Need advice: Which tires for the trip?

[MJP.P3D-]

So, after 5-1/2 weeks of having my mother-in-law with us in Chicago to help with schooling of the children, it’s time for her to return to Dallas. No flights this time given the 14-Day mandatory quarantine imposed by Texas upon return if traveling via air. So, I’ll be driving her halfway where we’ll meet up with my father-in-law for the hand-off. They will return to Texas and I’ll turn around and head back to Chicago. Day trip/no hotels and no stops other than needed charging. Trip should be ~900 miles.

My question: which wheels/tires should I have on the car—18” Aeros with winter rubber or 19” Sports with summer rubber?

Forecasted temps are as follows (should be a sunny and precipitation-free day):

Chicago, IL: 33 degrees
Normal, IL: 28
Springfield, IL: 45
Rolla, MO: 58
Lebanon, MO: 56
Rolla, MO: 61
Springfield, IL: 54
Normal, IL: 47
Chicago, IL: 42

So—winter rubber or summer rubber?

Thanks all! Stay safe!

 

[TypeRx]

Use winter rubber for sure. It will perform better at low temp and safety I'm sure is your priority here. Save your "nice" summer tires for when it truly warms up. Also, better range with the Aeros most likely (although the sticky/blocky winter tires might negate that).

Stay safe and have a great drive!

 

[ordel]

I would vote for summer. If the roads are dry, the stopping distance for the vast majority of your trip will be far shorter with the summer rubber than the winter rubber. So from a safety perspective I'd rather not be on the squishy tires, if there will be no cold rain/snow on the road. I know that theoretically your summer tires will be harder than is desirable at the outset of your journey, but with the sun and the friction they should get up to a decent temp relatively quickly. Even from an efficiency standpoint, the advantages of the aeros over the 19s will be mitigated by using winter tires. Plus you've got AWD going for you, so you've got 0% chance of getting stuck if there's no snow anyway.

 

[Glamisduner]

Aero's with MXM4's all seasons look ideal for this trip

 

[MacGreiner]

Rims are arguably as influential as tires in these scenarios. 18s for all road trips for me.

 

[MJP.P3D-]

Aero's with MXM4's all seasons look ideal for this trip

Yeah—unfortunately my options are dedicated winter or dedicated summer rubber. Maybe I should take the summers along and swap them out while at a supercharger sometime early afternoon? Kidding. Thanks for the response.

 

[MJP.P3D-]

Use winter rubber for sure. It will perform better at low temp and safety I'm sure is your priority here. Save your "nice" summer tires for when it truly warms up. Also, better range with the Aeros most likely (although the sticky/blocky winter tires might negate that).

Stay safe and have a great drive!

Winters are currently installed so this is the easy option! Thanks for the feedback.

 

[MJP.P3D-]

I would vote for summer. If the roads are dry, the stopping distance for the vast majority of your trip will be far shorter with the summer rubber than the winter rubber. So from a safety perspective I'd rather not be on the squishy tires, if there will be no cold rain/snow on the road. I know that theoretically your summer tires will be harder than is desirable at the outset of your journey, but with the sun and the friction they should get up to a decent temp relatively quickly. Even from an efficiency standpoint, the advantages of the aeros over the 19s will be mitigated by using winter tires. Plus you've got AWD going for you, so you've got 0% chance of getting stuck if there's no snow anyway.

What’s worse: summers when its in the 20s-30s or winters when the temps reach the upper 50s? This is my dilemma... Thanks for the feedback!

 

[jerry33]

For road trips (not in winter of course, if you are going to encounter snow or ice, use the winters) you are interested in rolling resistance, pothole resistance, and puncture resistance. Summer or All-Season tires (not high performance though). The wheels should be the smallest diameter available to give the most sidewall height for pothole resistance. I've found that the MXM4 Primacy are very puncture resistant (on my S), they are also reasonable for rolling resistance (the most rolling resistance friendly tires have less puncture protection). Driving to Dallas, it's going to get to 27 or 28 C next week. That's too hot for winters.

 

[SomeJoe7777]

Which tires specifically are on your 18" and 19" rims? I would lean towards winter tires given the temperatures in the Chicago area, but it depends on which winters you have.

