Snow performance of 211 Wheels with 19" run-flat all-season tires?

[Ike582]

Hey folks, new member and first post here. By way of background, the lease of my Range Rover Sport is close to ending, and I'm looking at the 2009 X5 as a replacement. (Prior to the RRS, I owned an X5 from 2000-2005). Since I live in Chicago, performance on snow and ice is important. I really don't like the look of the standard 18" (style 209) wheels. The next step up is the 19" Light-alloy wheels Y-Spoke (style 211) with run-flat all-season tires ($3700 as part of the sport package).

Does anyone have any foul weather experience with this tire/wheel combination? My dealer says the 18" tire is superior in snow (not surprising), and that the 211 with all-seasons is "just ok".

Is the sport package worth the $3700, or should I just try to upgrade to a larger wheel/tire via a custom order (if possible)?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Ike

[DEETZ]

I would go with 18" and throw snow tyres on them. And grab aftermarket wheels for summer...

[Ike582]

Deetz,

Logical suggestion of course but a royal pain in the rear end in practice. I'm hoping to avoid the tire swap if possible. Not a lot of snow to deal with in Jakarta, right?

[autoque]

There's also a 18" style 210 wheel. It looks a lot better than 209. If the look of 209 is the only thing that's bothering you, there's an alternative 18"!

[pb48]

So far that is what I have as my winter setup. They get you going and turning perfectly in snow, but braking on the other hand... You really need to look ahead and anticipate, and hope nothing ahead goes wrong so that you need to stop quickly - because it won't happen. My ABS works overtime in the winter...just need to be careful, it's not too bad.

Edit: Reading your post more carefully, it seems your dealer is saying 18s all seasons are better then 19s all seasons in the snow (correct me if I misunderstood). No. Not by much at least. Winter tires make the biggest difference here. But yes, the sport package IS worth it.

[DEETZ]

well you asked for our opinion so I gave out mine, don't bother listening to it if you don't like it xD

I used to live in Boston for 4 years and I'm sure I have experienced quite a bizarre winter. I am also sure that the Cayenne all wheel drive system is as good or better than the X5. I have experienced it myself with all-season tyre (I think its BS) during the first winter storm and I got stuck in a pile of snow and my car just would not stop because it is so heavy. Many of my friends crashed also because of the all-season tyre, they drove very slow. My real estate broker was 8 months pregnant and she almost fell off the cliff because the car just kept going. Now you tell me if you want to be safe xD I don't have to worry about winter anymore in Jakarta, I know its much better hehehe.

Btw it takes only 5-10mins to mount summer / winter wheels to the car, just simply have a good shop near your house to store your summer/winter tires when you are not using them and just keep swapping them. If you are lazy to do it yourself or you don't know how to do it, then just get someone to do it for 50bucks.

[y5choi]

I got the 20" 214 honeycomb wheels with the sports package and to go with those, I also bought the BMW certified winter tires set that comes with 18" dunlop run on flat winter tires.

BTW, the sports package is worth it. There is a thread on the forum. active steering and adaptive drive alone more than justfies the price in the US IMO not to mention other stuff like the headliner, shadowline trim, wheels etc.

[golfer4life]

I plowed 2 feet of snow in Mammoth with 19 RFT's and it handled and braked fine. I only put the snow chains due to CHP requirements. I did this over a weekend of snow skiing so I can't really say if this will apply to folks who deal with snow and ice on their daily commute.

[Ike582]

Golfer,

Thanks for the response. Most people from the upper midwest would say that it's easier to drive in heavy snow than a thin layer of ice. The ice is the killer, and big fat tires just slide on top of it. I suspect i'll give the 19's a try.

Thanks to all for the responses,

Ike

[davidy1688]

Hi Golfer4life,

What kind of snow chain? Installed it on rear, right? Sorry, it is my first x5, I don't have experience on snow road with chains. Thanks.