To start off, We live in California where we do not need dedicated winter tires. This is my wife's daily and 95% of our driving through winter is 50-70 degrees, but we do have a cabin in the mountains and go snow skiing. So we need an all season tire to get up to the mountains. When we purchase the Stelvio we figured we would get through our first six months on the P Zeros and change them out to an all season during winter. Just an FYI to everyone out their who live in a climate like ours. Their are no all season tires available for this vehicle. Do your homework if you live in a climate where switching back and forth to winter tires don't work. We are having to look at either selling the Stelvio which we love or buying a dedicated ski vehicle. I wish I would have looked into this when I was purchasing the vehicle.
What are the tire sizes on it? I know the Quad has different front and rears.
I will ask my Dealership as I know they had some come in and in Alberta you would not be liking life driving on just summer tread. A all season is a min here to keep it on the road
Good question. I was wondering if anyone has swapped out stock QV summer tires with Pirelli Scorpion winter tires in stock front/rear staggered sizes on original rims, and how it's worked out in snow.
Fronts are 255/45R20 and rears are 285/40R20. I have looked everywhere online and talked to my local tire guy. The only thing I have found is mismatched brand of tires front to back. Anyone have any idea how the Pirelli Scorpions would work in the warm dry winters in California?
there was someone else here who was unable to get winter scorpions (sold Out) in the standard size - AR suggested slightly taller all around (50/55 series?).
that would get you into scorpion all seasons and likely others.
I have the winter scorpions, I expect they wouldn't last too long in your situation.
I also expect more tire choices soon as 20's are getting more common on sporting cars.
A simple call to Tire Rack will get you someone knowledgeable in alternate sizing. Best to go with other rims for winter use as the pretty Quad wheels probably won't fare well long term as well as requiring big fat meats
@harvest That's exactly what I did and it's worked out great, but as @lost1750GTV comments I doubt they would last long in 50-70 degree daily driving.
When I search tirerack.com it comes back with one set of Goodyear eagles RS-A EMT that are "high performance all season", but don't get good reviews. https://bit.ly/2GmwRvK So there are options, but not great ones, and it might be zip code depended. Sounds like a tough spot. I agree you should call tirerack. Hope you find something that works!
I’d give tire rack a call. They should be able to find something. In a pinch the extremely good Michelin AS3+ is available for the fronts and the 275/40R20 *should* fit on the back. I’d personally get some nice beater rims for winter in more readily available sizes. You have a quad, the cost is negligibl for separate rims compared to hitting something on summer tires.
Winter Scorpions are a not TRUE winter tire IMHO as their weakness is the greasey, icy stuff ..the stuff where Blizzaks and DM-V3's excel. Having left a set on a vehicle for a summer, they wore like iron, not like a snow would in summer. The speed rating necessitates the rubber...Everything is a compromise. My next set of snows will go back to Muchelin X-Ice or Bridgestone DM-V3's....maybe Nokian if I can find them. Not super impressed withe Scorpion Winters for my wicked cold, greasey needs. Even on a Range Rover Sport they do not inspire confidence in the truly ugly.
so far this south of Boston winter, I'd say they are a really good compromise for here.
we've gone from 0 f after sow then freezing rain to 50 + now, have had a heck of a lot more rain than snow - I've "tested them in all haha
and the wife was very happy with them and the quad on absolute ice, sooo ...
people north of boston get a lot more snow and cold, and may prefer a "nordic" pirelli ice or other brand, some may prefer a tire that's best in the worst they are likely to encounter - but I'm after really good in what I'm most likely to see most often.
I called my Tire shop guy and the only sizes that match came up with the Good Year Eagle RS-A or the Eagle Sport AS.
I got the Eagle Sport AS for my VW GTI and they are not good in the snow and ice at all. Too hard rubber and no where near they type of Sipes you need to get good grip in the snow.
I still have to call the dealer and speak to the service manager so will see what he comes up with. I know they had Quads delivered and sold and have 2 for sale on their site so there has to be something out there as they can't be Summer only Garage queens up here..
I used both of these products successfully when I lived in Frazier Park (top of the Grapevine. Between LA and Bakersfield), when I had to drive my Boxster in snow and ice for the first/last 10-20 miles of my 80 mile commute to and from LA in the winter. Cheaper than winter tires, not sure if they will work for you though, they are for low speed driving.
The spider spikes (2nd link) in particular though make almost any tire perform as well as studded tires. No matter what you would want 4, so I would think the socks would be the best option maybe.
yeah, with prior cars in L.A. that had summers I would use soft chains on arrival at Mammoth.
they work well but are a pita, and one of the reasons people buy AWD is so they don't have to deal with stuff like that.
Totally get that...but generally speaking AWD vehicles can have all weather tires fitted in the stock size too...Tire Rack will have the best advice, but it sounds like even that is a major compromise in winter traction, cause yeah those Goodyear's are not a real all-weather IMO.
so, seems like the Quad is a bit of a unicorn....which is part of the draw right?
