Good luck with the Hankooks. I could never get over the super soft sidewalls when I tried them on my Z; I lost a lot of the precise steering feel that I had with the OEM Bridgestones. They are a good street-only tire, though.

 

Well, I just went the total opposite direction with my Brembo GT's tires. I'm in the NW and drive my car all winter every day. I also wanted a softer ride with a higher profile tire. I went with Continental Extreme Contact DWS (dry/wet/snow) tires: 255/50/19 at all 4 corners. They are 28.8" tall (1.8" taller than stock), so my car is nearly an inch taller now. I've had these tires (in various sizes) on 3 prior cars and they are awesome in all weather. Super quiet, better ride, and the wheel hop has completely vanished!!! It probably goes without saying that the fender gap is nearly eliminated (these are big tires!). I'll put the factory PZeros on next spring/summer, but the all season Continentals are on for the fall/winter months.

 

1.8" taller... wow... that's insane.

 

I intend to keep them only on the street.

I drive mine all winter too. The BFG KDW N/T's I had on my '05 did surprisingly well on ice. A little scary on snow but, okay overall. Hopefully the Hankooks perform as well.

 

V12s are going to be a no-go for snow/ice or extreme cold.

 

Insane - yes, indeed! I've gotta take some pics to post as soon as I get a day off.

 

The same was said about the BFG's. We'll see how it goes. We are expecting an above average temperature winter so I might not even get the chance to find out.

The BFG's and Pirelli tires made it through conditions like this pic below. It doesn't happen often though. Last couple of years have been crazy.

 

Good luck. Summer tires in extreme cold are always a bad idea. If you've ever tried some emergency braking tests on cold summers on a sub 30*F day your stopping distances are 2-3x longer. It's like driving on ice.

Me, I just have a cheap set of GT500 replicas and Dunlop Wintersport M3s that I run from late November to early March. Granted our winters in NOVA are probably a little harsher on average than Fort Worth.



I love the Wintersports because they are a performance winter tire. Excellent in light snow (4-5" or less) and they still have very good dry weather performance as long as it's under 40*F.

 

Ever try Invos? I am in the middle of buying a set and wanted to hear how they compare, I have heard pretty good things about them.

 

Invos are OK. There are better tires out there but there are also far worse. Not a bad street tire.

Compared to the Pirelli PZero Nero all-seasons (not the Brembo package PZeros) they will be worlds better in terms of dry grip.

 

Yeah I won't be spending any time on a road course/autocross but I do drag race. I have 305/35-18 ET Streets on the back of my car now, they hook great but I bought some 19" wheels and I wanted a nice riding quiet street tire that still had some grip.

I figure I can put the 18's back on when I go to the strip, and the Invos should be quiet and comfy on the street without getting blown off too bad if the "spirited driving" mood strikes me lol

 

Sounds like the Invos should be just fine for you. I did some spirited runs this year with some 350Z drivers that were running Invos and they did really well.

 

 

I am well aware of the degraded performance. (Thanks for making sure I was aware though) I also drive a 10 hour shift in my patrol car so I also have knowledge of the road conditions ahead of time. It's 13 miles from home to work and mostly freeway which helps. Sub 30* days don't happen that often either.

LoL at the average NOVA winter PROBABLY being harsher. I can promise you they are harsher than here in Fort Worth. I can quite often make it a whole winter without a heavy jacket.

I can't afford to spend the money on a second set of wheels/tires for the 5 times a year I would use them. I really wish the BFG's came in a size I could use since I have experience with them in ice/snowy conditions.

 

255/50/19's raise our cars .9" higher (1.8" taller tire than stock). But, they really fill up the wheel wells....

 

Holy crap it's like a truck tire!

 

That's quite the tire

 

That was my first thought when they were mounted on my car! 4x4 truck tires. They sure ride quiet and the smoother, though, and the rated for light snow. The factory Pirelli Pzero's go back on in the sprin.

 

Fwiw, I just got a set of RTRs with 275 fallen 452s in the rear and the stock 245 had MUCH more traction. I was never able to break the tires free from a roll with the stockers and now she just lights them up. It was like my car grew ***** overnight. It's feels much faster too lol but probably just in my head lol

 

Chitty tires will do that