Chocofishez

My summer tires are nearly shot after a summer of hard driving.

I need to put new rubber on, but the temperatures are starting to drop here and it will be winter soon.

I don't count on this car in the winter, I have a winter beater I use for the terrible snowy days.

That said, Calgary gets lots of sun and often warms up so the roads are just wet and a little slushy, or it is cold out but dry.

Rather than going with winter tires I'm contemplating a set of Michelin all seasons in the same 245/275 configuration I run in the summer... the thought being they should give decent enough peformance and I could run them from now until the weather is definitely warm enough to switch back to summer tires, and not have to worry about the temp falling below 7 degress C.

My concern is how they will feel compared to winter tires at say -15 or -10 C... are they driveable?

TIA

AMGTTV8

there is no way that all-season tires will do anything good for a C63 on any kind of snow...

i think it is well worth few extra $100 for snow tires.

that's definitely a department where I wouldn't take a shortcut.

gthal

+1

GBlansten

You need dedicated winter tires in Calgary. Don't bother with all-seasons.

FraKctured

No way--I lived in Lethbridge for 4 years. Just use the beater. Those roads out there are horrible in the winter, waiting for a Chinook to clean them up. If I were fortunate enough to have a C63, I would never drive it out there in the winter. Not a chance.

driftmotion

DUDE ... basically the words All-Seasons, RWD and CANADA always end in this:

Fung63

with our cars, you will need a good set of snow tires for the winter (esp where you are) if you want to ensure your car is still in 1 piece for the next summer.

for the c63, 2 sets of tires is a must. all seasons really suck for our cars... too dangerous in the winter and not enough fun in the summer. the other option is to bring out your beater early... but why do that?

ddcha

I just ordered a set of Conti DWS. But I'm in NJ/NYC, where we don't get much snow. And mine isn't a daily driver. If I were where you are, I'd get a dedicated set of snow tires on some funky colored wheels (like orange or lime haha).

Chocofishez

Hey guys thanks for the replies.

I'm born and raised in AB, so I know how bad the roads can get. I have two AWD vehicles with winter tires that do the heavy lifting in such conditions, so I can pick my spots with the C63. My car would never be out there if there is snow or extreme cold, and will probably sit in my garage for the months of December and January.

But Calgary winters are mild in the late fall early winter, and last January we had a warm patch where I actually put summers on for two weeks. I don't wanna drive my beater for 6 months straight, and the C63 feels like junk with skinny winter tires on it.

Then there is also the spring where it can take forever to see average temperatures get above 7 degrees, and having tires on that can deal with this transition period is appealing, as opposed to trying perfomance driving on winter tires.

So I take it no one here has run them?

If not is there a winter tire out there that has decent enough dry road perfomance that can handle the 6.2 L motor?

rage2

Don't bother with the all seasons, they'll perform like crap in the dry, and kill you in the snow. I've had the pleasure of driving a C63 non P31 non chipped with a set of AS's, and I swear it performed worse than my C63 with Ice Bear W300's in the dry.

If you already have a winter beater, get another set of summers, and on good chinook days with temps in the double digits, take the C63 out for a rip. That's pretty much what I did with the CLK Black when I had it here over the winter. Was able to get a solid 3 or 4 extra weeks of driving on the good days. Just don't go into residential areas in the burbs, they don't get plowed! haha

For your last question there, I went with the Ice Bear W300's. They're "ok" in the snow, I never got stuck with them in my C63, although in slush, especially parking, it's not really ideal and it wants to get stuck. But by far the best dry grip on the cold dry days compared to anything else. I pretty much don't get wheelspin past 1st gear as long as there's not a huge amount of salt, and my car was chipped to 500hp.

Chocofishez

Thanks Rage I was hoping you'd see this thread.

Are you keeping summers on your BS all winter?

When you had your winter tires on did you run 255 or 275 in the back?

Even Money

vredestein makes a performance winter tire, i think it's called wintrac extreme, i had those on my car during the winter, iirc, 245 and 265 on the stock rims. adequate traction in light snow, good in wet, good enough on dry in cold weather.

ddcha

I ordered the Continental DWS tires. Plan to mount them this Saturday. I've read stellar reviews on them and the M3 community seems to swear by them.

CELLryuu

well of course im in texas and it never snows but a year or two ago it snowed like a foot. i wasnt going anywhere but i needed to drive one day in it. i had to go about 5-10 miles an hour all the way and i was completely out of control. trucks were passing me like i was standing still.

ug.

ill never do that again.

rage2

I thought you had my phone #, you could always txt me or post on beyond, I'm there more often haha.

Summers staying on the CBS. Hopefully I'll find a few days to take it out for a rip this winter. Here's hoping for a mild winter!

I ran staggered OEM sizes on the C63. The guys that ran non stagger sizes, 235's all around I think, was complaining of heavy oversteer when it's dry, but cut through slush much better in poor weather.

justthebest

I run Continental DWS' on all my high performance vehicles - snow or not, cold temps stack the odds against AMGs, and Conti DWS' have beaten Blizzaks, other all-seasons, etc. in both the cold and snow.

BK63amg

NO NO NO - winter tires are a must, not just for the snow, but for safe traction in the freezing temperatures.

FraKctured

+1 Softer rubber=better traction at -20C.

I would never, ever, drive a C63 in the winter in Calgary or in Alberta or in Montana or in...

Let the beater get beat and give the unicorn some time off.

rage2

Haha the C63 was my dedicated winter car in Calgary.

Was prob the most fun winter car I owned until the 911 Turbo.

FraKctured

You're a braver man than I, Gungha Din!

jvanbrecht

I ran the DWS for a while in both Winter and Summer in the DC Metro area (my car is my daily too).

They worked just fine as long as you drive appropriately, even in the moderate snow we occasionally get (but usually is cleared quickly)..

They also worked just fine in Summer. I drive my car like I stole.. but not as hard as I would on the track.. if you are not planning on tracking, the DWS is a fine set of tires for what they are, all seasons.

slfmde

Have them on my EVO and they are amazing tires for what they are designed to do. Very good in every condition I have put them through - snow, wet and hard summer driving.

They last forever also.

rage2

DC Metro area winters are a lot different than Alberta winters at high elevation. It's the temps that keep us away from AS tires. We see temps dip into the -30 to -40 range, where you NEED winter rubber to handle those temps, even if it's dry.

Thrilla

You can't compare traction between an AWD Evo with a RWD nuclear powerplant C63. With that being said, I still put winter tires on my Evo.

rory breaker

A question like this is frustrating because so many people just regurgitate what they read without having actual experience. I asked a similar question about PSS' and luckily folks who had experience themselves chimed in.

I have driven through winter on all-seasons - Pilot A/S to be exact - and had ZERO issues in cold weather, wet weather, or dry weather. In fact, they were great tires in dry and wet. HOWEVER - when it started to snow, the car wasnt UNDRIVEABLE, but it wasnt very safe. Any snow/ice should result in you finding the nearest place to park.