the throttle the summers are so much better. Back when I owned my 04 CTS-V I actually did the Pilot Sport A/S (the grandfather of the AS4) year-round but that car had way less power and a very nervous chassis so I never felt good pushing it. With the 09 it is a great day every April when I put the summers back on.

In the snow the A/S3+ are ok in pinch but I generally avoid driving in the rare snow we get here. The summer tires are unsafe in temperatures below ~40, and according to Michelin can be damaged if used below freezing.

I assume the A/S4 will be better than the A/S3+, but probably not a huge difference based on my experience going from the A/S+, A/S3, A/S3+ over the years.

Over the years I've had the PS2 (OEM), PSS, and PS4 summers on my V. The PS4 is worlds better and makes the car able to put power down in a way it never could on the PS2...and that's with suspension components and bushings that are now 14 years old.
 
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Yeah, it's basically choosing the least-bad scenario to get me through the winter for now. Hopefully can find a better scenario when supply shortages ease. I did the same thing with my current car, a 350-hp WRX (now totalled thanks to a teenager, hence the new 4bw), where I had to toss an otherwise barely worn Pilot Supersport that was damaged. I put two new PS4s on to see how it would work, which in theory are quite different tires, but in reality I couldn't detect any difference. If this new mismatched setup turns out to handle poorly, I'll go square.

This setup worked very well for me in the end…. No issues with the mismatched tires whatsoever. I was able to drive through a handful of New England storms (which almost always involve a combo of snow, sleet, rain and ice) with no problems, including a long drive through NH where the highways were snowpacked. Between the tires and snow/ice mode, it performed nicely.

I did end up getting an extra set of stock wheels (the part numbers now show up for the wheels on Cadillac.com when you search on replacement parts) at a substantial discount from a dealer in NH. Those will be wearing the stock tires soon — I will be happy to have the full steering responsivensss back….

Ted
 
You bugger (jk)...I had trouble finding the 265's and didn't want to go down to the 255's... that plus your comments from last Winter regarding the Sottozeros--> went with the square set up of the Vredesteins recommended by Tire Rack. Truth be told I was having serious trouble finding any decent staggered set up that I'd trust in snow/ice.

Truth is they are actually riding pretty quiet, sticky, and smooth without any issues in the 20's here... but have yet to really push them (I have a little bit😈) or be in rain/snow/ice. Also speedometer is pretty good at matching my GPS (radar & Waze) so I feel good there.

Used to take my SS out up to about 6 inches of snow as my daily. We'll see about my 5, but I do have an Enterprise rent-a-car 5 minutes from me if need be.

Hey dribs15: Do you have any pics of your car with the OZ/Vredesteins setup from Tire Rack? I've seen Ergoc5's but curious to see anyone else who went with it.

I'm thinking of ordering pretty early in advance of next fall!
 
Hey dribs15: Do you have any pics of your car with the OZ/Vredesteins setup from Tire Rack? I've seen Ergoc5's but curious to see anyone else who went with it.

I'm thinking of ordering pretty early in advance of next fall!
Oh boy!
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Although I have to admit we had zero snow...I also had zero issues. Ride not quite as nice (as to be expected)... but within 7-10 days didn't notice it... until I put my Summers back on.
I drove it like a banshee all Winter since I used to drive my ss with up to ~ 6 inches of snow... I'd definitely try the same in these (maybe this year!).

Like the OZ's so much (they show off the brakes/ calipers so nice) ... at some point I'm going to try and get a set for my Summers (Vredesteins are square set up).

Only negative was going smaller with the Winters lowered my ground clearance... had to be that much more careful going up my driveway from the street, speed bumps, etc... but easy to figure out and navigate with care. (now that Summers are back on it is a pleasure though with less worries about ground clearance).

Bonus pic of them waiting to saddle up again in about 5-6 months😉:
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Awesome - thanks. Those do look nice. Especially with the blue calipers.

Curious about the ground clearance: The Vredesteins are same sidewall as the stock Michelins up front, no??
 
Awesome - thanks. Those do look nice. Especially with the blue calipers.

Curious about the ground clearance: The Vredesteins are same sidewall as the stock Michelins up front, no??
I'll have to take a peak when I get home. Could it also be slight change in angle from staggered vs square?
 
Love the OZ wheels above!

Has anyone tried these on a CT4V BW? In 18s even? Or do these have issues clearing calipers? I didnt see anyone saying they're running spacers with them.

Thanks
 
Like so many 5BW owners, I am trying to find both Ultra High Performance All Season tires and a set of winter use rims. The amount of discussion on the site gets confusing. Anything new on the availability of a staggered set up? 275/35-19 and either a 305 or 295/30-19? I don't plan to drive in snow, just an alternate to the summer tires to drive the car in cold weather.

If I had to go with the same size, would a 285/35-19 fit all around with 9 inch rims?

Insight and recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Joe
 
If anyone is in MI and needs a cheap set of used winter tires for their 4BW, I put a thread up in the for sale section. I'll probably hang onto them for another month and a half then recycle them.
 
Like so many 5BW owners, I am trying to find both Ultra High Performance All Season tires and a set of winter use rims. The amount of discussion on the site gets confusing. Anything new on the availability of a staggered set up? 275/35-19 and either a 305 or 295/30-19? I don't plan to drive in snow, just an alternate to the summer tires to drive the car in cold weather.

If I had to go with the same size, would a 285/35-19 fit all around with 9 inch rims?

Insight and recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Joe

I'm not sure what came about for the 5BW in this thread, but if it were me, I'd just run a 275/35/19 all around. They can fit on 9" to 11" wheels and there are a pile of options for that tire size. So just decide if you want to rotate or not for square wheel vs staggered and then grab a set of wheels with the correct offset.
 
I just went with Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4
275/30/19 Front and 285/35/19 Rear however might go 325/30/19 rear bc the specs is closer to 305/30/19.

285 dropped my width to 11.2 where the 325 will increase to a 12.8" based on calculation will only be +1.9 opposed to the +2.7 with 285 set up. So far 2 days in 285 drives great but I wanted to try the wider footprint.

Speedometer only thrown off a little over 1 MPH over

Don't plan to drive in snow but if I got caught will get me home and with cold weather I rather have All Season still sticking with Michelin.

Only steered away from the square 275/30/19 bc potential stretch in rear which is why the 285 and or 325 made sense.

anyone else running either of these set up?
 
Like so many 5BW owners, I am trying to find both Ultra High Performance All Season tires and a set of winter use rims. The amount of discussion on the site gets confusing. Anything new on the availability of a staggered set up? 275/35-19 and either a 305 or 295/30-19? I don't plan to drive in snow, just an alternate to the summer tires to drive the car in cold weather.

If I had to go with the same size, would a 285/35-19 fit all around with 9 inch rims?

Insight and recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Joe
Your rears should be 11" rims so the 285/35/19 works as I have that on mine now. Stays within the 3% spec. I am going to switch to 325 if the shop lets me swap out after 2 days bc I was not aware the Michelin had the 325/30/19 tire
 
I just went with Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4
275/30/19 Front and 285/35/19 Rear however might go 325/30/19 rear bc the specs is closer to 305/30/19.
@nktn1985 Are you running this set up on a stock set of 5BW wheels?
 

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