If your winter tires are one of the all-weather tire varieties like the Vredestein Quatracs, Nokian WRG4's, Michelin CrossClimate's, etc. then I'd use those, as the higher temperatures further south won't hurt them. If you have true winter tires like Blizzaks or X-Ice's, then the temperatures down south are really too warm for those tires and the wear rate will increase markedly. In that case, given that the conditions are dry, then I'd use the summer tires.

 

[KenC]

Think of the worst-case for both. Worst case for Winters is that they aren't as sporty, they may wear faster, but they will work if there's any precipitation or if it gets colder than predicted. They'll also handle bad roads better and give a softer ride.

For the Summers, they may not perform if the temps drop, they may also not like rough roads with potholes.

I voted Summers, but now that I that I went thru that, I'm changing to Winters.

 

[Atari2600]

Yesterday I removed my Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3 tires and installed my Michelin Pilot Sport 4S wheels/tires. So I voted summer tires. I assume you posted lows.

 

[MJP.P3D-]

Yesterday I removed my Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3 tires and installed my Michelin Pilot Sport 4S wheels/tires. So I voted summer tires. I assume you posted lows.

Thanks. Posted were anticipated actual temps in locations at time I would be passing thru—but are only as accurate as can be determined 3 days in advance. Thanks again.

 

[MJP.P3D-]

Think of the worst-case for both. Worst case for Winters is that they aren't as sporty, they may wear faster, but they will work if there's any precipitation or if it gets colder than predicted. They'll also handle bad roads better and give a softer ride.

For the Summers, they may not perform if the temps drop, they may also not like rough roads with potholes.

I voted Summers, but now that I that I went thru that, I'm changing to Winters.

I was originally thinking summers too; but as the weekend gets closer and anticipated temps seem to be dropping, I’m now leaning toward leaving the winters on the car. It didn’t help that I awoke to a winter wonderland in Chicago this morning after having been in the high 60s a few days back. Gotta love April weather in the Midwest! Stay safe all.

 

[MJP.P3D-]

Which tires specifically are on your 18" and 19" rims? I would lean towards winter tires given the temperatures in the Chicago area, but it depends on which winters you have.

If your winter tires are one of the all-weather tire varieties like the Vredestein Quatracs, Nokian WRG4's, Michelin CrossClimate's, etc. then I'd use those, as the higher temperatures further south won't hurt them. If you have true winter tires like Blizzaks or X-Ice's, then the temperatures down south are really too warm for those tires and the wear rate will increase markedly. In that case, given that the conditions are dry, then I'd use the summer tires.

X-Ice-Xi3s on the 18” Aeros and Pilot Sport 4S on the 19” Sports.

 

[SSedan]

I think you are overthinking the trip and I would be more concerned about the possibility of one more mixed precip even back home in the coming weeks.

If you put the summers on you are going to leave them on till November but you could still see some crap weather in the next few weeks.

 

[MJP.P3D-]

you are overthinking the trip

Likely true...

you could still see some crap weather in the next few weeks.

Indeed...

Unless the forecast changes dramatically in the next 36 hours, I plan to leave the winter rubber on.

Thanks to all for the thoughts.

 

[Neo101]

Winter... was on the fence then saw the news about pile up in chicago

 

[camalaio]

Weather is untrustworthy.

Worst case for Winters: You melt 'em a bit faster and probably get slightly worse range.
Worst case for Summers: You get in an accident or stuck somewhere due to poor or rapidly changing road conditions.

It's not an entirely fair comparison, but on a trip a couple months ago there was a blind bend in the road. Roads were dry, day was sunny, temps were above freezing. The corner had a massive snow-drift on the side and evidently a lot of it had blown onto the road, as it had melted and refroze on it creating a sudden bumpy icy section through the corner. Nearly lost it with Winters myself, the van in front of us with all-seasons wasn't as fortunate.

Wear the Winters 100%.

 

[MJP.P3D-]

Winter... was on the fence then saw the news about pile up in chicago

Agree! I saw this yesterday and decided at that very moment to stick with the winters! Thanks for the feedback. Stay healthy.