Nait Sirhc

So I have a brand new set of Blizzak LM-25s for the rear (265/35/18) and I'm looking at getting a set of snow tires for the front.

I found some Hankook Icebears in 245/40/18, but I'm curious about mixing sets per axle. Tirerack has Blizzak WS60s but Luke@Tirerack advised me that mixing the WS60s and LM25s would be a bad idea. The WS60s are listed as "Studless Ice & Snow" while the LM25s are "Performance Snow".

Do you think there'd be anything wrong with running Icebears on the front and Blizzak LM25s on the rear? They'd all be brand new, and I know Icebears are good tires.

reitmeid

I wouldn't consider mixing them for a moment. It's easy to get fooled into thinking "hey, these performance snow tires handle really well", and you start to forget you're driving down the freeway on snow tires. And then you have to break hard or swerv to avoid a situation and suddenly, if it weren't for ESP, you'd be rolling in the ditch. At such times, you don't want to have the added quirkiness of mixed pairs. I'd say fine if you were driving an old Volvo or something. But not an E63 or 55 for that matter.

Nait Sirhc

Hmm. They're both brand new "performance snow" tires, though. All 4 are brand new, and all four are good types of snow tires.

The problem now is that I have to wait until early November to get another set of Blizzak LMs (which aren't even LM-25s... they're LM-60s) because everywhere is out of stock.

Nait Sirhc

Also, is there any other size I could put on the front other than 245/40/18? What about 240/40/18 or 235/40/18, or 245/45/18? The local tire shops don't stock Blizzaks in 245/40/18 but they have them in other sizes.

For reference, the wheels are stock CLS55 AMG wheels. 18x8.5 front

griza

Tire Rack has 245/45/18 what about that size? It is 5mm more sidewall on the front which should be no big deal since you don't have to worry about equal rolling diameter like you would on an awd car. Just throwing it out there....

Nait Sirhc

Yea, that's what I'm wondering... They have LM-22s in 235/45/18 and 235/50/18. Would those work for the front? Here are the sizes that are close-ish to 245/40/18 that I've found so far...

235/45/18

245/45/18

235/50/18

I also found some LM-25s (for the same price as LM-60s) in 255/40/18. That's a bit wider than stock, but would that really matter on the front?

Nait Sirhc

Bah. The 245/45/18 is a fantastic price.

Bottom line: Would I be okay running 245/45/18 in the front, and 265/35/18 in the rear? (Blizzak LM-25s all around, brand new)