Hello, XFire Enthusiasts!

New to the forum...and (relatively) new to owning my XFire, have had my gorgeous '05 limited for a little over a year now. Kept her in a garage last winter, and drove a beater during the colder months (where I live, we get A LOT of snow). However, after suffering through seeing my baby all cooped up in a garage due simply to some white stuff on the ground...I don't think I am willing to put her through that again.

So, I wanted to ask everyone out there what would be the best set of winter tires to throw on my XFire for the winter months? Taking both performance and price into consideration...I'd prefer to have the best set of winter tires approximately $1 G can buy. Thoughts?!? Any help GREATLY appreciated!

All the best,
C

 

Last spring Tire Rack was dumping Blizzack 265/35/19s for $105...currently they've raised the price to $136.....other sites want up to $367 each!!! They have been discontinued ...but some stock remains. 2 months or so ago I went ahead & put them on....they are only V rated....but I rarely go over 150 mph anyway. After about 3,000 miles (with temps up to 90 F) very little wear apparent. They do weigh about 5-6 lbs more / tire than the OEM Contis. I can sense this slight extra weight....but it's not enough to make me regret putting them on already & as they were so cheap I'm going to run them all year round. After the first month I was happy enough with them to go ahead & buy another set for when these wear out. I've never gotten > 23K miles out of any tire ....so....the price was really appreciated. They start with 11/32nd tread depth & I expected them to be much more squimy in the twisties than they have proven to be. MPG has not been hurt & I sense almost no loss of 0-60 times.

I don't think you can find a 225/40/18 to match anymore. I went with 225/40/18 Achilles ATR Sport All Seasons on the front.....$67 W rated UTQG 400 AA A.....happy also. Also bought an extra set of these. So the whole set of 4 ...shipped & installed < $500.

 

Thank you, Chris -

This is HUGELY appreciated!! I think I am going to take your advice and order the exact same tries (both front and back)! Only one quick follow-up question: Before I pull the trigger and buy these bad boys, are you sure that the Blizzacks will work as rears on an '05 XFire Limited? All of the sites I checked stated that the rear tires needed to be 255/40/19 - does the 265 make any difference? Will they definitely fit without wearing against any crucial parts of undercarriage?

Again, thank you very much for your help; it is truly appreciated!
All the best,
C

 

I use Blizzak's for the winter also. I have 225/40/18's on the front and 255/35/19's on the rear.

 

I don't think you can find the Blizzack LM-25s in a 225/40/18 anymore.. or the 255/35/19s...the whole LM-25 line is being discontinued (I think).

As far as what fits on the rear I've had 275/30 s on before with no problems ...some have gone even wider.

The Achilles seems to be a real decent tire for the money ....at Tireseasy.com the 225/40/18s have risen to $78.18 each & (if you want them to match) they have a 265/30/19 for only $115 or even a 275/30/19 for $112.

OEMs - 255/35/19 rear & 225/40/18 front.

Keep in mind....I've yet to have either the Blizzacks or the Achilles in the snow or on ice yet....so I can't testify about anything but summer & rain conditions.

Any tire will feel a little squirmy for the first 500 miles or so due to the lubricant from the mold.

The Achilles are W rated all-seasons whereas the Blizzacks are V rated "winter tires" ....the load rating on the Blizzacks is 94 vs stock OEMs = 92.....so these are NOT mushy snow tires....sidewalls are strong & stiff.

I've had this combo up to 120 mph & hit 100 almost every day.

Winter tires always come with a warning that due to traction differences winter tires should always be put on in sets of 4.......buy hey, we've got E-traction control & E-stability control...

 

As far as how this combo of mixed tires handle (dry & wet) (07 stick) ....I do have another XF (08 automatic) that still has the OEM Contis to compare with......gotta say the stick with this combo still feels lighter & less mushy that the automatic with the OEMs...

I also have seen a site that says 255/40/19.......that's just flat wrong ....the OEMs are/were 255/35/19??????????? A 255/40/19 would probably work though???

