Winter Tires Help me choose

[zipdoa]

Michelin Xi3's from Costco - There's currently a promo for $75 off a set of wheels. I paid $700 all in with steelies 195/65/15.

[DeeK]

I've had a number of different winter tires, and I've always come back to the michelin x-ice. They just seem to drive the best, I guess sometimes you really do get what you pay for.

[Boostn]

My vote would be for the Michelin X-Ice 3 as well.

[avishal26]

I just did a quick search on Tire-Rack for a 2008 Impreza WRX 5 door (assuming thats what you have) and tire size of 205/50R17

No Hankook Ipikes availables... and the Michelin X-Ice is cheaper than the Blizzak LMxxx, but slightly more than the Blizzak WS80.

I would go with Michelin X-Ice in this case.

[nzwasp]

Just picked up a set of 16" Blizzak WS80's from Urban Expressions in the SE. Gary even through in the tire totes to take the old 18s back home. I thought about going to costco but I didnt want to line up and deal with that, and at urbanexp it only took 30 mins total. Very impressed. The tires and rims cost about $1000 and then there was a rebate too.

[jordan@urbanx]

After reviewing all the tires available for my expedition I decided to go with the TOYO Observe Gsi-5 an so far they have been crazy good on the ice and snow. Definitely on the top of the list in my eyes.

[zipdoa]

Originally posted by nzwasp
Just picked up a set of 16" Blizzak WS80's from Urban Expressions in the SE. Gary even through in the tire totes to take the old 18s back home. I thought about going to costco but I didnt want to line up and deal with that, and at urbanexp it only took 30 mins total. Very impressed. The tires and rims cost about $1000 and then there was a rebate too.

FYI - You can order tires online from costco.ca and have them shipped to the location nearest you.

[max_boost]

Also keep in mind now that the City has gone out and done their thing with rocks everywhere, intersections are a lot less slick so any savings go and get windshield coverage haha

[relyt92]

Not on your list, but I have Blizzak WS70's on my car, and got a loaner car with Ipikes on them now. I can definitely say that the blizzaks are a bunch better on ice, took the same corner at the same speed with the ipikes and slid like crazy, felt almost like a set of all seasons.

[AE92_TreunoSC]

OP Bought tires

GSi5 is an amazing tire and I wish I had them for my Subaru, they have exceptional ice performance and you will be very happy with them. I ended up getting a performance based tire and its a lot more fun on corners but I lack the stopping power of a soft compound like the Toyo. Enjoy!


As for Costco I highly recommend against using them, they use sub par quality tires that are distributed by the tire carriers, the Bridgestone and Michelins often boarder on defective, the only high end tires I've even condemned were from Costco. Any reading about this will back my opinion up. That said you can get a decent set, there's just a chance you may not.

Xice 3 is a great choice for around the city and best value with the rebate, which we just received for my g/f's Kia. We bought the xice 2 weeks ago and got the cheque today.

[zipdoa]

Originally posted by AE92_TreunoSC
[B]OP Bought tires

As for Costco I highly recommend against using them, they use sub par quality tires that are distributed by the tire carriers, the Bridgestone and Michelins often boarder on defective, the only high end tires I've even condemned were from Costco. Any reading about this will back my opinion up. That said you can get a decent set, there's just a chance you may not.

I did some reading, and it didn't back anything up.

I'll help break down this myth:

Costco doesn't sell secretly sell lower quality tires than other retailers. Costco doesn't receive stock of 'borderline defective' tires to sell them cheap.

Manufacturers may choose to supply a retailer with certain spec tires - eg: speed rating, wear rating, load rating - these ratings affect the price of a tire.

If you get a 195/65R15/XL95T Michelin X-Ice XI3 from Costco, it is no different than the exact same spec tire you'd get from Fountain Tire or Urban-X.

