Looking for winter tires in the GTA

[voodoo22]

Hello:

I'm starting to look for winter tires and wondering if anyone knows of any deals?

I'm going to give Steelcase a call and I guess I'll ask a Toyota dealership.

I was considering getting some cheap 15" alloys to put the stock tires on and get 15" winters for the stock steelies, but it looks like the cheaper move is to get 14" steelies and tires.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks.

[thebarber]

the matrixowners.com GTA got some good deals last year...

check out this thread....give 'em a call and say youre from mo.com....im sure youll get a good deal again...

http://matrixowners.com/index.php?showtopic=59055&hl=winter

[BailOut]

I don't know what kind of tires your Yaris came with but in my region we got the Bridgestone Potenza RE92s, which have an M+S designation.

I drove on them all Winter over the mountains (see the commute link in my sig), and only ran into trouble once while climbing a very nasty hill in a residential area on the iciest day of the season. When it came to that I chained up and made it right through.

The trick is to pump them up to the max sidewall of 44 PSI, otherwise the tire lean gives you a false sense of sliding which causes you to correct for nothing. This can get you into trouble.

[uncleyaris]

Voodoo, come to the meet, I can hook you up. I've got a connection who is super cheap. I shopped around, including steelcase and my guy is cheaper!!!

[voodoo22]

I don't know what kind of tires your Yaris came with but in my region we got the Bridgestone Potenza RE92s, which have an M+S designation.

I drove on them all Winter over the mountains (see the commute link in my sig), and only ran into trouble once while climbing a very nasty hill in a residential area on the iciest day of the season. When it came to that I chained up and made it right through.

The trick is to pump them up to the max sidewall of 44 PSI, otherwise the tire lean gives you a false sense of sliding which causes you to correct for nothing. This can get you into trouble.

I have those same tires. It is tempting to stay with the same all seasons all winter and I'm sure I won't have much difficulty, but the drivers around here are by far the worst I have ever encountered and I've driven extensively through a large portion of the US, Canada and a little in Japan. The main reason I want winters isn't for my ability to drive normally, but it's for that not so uncommon occassion where we get covered by ice rain and I have to make an emergencey maneouver or sudden stop.

I don't know how accurate it is, but canadiandriver.com states that:

"A winter tire provides up to 25% better traction than all-season tires. In cold weather tests by the Ministere des Transports du Quebec and CAA Quebec, a small car with four winter tires experienced an improvement in braking by 23% (11.5 metres) over similar cars with all-season tires (that's nearly three car lengths). " (http://www.canadiandriver.com/winter/5essentials.htm)

In my situation; for several hundred dollars; I think it's a good idea to get some winter tires rather than risk it on the 50 kms of 401 I drive each way to work.

[punch]

winter tires are way better then all season tires, i live in a snow belt.

[steved]

Get real snow tires. Noticed the threads on the Potenzas are really close together, which means snow can get trapped really easily which = crap traction. And the cold temperatures here make 4-season tire get hard, which means no traction on ice.

I do 90km, that's one way, 15 South (Lacolle) / 132, if anyone every took that road during a bad snow storm knows that 4-seasons tires just don't cut it.

[alhope34]

Dealerships charge huge for winter tires. Don't even bother calling them. I remember when I worked at Toyota we were selling michellin snow tires for about $140 each (depending on size). At Canadian Tire I saw the exact same winter tires in the exact same size for about $90. At CT they also install and balance the new tires for free, Toyota charged $98 an hour labour on top of the tire price.

[Pars]

When it comes to winter tire, I'm a die-hard Nokia fan, especially the Hakkapolitas.

I've been dealing with this tire store called Nantucket for over a decade. They're located on Nantucket near 401/Kennedy (scarborough). If I needed my alloy's balanced, I wouldn't take it anywhere else and their prices seem competitive.

[voodoo22]

When it comes to winter tire, I'm a die-hard Nokia fan, especially the Hakkapolitas.

I've been dealing with this tire store called Nantucket for over a decade. They're located on Nantucket near 401/Kennedy (scarborough). If I needed my alloy's balanced, I wouldn't take it anywhere else and their prices seem competitive.

Thanks for the suggestion Par. That's in my neck of the woods, so I'll check them out.:thumbup:

[GabL]

Nokian will probably cost you a lot, probably around $150 a tire even with 15". I don't think you need to go to 14", as it will be hard to find that size with matching profile.

[GabL]

Voodoo, come to the meet, I can hook you up. I've got a connection who is super cheap. I shopped around, including steelcase and my guy is cheaper!!!

Uncle, what tires you running for Winter?