Snow Tires

Did you use the original sizes ?
Ahmet
Boston, MA

 

How much did it affect fuel economy?

SCH-I535 ?

 

I did 14" Steelies + some Pirellie Winter Carving edge tires on my C2 a few weeks ago - made a huge difference in snow and ice, and tire rack had some awesome pricing. I got them shipped mounted and balanced (no TPMS sensors).

They are a lot louder than the stock tires, and they don't corner as well at higher speeds, but for the purpose intended they are awesome.

So far I believe worst case I'm 1mpg off from normal driving, tough to tell because one day its 30, next day its -2 here.... But when It's mid 30's I'm easily able to get back to my 60+ MPG commute to work.

 

I just got my C last week. Toyota Canada had a promotion in February, free winter tires when you buy a car. So I started to negotiate accessories at the dealership and I even had them throw in OEM steel rims and wheelcaps in the deal. The car came on 15" alloy wheels, but here in Quebec Canada, winter tires are mandatory from Dec. 15 to March 15.

I was sure that they would install crappy chinese tires, very popular here up north since people must have winter tires on their cars, they install anything on their cars as long as they have the "snowflake" symbol on them (police will check this if you get pulled over and they make routine inspections).

Surprisingly, they had really nice tires for this offer;I had the choice between General Altimax Arctics and Yokohamas IG52C, the rest were sold out. I have them in OEM size, 175/65/15. I pulled my iphone in front of the car salesman to check reviews of these tires; I chose the Yokos, since they are much more recent technology and much less aggressive on dry road, overall better winter tires for all conditions. The Generals are Continentals sub-brand, usually good tires at lower price point but older technology.

I had a chance to try them a bit last week, weather was like -25 degrees C and there was patches of black ice everywhere on the roads. The car behaved just fine, it felt nice and secure. Also, they are quite silent for winter tires.

I never had the chance to try my car on its original alloy wheels with all-season tires. However, even in the freezing cold temperature, with a brand new car not fully broken in and winter tires I still manage to get 5.1-5.5 l/100 km (41-46 mpg), which is exceptional IMO.

My old 2010 Kia Forte was doing about 11-12 l/100 km (21-23 mpg) in the exact same conditions, so needless to say that I'm really impressed!!

Cheers!

 

I know your post is from December 31 but I have no idea how you guys in northern MI manage to find places to put all that snow, especially this year.

We've had maybe a few flurries here in the past 2 weeks but we still have snow packed 2-3 feet deep from February and all the -20 F degree nights.

And there's more snow on the way

 

I am in Boston and need snow tires for my 2012 C. What size Nokians did you get, 175/65/15 or another size? thanks for your posting!