Laertes

Need some winter tires for the Seattle area. We only see snow a couple of times a year here, but it's pretty hilly, and the stock Conti SportContact II's will be worthless in the white. It's unlikely I'd do it, but I want to have the freedom to take it up the hill and do a little snowboarding at Whistler. What does everyone think? Should I get a high performance all-season (which I've pretty much narrowed down to Conti ExtremeContact vs Pirelli P Zero Nero M+S) or should I go a little more wintery and do the Dunlop M3's?

I'm most likely to be driving in 45 degrees and raining about 90% of the time, with about 9% sunny and dry and 1% snow-- it seems to me that an all weather performance would maintain the dry/wet performance without as much of a drop as the M3's, and would still get me home if it snowed while I was at work...

Thoughts?

Blau Flash

Do not get ExtremeContacts, they have issues where they go out of round...Tirerack confirmed this..

Miah_S4Avant

I have M3's in Vancouver on the TT ans the S.... sweet tires.... and peace of mind

jprice@CPS

Nokian WR.. look it up. Fits perfect for your situation.

DrGP

I can't say that others have not had problems. The Pirelli P zero neros M+S are supposed to be one of the best all season tires

Pete RD

perform well in the dry/damp but colder conditions than a summer/max performance tire, but also handle the wet rainy roads very well. They also will do much better than any "all-season" tire in a little snow and slush, and will also get you thru the deeper snow and packed snow if the mountain ski areas and passes. They are "adequate" for black ice conditions, but do well at higher speeds on dry roads. Good examples are (in no particular order: Nokian WR, Michelin Pilot Alpin, Bridgestone LM-22/25, Dunlop M3 et al.

For lesser performance in the dry, and higher wear on dry/damp roads, but MUCH BETTER performance on black ice, compact snow, deeper snow, frozen/ice conditions, get "S", "T", or "Q" speed-rated winter tires. They will wear much quicker on the dry or wet "normal" Seattle winter driving conditions, but will perform very well in the extreme winter conditions that can occur in the mountains and (on occasion) down lower. These are the Bridgestone WS-50, Nokian Hakka series, Michelin Alpin, and others.

Anyone who thinks their regular "all-seasons" will be OK for mountain driving and the low-temp and icy conditions that we can get here will end up knowing the locations of the better body shops...maybe more than once.
HTH

S4forDC

Ditto. No problems with Conti ExtremeContacts since Nov. 04 for me