Non-directional performance winter tires 205/65-15

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I'm considering separate summer and winter tires for my 4th gen Maxima, size 205/65-15. Only a few times is it really snowy, as the plows are usually good. These four would be at the top of my list for a dedicated winter tire:

Cooper Weathermaster Snow (made in England)
Hankook icept evo W310 (made in South Korea)
Falken Eurowinter HS439 (made in Japan)
Kumho izen KW27 (made in South Korea)

While none of the tires I listed will match Nokian's Hakkas, they've got to be better than any all-season "no season" tire, and standard winter tires (Tire Rack's "studless ice and snow" category) might be too squishy and not great handling when the roads are dry. I also don't want "all weather" tires because they're kind of expensive, still not as good as a real winter tire, and because they're also not great in regular wet and dry roads and have a very short treadlife. Therefore, the performance winter category is most appropriate for me.

The only summer-only tire available in this size is the Vredestein Sportrac 5

If I stick to only a single tire year-round, my choice would be the Falken Ziex ZE950. How is the ZE950 in the snow?
 
Check craigslist to see if you can find some in your area. I've been able to snap up some higher end snow tires that are in great shape on there. I guess some gearheads that buy those high end tires tend to go through cars quickly.
 
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
While none of the tires I listed will match Nokian's Hakkas, they've got to be better than any all-season "no season" tire, and standard winter tires (Tire Rack's "studless ice and snow" category) might be too squishy and not great handling when the roads are dry. I also don't want "all weather" tires because they're kind of expensive, still not as good as a real winter tire, and because they're also not great in regular wet and dry roads and have a very short treadlife. Therefore, the performance winter category is most appropriate for me.

Actually summer/winter tires have shorter tread life than all season.

It is not possible to find ultra high performance summer tire with longer tread life warranty than all season. Most ultra high performance summer tires have less than 40k miles warranty while ultra high performance all season tires have 50-60k miles warranty.
 
@HTSS

One difference:
it's ok if separate summer and winter tires don't last as long since they're not used year-round.

In regards to the part you bolded, I was referring to all-weather tires (like the Nokian WRG3) having a shorter treadlife than normal all-season tires (like the Falken Ziex ZE950 and General RT43).

Tire Rack has this writeup and these helpful charts:

ServLifeASTiresYrRnd.jpg


ServLifeASTiresCombSeas.jpg
 
I misunderstood your post.

I thought you meant all season tire in general, not particular Nokian WRG3.

I can have either all-season or summer all year long in So Cal. But I have all-season on my cars for these reasons: lower cost and longer treadlife. Performance/handling of ultra high performance all-season is more than I need for daily drive on public roads.
 
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Why be satisfied with bottom of the barrel winter tires? plenty of better ones in same price range.
 
Originally Posted By: kschachn
So are you looking for non-directional ones for a reason or am I misunderstanding the title of the thread?


You read it right. I HATE directional tires because they can't be rotated without fliiping/remounting.
 
Originally Posted By: kschachn
So are you looking for non-directional ones for a reason or am I misunderstanding the title of the thread?


OP can get assymetric pattern as well, which some of the options listed are.

I cannot commend on those tires, since I had the Hankook Icebear W300 (which got replaced by the icept evo), and my previous set was Nexen Winguard Sport, which is not available in 205/65-15
 
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
I'm considering separate summer and winter tires for my 4th gen Maxima, size 205/65-15. Only a few times is it really snowy, as the plows are usually good. These four would be at the top of my list for a dedicated winter tire:

Cooper Weathermaster Snow (made in England)
Hankook icept evo W310 (made in South Korea)
Falken Eurowinter HS439 (made in Japan)
Kumho izen KW27 (made in South Korea)

While none of the tires I listed will match Nokian's Hakkas, they've got to be better than any all-season "no season" tire, and standard winter tires (Tire Rack's "studless ice and snow" category) might be too squishy and not great handling when the roads are dry. I also don't want "all weather" tires because they're kind of expensive, still not as good as a real winter tire, and because they're also not great in regular wet and dry roads and have a very short treadlife. Therefore, the performance winter category is most appropriate for me.

The only summer-only tire available in this size is the Vredestein Sportrac 5

If I stick to only a single tire year-round, my choice would be the Falken Ziex ZE950. How is the ZE950 in the snow?


Compared to the Hankook W300 and Nexen Winguard Sport....

A Nokian WR G3 would be expensive (when I paid for them for 235/45r17). You're right, it would not match the Hakka R2 in the snow and ice. But, compared to "real winter" performance tires, based on my experience, they would be a step above them in the ice/snow

The UTQG tread rating on them is 500.

I had no issues in the other 3 seasons with wet traction.

https://www.tiresbyweb.com/tbw_tiresearc...;pageindex=9999
$101/per isn't that bad, which is less than the $126 for the MSRP of the Cooper Weathermaster snow
 
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Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
You read it right. I HATE directional tires because they can't be rotated without fliiping/remounting.

OK but on both my BMW and my ECHO (the two vehicles which have dedicated winter tires), they wear evenly just by "rotating" them front to back. I've not seen any weird wear nor noise and I've done this for multiple sets in both cars.
 
Originally Posted By: kschachn
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
You read it right. I HATE directional tires because they can't be rotated without fliiping/remounting.

OK but on both my BMW and my ECHO (the two vehicles which have dedicated winter tires), they wear evenly just by "rotating" them front to back. I've not seen any weird wear nor noise and I've done this for multiple sets in both cars.

I think he meant, cross rotation
 
Originally Posted By: UG_Passat
I think he meant, cross rotation


Yeah, I'm sure he did as well. I just meant that on the directional winter tires I have for those two cars, I've never considered it an issue that I can't cross rotate. They seem to wear evenly with just moving them front/rear every year.
 
Originally Posted By: UG_Passat


I cannot commend on those tires, since I had the Hankook Icebear W300 (which got replaced by the icept evo), and my previous set was Nexen Winguard Sport, which is not available in 205/65-15


The Winguard Sport isn't available in my size, but its predecessor is, the Winguard SnowG, and at a great price, too. Any experience with those?

Originally Posted By: kschachn

OK but on both my BMW and my ECHO (the two vehicles which have dedicated winter tires), they wear evenly just by "rotating" them front to back. I've not seen any weird wear nor noise and I've done this for multiple sets in both cars.


I just saw that Walmart has Cooper's WM-SA2, which is directional. Walmart includes remounting for directional tires in their free rotations. I didn't see the SA2 before at Walmart, but definitely worth considering since they do cost less than any of the tires I listed in the OP.
 
Do they have to be non-directional?

I was VERY impressed with the lack of squishyness, tread wear and slush performance of my GT Radial IcePro tires
 
The Snow'G isn't the precedessor to the Winguard Sport. It's just no longer offered on Nexen's website.

but, since I never drove on the Snow'G, I cannot really comment.
 
Originally Posted By: Miller88
Do they have to be non-directional?

I was VERY impressed with the lack of squishyness, tread wear and slush performance of my GT Radial IcePro tires


For the most part, yes, but I'd consider a directional tire from Walmart, since they remount directional tires in their free rotations. If I did that, I'd use the Cooper WM-SA2.

The GT Icepro is a studded tire.
 
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