Dodge Challenger Forum banner

Winter is coming

1K views 13 replies 7 participants last post by  ProfLonghair 
#1 ·
This is the first time I've been able to afford separate wheels/tires for winter and summer. Everything I've read says for snow, thinner is better. My current plan is, however, not not have to do a lot of cold weather driving in my Challenger. If it's bad out, I'll be taking the wife's Journey instead, or working from home. I will have some snow driving, but not a ton (hopefully).

When I switched out my stock wheels/tires for wider rears and better tires, I got way better traction. I can't say if it was the wider rears or the tire that made a bigger difference.

Since I won't be doing a ton of snow driving, but will have some, should I still get the thinner setup, or will that sacrifice too much vs the majority of the time where it will be dry but cold?
 
#2 ·
even a little bit of snow with your stock set-up is not good. don't end up in the ditch with your new car.look in the parts for sale in this forum or tire rack ect....by the way do you have the summer tires only on your car? if you do they are not designed for cold even if you have no snow
 
#3 ·
What tread width are you thinking of going with? The skinnier tread does help dig through deeper snow but that was more important in the days of bias-ply tires that didn't offer good snow-biting tread. The compound and tread depth is the most important thing for winter. You can still get great snow traction with a wider (say 275-285) snow tire. In some cases that's your only option if you require a certain wheel width to clear brakes.
 
#4 ·
Stock was 245 and I have 275 in the rear right now, so that range should be fine. I think I've seen people as thin as 235 but not 100% sure that would fit over the brakes.

So, you think the wider tire would be fine? That's my primary thinking, since out of the, say, 200 days I'll drive it, maybe 10 or 15 of them would snow be a thing anyway.
 
#5 ·
are you running all-season tires? You have a better chance, just have to take it carefully with all the torque you have on hand.

If they are GY F1 summer tires - that's a bad combo with snow, or temps < 50*F.
-they won't grip worth anything.
 
#7 ·
They'll do okay in winter temps, but DW's aren't developed like the DWS or DWS06 would be for snow traction.

Probably be okay, just use caution - experience will tell you how to proceed.
 
#8 ·
Best dang winter tires I've ever bought for a RWD car are the Blizzaks. I've got them on my old Town Car, and on a Grand Marquis during the snow season. They grip like crazy, but with the soft winter compound, it's best to get them off in Spring before it heats up, or they will wear fast.


If I was going to have to use my Challenger in the snow, I would get the Blizzaks in the stock size.
 
#9 ·
OK, so, I ordered me some Blizzak LM-32s in the stock 245/45/20 size. Hopefully it's as good as advertised.
 
#13 ·
I used Firestone Winterforce tires (225/60-18) on stock R/T wheels on my 2009 R/T. There were no snowy or icy roads that were any challenge at all. I never got close to getting stuck anywhere in the six years I had the car. And my work is on top of a 9% grade, one-mile hill.

Purpose use snow tires make a huge difference. It may have helped that I had a limited slip rear.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top