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  #1  
Old 08-16-2007, 01:32 PM
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Michelin Latitude Sports

Does anyone have Michelin Latitude Sports on their X5? Reason I ask is b/c I just slapped on a set of Latitude Sports on my 03 X5 4.4i and the Costco technician tried to talk me out of it indicating that these tires will be "useless" in the snow. Now, I live in VA and although there is *some* snow there isn't too much. By the way, I do not plan to switch to winter tires - I plan to use these tires all year round. What attracted me to these tires was the performance but will these tires prevent me from getting on the streets if it snows lightly? My rationale behind this was that these tires apparently come OEM in 07 Cayennes, Q7s, and I believe Tuaregs and if its stock for these SUVs -- what's the problem. I guess what I'm' trying to say is, "Did I make the wrong choice here?".
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Old 08-16-2007, 02:05 PM
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I think I'm correct in saying that the Latitudes replaced the Diamaris in Michelin's product line. These are high performance SAV tires and IMO are no good in weather below 50 degrees (could be lower though). They tend to get hard and slick when it gets cold and a light fresh covering of snow/ice could be tragic.

A lot of folks here also have similar tires, but we do swap out with something made specific for cold weather, and not just snow/ice. Also keep in mind that high performance tires also wear faster b/c of the compound that its made from which could also make driving in winter weather unsafe.

Its obviously your choice to run what you want and luckily the DC area doesn't get blanketed by snow/ice like many other parts of the US. I usually run my winters from Dec-Mar and once April comes around I can ride as hard as I want to make up for 4 months of hibernation
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  #3  
Old 08-16-2007, 02:14 PM
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What size are they? Light snow should be fine. If you are a decent driver you can get away with a lot without having the car/the tires do all the work for you.

I know of a 7-series owner which drove on his stock tires (no snow) all year round out here in Colorado and never had problems.

That said, when the first snow comes out, take your X out to an open parking lot and go play with it. You'll feel what the car does at the limit. That will give you a good idea of what the car and tires are capable of doing then.
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Old 08-16-2007, 02:45 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Titanium
Does anyone have Michelin Latitude Sports on their X5? Reason I ask is b/c I just slapped on a set of Latitude Sports on my 03 X5 4.4i and the Costco technician tried to talk me out of it indicating that these tires will be "useless" in the snow. Now, I live in VA and although there is *some* snow there isn't too much. By the way, I do not plan to switch to winter tires - I plan to use these tires all year round. What attracted me to these tires was the performance but will these tires prevent me from getting on the streets if it snows lightly? My rationale behind this was that these tires apparently come OEM in 07 Cayennes, Q7s, and I believe Tuaregs and if its stock for these SUVs -- what's the problem. I guess what I'm' trying to say is, "Did I make the wrong choice here?".
I'm not familiar with the Michelin Latitude Sports - do you know if they are true all season or summer tires?
If they really are summer tires you will not be able to drive them in the snow - with the tread pattern and rubber consistency of summer tires you may as well be on skis. If they are all season tires you will be fine especially with the light stuff in VA.

Post a link to the tires.
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Old 08-16-2007, 03:01 PM
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They are not advertised as all-season's the Tours are. Even the Diamaris are "Summer".
You can also get them siped, that should improve snow traction by quite a bit.
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Old 08-17-2007, 11:07 AM
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Thank you all for your input. The Latitudes are advertised as summer tires. Here's the link from Costco:

http://www.costco.com/Tires/Product....ed=Y&Width=255

Another link from carreview.com:

http://www.carreview.com/cat/parts/t...0_1577crx.aspx

As these are Michelin's newest tire, there are 0 reviews on this tire. In any case, I will take your advice, Manuel, and test them out when the next snow fall comes. I'm hoping I made a good choice...but let me tell you, these tires corner like its on rails.
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Old 08-17-2007, 11:12 AM
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Manuel, by the way they are for 18" wheels. Size is 255/55/18.
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Old 08-17-2007, 11:49 AM
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It's your call but summer tires will be dangerous in any snow or ice conditions for two main reasons-

Winter tires are made of compounds that remain pliable in the cold meaning that they will still grip. Summer tires have 'softer' rubber that gives you a better grip in warmer weather with shorter tire life but will have the consistency and grip of a hockey puck in the colder weather (even when there is no snow).

Winter tires have more sipes/treads and deeper tread design to grip into and clear snow, slush etc. whereas summers have less sipes and narrower treads to put more of the rubber in contact with the road for better handling. The downside of the summer is that the treads are not deep enough to be able to grip and clear the snow/slush turning them into skis somewhat in bad conditions.

Personally I would never risk driving with Summer tires in the winter but I live in Boston and go skiing a lot in Vermont and Maine. I don't know what winter is like in DC, I'm sure its a lot better than here, but it sounds like all season tires would have been a better choice.

I didn't want to scare you just want to give you my 2c for what its worth. Worst case if you drive them in the snow and find it dangerous then park the X until the weather gets better.

Last edited by Boston X5 4.4; 08-17-2007 at 12:37 PM.
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Old 08-17-2007, 01:03 PM
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Right but there's a difference between driving in the snow on a regular basis and driving in the snow occasionally. I got caught in a snow storm in my old E36 M3 with summer tires on (big rubber for the car). As long as traction control is on, you reduce your speed by quite a bit and take it easy on overpasses and such, you are fine for again ocassional storms.
I wouldn't recommend it if you plan on doing that more than a couple/few times or for longer drives for sure!

That said, 255's are pretty narrow too. That will certainly help get better traction in the snow as opposed to 315's! The narrower the better. If you get them siped then it will greatly help unless winters are really bad.

Diamaris are listed in the same category as those tires, you may want to ask Diamaris owners who used them on snow to see what they have to say.

One other thing is, if you are not too confident about your driving style on snow (meaning sensitive dialing of the throttle and brakes) then maybe you want to have a piece of mind and find yourself a set of snow. But between the all-wheel drive, the traction control and the siping, that should really get you by quite a bit depending on your winters over there.
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  #10  
Old 08-21-2007, 05:45 PM
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We have the Latitude Touring HP, which is an all season tire for mostly colder temps (not for heavy accumulations of snow) I don't know about a Latitude "sport"
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