I have a 91 300E Benz which takes 195/65 15 size tire. I’m looking for a “great” all season tire (don’t want to deal with set of winter tires too)
Appreciate sage advice.
Review tire test results in Consumer Reports 2009 Buying Guide, page 196. I would also check out reviews for your tire size at tirerack.com and then make a decision. Consumer reports provides some snow vs ice vs wet vs dry performance figures. Since an all season tire is a bit of a compromise, you may need to decide which performance characteristics you are most interested in, and the CR summary does that fairly well.
here is a website that lists a bunch of tires meeting your size requirements:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compare1.jsp?search=true&diameter=15&diameter=15&startIndex=0&x=19&y=5&skipOver=true&skipOver=true&ratio=65&ratio=65&pagelen=20&filterGoWhere=Compare1&pagenum=1&RunFlat=All&width=195%2F&width=195%2F&pagemark=1&startIndex=0&performance=UHPAS&performance=HPAS&performance=PAS&performance=GTAS&performance=ST&performance=AS&x=27&y=10
I’ve had really good luck with my Michelen Pilot Exaltos. And my mom really likes her Goodyear Triple treads
Frankly those tyres should be called three season. They are not winter tyres. If you want good snow and ice performance, you need winter tyres. It sort of depends on the driving conditions where you will be driving. In central Ohio, I choose winter tyres for three months a year.
Where do you live. Does it snow or ice regularly and you have to get out during a winter event? If you want a quality all-season that is also rated as winter tire(only one) look at the Nokian WR or Nokian WR G2. I am on my fourth set and for coastal New England I find these a perfect compromise for a single set of tires capable of performing in the winter.
The only downfall is pricing in on par with premium branded tires and limited tires dealers offering them.
Unless you live in the Mountains or in the Great Lakes snow belt area…snow tires are NOT needed. Last year in NH we had record snow falls, and I can count on one hand the number of times my wife was driving in snow where snow tires would have made a difference. And in those instances…she slowed it down (along with MOST everyone else on the road) and made it to her destination without a hitch.
You are forgetting a KEY point…You likely have AWD/4wd or FWD. A 91 Benz has RWD for sure and possibly traction control. They do not do that great in winter conditions getting moving on any semblance of a grade. I have pulled around many BMW or MB(non AWD) in my Subaru up grades.
.You likely have AWD/4wd or FWD. A 91 Benz has RWD
You are right…I take back what I said…In a RWD vehicle…then I highly recommend snow tires.