Both the Achilles & the Blizzacks are "unidirectional" ....I don't think the OEM Contis are....


If you're willing to drop $1G though I'm sure most forum members would recommend a matching set of DSWs or something like that.......I'm just 'CHEAP"!!!

 

Agree with Chris, these tires are great in the winter.

 

I purchased 18" Run Flats (I think a Goodyear brand) from Tire Rack last summer as they were blowing them out at a great reduced rate. I picked up 18" rims for all four tires as well. Funny thing, when the first snow fell, I didn't have the heart to take the car out of the garage. It sat there all winter with new winter wheels and was never used.....

 

This is off topic but, does anyone know if the TPMS signals are unique from one XF to the next? Would a low tire warning from another XF close by set off the monitor? Could I swap wheels from Fred to Wilma & would the TPMS still function correctly?

 

Yes.
Each TPMS valve is bar coded and as a result read by a scanner when synced to your ECM.

 

No reason to spend more if unnecessary! I definitely think I'm going to run with the combo. you suggested - and, from the validation provided by other forum members (thanks BoilerUp), it sounds like they are a great performance selection as well!

Thanks so much for all of your help, Chris!
All the best,
C

 

I hear you, Tony! Hoping that doesn't end up happening to me as well! I may have a potential remedy for this...another XFire (preferably a convertible) for the summer months!

Best,
C

 

BTW, Chirs - 100 MPH daily? Not gonna lie...I'm impressed. Took the XFire up to a little over 130 first weekend after I bought it...some punk with an old Saab Turbo...put in place. Funny how often Eclipses and civics with no mods with the exception of a body kit want to race you. Entertaining, really. For the licenses' sake, I've tried to keep myself at bay.

Thanks again man!
C

 

Hello, I have Michelin X ice, 225 / 18 wery good gripp and wery quiet

 

If you want a tire you can run all year long that has good traction in snow, i recommend Goodyear F1 all season for about $1000 out the door at Mr Tire. Put 2, 60 lb sand tubes from Home Depot over the back axles and it will pull like a tank through snow as long as you drive normally in snow.

These tires had one of the highest test ratings in the Tire Rack's Testing in snow and ice.

 

Oh, by the way the Blizzacks have sipes cut into them 2-3 32nds deep......after that wears down they probably won't be as good in the rain....but I assume they will wear even slower from then on + I assume they will be even less squirmy (even though they don't feel squirmy to start out with once the lube is worn off).


131....that's where I turn chicken!

 

Tried to buy the Blizzacks from Tire Rack, but they wouldn't let me do this in sets of 2...even though I was just going to do something as similar as the LM-25's on the back, and the LM-60's on the front...figured these would be similar enough; but no dice.

So, I ended up buying the Pirelli Winter Sottozero Serie II's...225/40/18's for front, 255/35/19's for back. All told, with S/H and Road Hazard protection...rang in @ $975. Just about what I was expecting to pay. Was definitely bummed out about not being able to do the Blizzacks, though...what a steal on those!

Thanks again for all of the advice - much appreciated! I look forward to reporting back on the Pirellis.

Vroom vroom.
C

 

Sounds like a great tire ...a dedicated "winter" tire.

I think maybe the reason the LM-25s were discontinued is that although they had the "winter snowflake" designation they still could be improved upon...but as a result they feel just about like a good "all-season" tire.

When I ordered just 2 of the LM-25s ....they actually called me from Tire Rack to make sure I knew what I was doing. I can't remember what I said to them...????

The second time I ordered another pair....I don't think they called.

 

I picked up a set of Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus tires last December from Dsicount Tire. I think the total for the tires plus TPMS and installation was about $1200 but they were great all winter long (after I put a couple of sandbags in the trunk) and they have great summer traction too! Best set of tires I've ever had so far. Given the price though, I'm not sure if I'd buy them again in the future, especially now that I have a 2nd set of wheels for summer tires.