Goodyear, for instance, chooses to supply Wal-mart with less expensive tires that have lower load/wear/speed ratings than available elsewhere. These Goodyear 'viva' tires are only available at Wal-Mart, as it's a cheaper model specifically for the retailer.

It doesn't take a lot of critical thinking to figure this out.

[AE92_TreunoSC]

Edit. responded and missed what you quoted. I can't find any freaking articles regarding the quality. Really surprised.

Speak to a Michelin or Bridgestone rep and you'll hear otherwise. I've spoken to a Michelin rep more recently and they still say the quality at the big box stores is subpar. Often you'll get the exact same tire name and cut but from a different processing plant with lower standards.

Other then that I have nothing, I really thought it was common knowledge, it is in my industry and I've seen it in person but apparently there's only a handful of forum posts regarding the quality issues.

[GreyFox]

Originally posted by zipdoa
Michelin Xi3's from Costco - There's currently a promo for $75 off a set of wheels. I paid $700 all in with steelies 195/65/15.

How did you manage this? I was just there and was looking at them (after reading this thread) and I think they were ~$180 each....

Also curious if OP made a decision or not. I also have an Impreza and am considering winters.

[tirebob]

Originally posted by zipdoa


I did some reading, and it didn't back anything up.

I'll help break down this myth:

Costco doesn't sell secretly sell lower quality tires than other retailers. Costco doesn't receive stock of 'borderline defective' tires to sell them cheap.

Manufacturers may choose to supply a retailer with certain spec tires - eg: speed rating, wear rating, load rating - these ratings affect the price of a tire.

If you get a 195/65R15/XL95T Michelin X-Ice XI3 from Costco, it is no different than the exact same spec tire you'd get from Fountain Tire or Urban-X.

Goodyear, for instance, chooses to supply Wal-mart with less expensive tires that have lower load/wear/speed ratings than available elsewhere. These Goodyear 'viva' tires are only available at Wal-Mart, as it's a cheaper model specifically for the retailer.

It doesn't take a lot of critical thinking to figure this out.

The main thing Costco does with their tires to buy them a bit cheaper is to alleviate the manufacturer of all warranty obligations and they assume it (to my understanding). This means you have to deal with them for any issues and it saves the manufacturer a ton of headaches. That may or may not be an issue for you depending where you live and whether or not you mind waiting in the lines necessary sometimes to get the tires you want installed on your car. They also use tires a bit like a lost leader. It gets you in the store wandering around for a few hours buying up higher margin products.

This type of business model works for some and not for others. The guys that deals with people like me prefer to make their appointment, show up and be in and out in 30 minutes and saving a few bucks (although not always) is not always worth as much as their time and convenience...

[rage2]

Originally posted by AE92_TreunoSC
Speak to a Michelin or Bridgestone rep and you'll hear otherwise. I've spoken to a Michelin rep more recently and they still say the quality at the big box stores is subpar. Often you'll get the exact same tire name and cut but from a different processing plant with lower standards.

Our Michelin rep says the same thing, but in reality the difference is negligible. They are all within spec, but the best spec'd tires goes to OEM, then to the tire distributors, with the worst quality going to Costco, etc.

Unless the tires are being used competitively, you probably won't even notice the difference. If anything, the tire installer will be the only guy that will notice when balancing them, as the Costco tires will on average need more weights to get them to balance properly.

[dj_rice]

So are the MO designated tires I sell for Mercedes vehicles better than a non-MO designated tire?

For example, Pirelli W240 Sottozero Serie II

[Edo123]

Originally posted by CanmoreOrLess Getting tires mounted and remounted every season is wasting money and risking damage to the tire.

So what's the solution to this problem? Just use the All Season tires?

[Cos]

.

[CanmoreOrLess]

Originally posted by Cos


Buy $50.00 steelies.

Yeah you need winters on rims, old school steelies in the Great White North, I like the look. In silver they look even better, I think MB and VW have factory steelies that look rather nice to my eyes.