You take the good, you take the bad. (and now the "Facts of Life" theme song is on my head. Again.)
If it were me, I'de put the drive mode in "A" when it started getting rough, then drive very carefully until I got stuck...then I'de put the autosocks on...if I never got stuck...no problem. Talking about the OP, living in SoCal and only needing snow/ice capability rarely. For you guys living in the vortex...man, hope you figure something out, but I couldn't find a matched true all-weather or snow/ice tire set in those sizes either....
I know they aren't true winter tires, or maybe a better way to say it is they aren't great winter tires, but the Scorpions have been doing just fine for me and we have had some piles of snow in the last few weeks. It's all melted now, but getting through deep snow, slushy salty city mess, hidden ice patches and -30 temp pavement have been no issue for me. Granted, the closest thing we have to hills here are highway overpasses, so that may make a difference.
Looks like we are going to have to go back to putting a new set of Pirelli PZeros back on and take my truck up to the snow. Stinks that you buy an AWD vehicle and the options are to put tire socks on or put dedicated winter tires on. Wife got 17,000 miles out of them and they are no longer safe in the rain we have been getting out here in California. Saw the Goodyear Eagle RS-A but the reviews scare me. Thanks for everyone looking. Hopefully there will be something available in another 17,000 miles.
My nephew just wiped out his Audi Quattro in the rains in LA....summer tires down to the last 1/3rd, hydroplaned, corrected wrong (he was trained at Bondurant Racing on RWD cars. So he automatically counter-steered but the Audi system is set up to respond dynamically like a FWD car, so he should have turned into the spin...completely lost control) and bounced off the guardrail hitting the front and then the back...
AWD does not make up for losing traction, don't ever forget just how important having good tires with plenty of tread depth is.
for this season I guess you can pretend to be one of those guys who wouldn't dream of driving his new Alfa in snow.
next year you can say it's not new ...
May have found my answer. Has anyone run any vehicles with the Nitto 420S. Looks like they have the sizes we need for the Quadrifoglio and are M&S rated. They are only V rated, but I don't expect my wife to do over 149mph dropping the kids off at school. I know these are not a dedicated winter tire. That is not what i'm looking for. Thanks for everyone's help. I"ll post when I have a few miles on them.
reviews seem to vary based on expectations I guess - maybe a tough call depending on how you use it normally, and how good you want them to be in snow.
glad you found something though - and I guess you could sell them at a tidy loss if they aren't right for you.
I am having the dealer put the goodyear F1 RS AS on the QV. I'll let y'all know how they are. They are allowing me to keep my stock tires as well so I can always put them back on. I was surprised that they only charged me $880 to do the swap, so I thought it was worth a try. The two negative reviews on the internet have little impact on me as I couldn't find anything objective on this line of tires that was negative.
Well Just picked up my QF with new dealer installed Goodyear AS run flats. Promptly drove home in 36 degree rain deluge going 80mph. Tires stuck like a boss. Dealer let me keep the original Pirellis as well. We will see how they do through the course of the year.
They are 220 wear, not a track tire.
It would be interesting to see a back to back with the stock vs corsa pirelli.
Likely most of the improvement would be in braking, as we dont really have a problem accelerating out of turns like the rwd do.
So its the rear size that presents the issue. Their seem to be many 255/45R20's out there.
We want a tire with a diameter of 29-29.1 +/- .2-.3 Set let's say 28.7 -29.4. 275/40R20 has potential at 28.7 OD. So does 295/40R20 at 29.3 is a possibility. Many other options exist in the 275/45R20 rear fitment if you slightly enlarge the front as well.. Its all about maintaining the rake and ratios from front to rear.
Pirelli Scorion Winters available to fit. in 255/45R20 front and 295/40R20 or 265/45R20 or 275/40R20 rear. Order early as I bet these sizes will always have nominal inventory. i love buying snows in the spring and getting great deals.
Does the car handles the same with the Nittos??........It is INCREDIBLE how the tires affect the way a car drives......
Today I just put new tires in my wife's car, a Macan S, and instead of the Michelin Latitude I went with some Nexen tires that had some very good reviews everywhere....65K warranty....Z rated for speed.....etc etc......what a mistake!!!....
That Macan was a driver's car in the morning, now it drives now like a fat bloated Lexus SUV.....you can lower the suspension, change the suspension to the "hardest" settings.....nothing will change that unstable feeling while driving at higher speeds....I tried inflating more the tires, deflating the tires.....nothing....I think it may be because the Nexen tire sidewalls are softer??.....I have to get rid of them!!! ....lets see what the tire place guy will tell me on Monday.....!!
So that is why I am asking about the Nittos......you dont have to wait 2000 miles sometimes to know for sure that a tire is not good....specially with these cars the handling becomes very important.....
I have less than 10K miles in the Quadrifoglio but I think those Pirellis are beginning to show some wear specially in the middle....
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