Since my wife must drive the crossfire during the winter (all local), I found an 18 and 19 inch Dunlop snowtire on tire rack. The tire dealer ordered for me and the 19's came in but the 18's had no DOT number on the tire and had to be returned. My tire guy found 18 inch Perille (spell) and the tread pattern looks close so he installed them yesterday. I realize these will not perform as the Michlens do but I put them through some pretty hard turns and they held the road well with almost no roll. I am looking forward to seeing the difference with a few pounds in the rear and snow on the ground. I'll let you know how they work in God's Country, New Jersey's winter wounderland!

 

Why did you return them? I have them and noticed the DOT missing but everyone including Dunlop(Goodyear) says this is OK. The tire manufactures have DOT approval for this size and they have time to put the DOT on the tires. This is the second time I've heard about the DOT missing, 1st Tirerack would not sell then to someone, now you. Just trying to find out who's doing what to who?

 

My tire guy ordered the tires, Tire rack received the shippment and all of the 18 inch tires had no DOT. Tire rack said they could not sell the 18's and would have to send all 400 of the tires, back to the manufacturer. At least that is what they told my guy. I would have liked all tire treads to match but as long as they do the job this winter, that's OK with me.

By the way xfirejunky, where are you located? Maybe we will meet up some day as I travel much of the state on a regular basis.

 

Farther north than you, Bloomfield area. I wonder why Tirerack sold me the tires, they're only sending 398 back! My tire folks didn't like the idea of useing 2 different brands.

 

just out of curiousity what size tires are you using?

 

If you dont mind me asking how much did the tires cost you all said and done? Looking to see what route is better buying a beater or getting the tires.

 

If you're asking me, then here's the info. The tire size is the same as the original Pilot sport's and the tires were $814 including shipping and $85 for mounting and balancing. But you have to mount and balance in the spring too. I looked at rims and they were around $275 ea. I wasn't sure how long I'll keep the car as well as I didn't like the rims that much so I though is was about even.

 

Thanks I broke down and bought a winter car. Only costed me 6 bills more than the tires i guess. Not too bad. Plus i will sell it after the winter is over.

 

The snow tires I bought were about $900.00 (can't find the receipt now) plus $100.00 tire change fee. The tires were (2) 225/40R18 92V Pirelli and (2) 255/35R19 96V Dunlop. So far they have performed pretty well. My wife does most of the daily driving and she doesn't put it through the curves like I do. I will report on how well these tires perform when it gets white on the roads. I figure with the number of miles we will put on these tires, it will take several seasons before they will wear out so the cost will amortize out very well.

 

Hi folks. I have a 05 coupe with all-season tires and had planned on running it through the winter here in Cleveland OH. I have a 30 mile commute to work each way. Seems like not to many people are planning on driving their x-fire through the winter. Should I get snow tires, a beater, or increase my life insurance?

Thanks!

 

Heck, you are 43, you might as well retire!
Most of the people that aren't driving their cars in the winter weren't planning to in the first place. Some people don't have a choice and they drive them all year round. If you're not sure what you want to do, you could try a couple of the 1st snowfalls to see how the car performs(they have done a lot to these newer rear drive cars that makes them a lot better then back in the day), and if you're not comfortable, then you might want to try snow tires(expecially if you're leasing it-to use up the miles). If you're not leasing it and aren't counting mileage, you might want to get a beater to keep the salt and crud off the XF from winter.
You should increase the life insurance only if I'm the bene.! JK!

 

Thanks, I'm leaning toward a beater but I'll try the XF out first. :-)

 

My '05 coupe has the all-season tires. I'm running it through a Michigan winter. There was about a quarter inch of ice on the road on my way into work this morning. It's only a 12 mile drive, but I had to take it at 25 miles an hour. I've got 70 pounds of rock salt in the back, but that doesn't eliminate the slippage. The back end still fishtails before the traction control kicks in and tries to correct it.

Bottom line, you can make it through the winter providing you're an extremely careful driver.

 

There was an article in our local paper the other day about All Season Tires. Basically, it's a misconception by some to think that they are a replacement for snow tires in winter. I think what your suggesting is correct, that they are better than the regular tires but you still have to take it pretty cool in snow and ice. Especially with the very low profile and stiff wall tires, they really aren't good in this weather.

 

Get a beater! Crossfires are just plain bad in the snow.

 

RGX:
I am in Canada, you know, (The Frozen North!) I am running the stock all season Continentials. They work great and we have had snow for a month now. In all fairness, I am comparing to my Lexus LS 400 which was worse in the winter. In the summer they corner really well also. I also saw a couple of car magazine articles where they suggested that the sticky Michelins needed the clutch to be dumped around 4,000 to 5,000 rpm to get enough wheel spin to avoid the initial bog. Interestingly enough, the All Seasons launch with wheel spin at around 3,000 on my Xfire. I haven't tried a 1/4 mile to see if it makes the difference. Just a thought!

 

That is great feed back. I have the same tires on my '05 Coupe and they seem to be great in the rain and I was wondering how well they performed in the snow.

 

I know of some who are keeping the ASP's and putting some weight in the trunk. It apparently works quite well. Fortunately I am one of those fortunate enought to have a front wheel drive car to drive in the snow so my Xfire doesn't get all that nasty salt and sand all over it. Good luck.