all season tires summer/snow?
 

Ok, I will be moving hopfully in the next month or so to Colorado Springs, CO and taking the X with me. My question is, I will be needing tires soon. I have the sport 19's and would like to keep the wheels on all year around. Are there any tires that I can run in the summer and leave on when I take a trip up to the mountain in snow? Living in an apartment I wont have a ton of room for an extra set of wheels.

Ultimately I know a set of full on snow tires/ wheels is best but If I only get into the mountains once a month or so I will tear up the snowtires on dry roads. I'm mainly looking for an all season tire that I can have on year around.

Thanks

there are no 'all season' tires that you can use SAFELY all year.

I agree, get winter tread. Travel out to CO once a year for skiing and I know what the roads can get like. I would never trust my 19's. Now's the perfect time to find some winter rubber on craigslist....especially once you get to CO

It isn't the snow you need to worrry about, as much as it is the lower temperatures that will make your all season tires go hard and slippery. Five months of the year in Colorado Springs you could have winter tires on, given average monthly temperatures.

I too have an X5 with the Sport Package 19's. I also have All-Season tires and I highly recommend them (Pirelli Scorpion Assimetrico's) but i've also have been to Colorado and know how brutal the winters can be there. I think it's a must to have Winter Tires in Colorado.

i agree with JCL. the COLD is the reason (45F or less at any point during the day). we only get about 3 days of snow a year and mine are on for atleast 5 months...

and yes, craigslist is great for tires. just watch the DOT manufacturing date. you should even be able to find OEM rims (17s are best) for next to nothing ($200 or less for all 4).

You will need a set of winter tires. I picked up an extra set of wheels for our X5 so that I can just swap them out around November. If CO has chain control like they do here in California, be sure to check for fitment issues if you are going to run 19 inch winter wheels. I use the SCC Super Z cables on our X5 if/when Cal Trans makes us use them. They usually don't since its AWD, but sometimes they do, depending on conditions, plus here in Cali, you must have them in the car anyway. I used the Goodyear Winter tire the last two winters and loved them. Don't have the exact name of the tire, but I got them from the TireRack. Good luck.

A good all season tire will be fine if you're going to live in Colorado Springs and take an occasional trip to the mountains.

Contrary to popular belief Colorado does not have very harsh winters in the Denver metro or Colorado Springs areas. While there are times when we get significant snow fall the majority of times there won't be a lot of snow to contend with. Temperatures can get cold but again really cold weather is not the norm. I run all seasons on my 4.4i (18" wheels), make trips to the mountains during the winter and haven't had a problem. Given your situation a set off all seasons should be fine.

All seasons just don't cut it in any snow. Don't bother please. You can get around but have larger stopping distances and get stuck probably a few times. I got stuck in my driveway with the stock all seasons it was bad. So I picked up winter wheel/tire set up. It was well worth it. That's my ultimate reccommendation. And with your current set up it is very wide to plow through snow.

yeah, i agree. i have never heard of anyone going back to all seasons for winter b/c of poor performance of a winter setup. in fact, they easily become advocates.

it is troubling when people say 'no season' tires are sufficient...