Hey Gents.
Just got orders and job is moving me to Washington state for the next 3yrs. Hear that its very rainy there and weather can include snow as well. Not sure as I've never lived there but currently my C4S is sitting on max performance summer rubber. Question I have is do I need to change to all season rubber or should I invest in a good set of winter tires and just swap out. Not sure yet how much garage space I'll have so that may be an issue.

Also what sizes should I be looking at to fit my car? I have 19" BBS CH-R wheels (19x8.5 and 19x11" fitment) currently on the vehicle so not sure what way to go here. Have other vehicles to drive in deep snow (X6 if needed) but would like to be able to enjoy my C4S appropriately. Thoughts?

 

Rob, I always recommend winters instead of A/S, but if you're not swapping wheels, then the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus is awesome. When I had my C4S, I ran Michelin Pilot Alpin on OEM C4 18" wheels. They were spectacular...

 

I ran 18" wheels with winter rubber - taller sidewalls and narrower tires than the 19.

 

I'm in colorado. Have a set of 18's with pirelli scorpion snow and ice for winter, 19s with Michelin PS for summer. very happy with my setup.

 

hmm. so that set up guarantees I'll need to carry a separate setup for winter with 18" wheels. I wanted or hoped that I could just swap out the current summer rubber for a good all season one and get by with current 19" wheels. Any thoughts? Does WA state (Tacoma) get much of the foul weather snow wise?

 

I'm in Vancouver - just north of you where according to most Americans we get at least 4 feet of snow all year around. In actual fact we have Seattle weather which is alot of sunshine mixed with rain and very very rarely some snow. I use my 997 as a DD, running PSS's, and I have never bought a set of winter wheels and tires and don't plan to. When it snows I stay off the streets, catch a cab or whatever, and avoid the yahoos and the risk getting rear-ended like the C4S in a recent post. What part of WA are you going to be in? If you are on the coast, don't worry about it.

 

Thanks Zeus. Am headed to McChord AFB near Tacoma, Washington. You can see Mt Rainer in the background of all the pics I've seen so I was under the impression some sort of inclement weather tire would be in order. Rob

 

Hey Chris...are you gonna mount 18" winter rubber on your newest acquisition or will you leave snow drift duty for the GTI? I'll have to see if the Michelien Pilot Sport A/S Plus come in 19". I think the rears are my problem as I have to drop down from a 305/35 to a 295/35 in order to find anything for winter or A/S duty. Either that or swap wheels to an 18" dedicated tire. OR an easier way would be...snow=drive the X6 or the A7 quattro and leave the C4S alone! Always helps to have options!

 

Tacoma will get some snow maybe two to three times, average lat two years..Your X6 with snow tires is good bet for sure...A second set of wheels 18 with good snow tires I use Blizzak will work wonders..
No worries except for the other guys and maybe some rocks..
You might call a Northwest tire firm Les Schwabe with great service for advice, dealer tire guy is always good..
Your moving to a beautiful region enjoy !!

 

You can use pilot super sports year round. There are a few days which can last up to a week of sub 32 degree temps. That is when it can slippery with the summer tires. If you use your car as a DD then winter tires would be a wise choice from late December to early March. With snow that occurs a few times a year the freeways are ok. Side roads are more iffy. I was out of state when we had a few days of sub freezing temps week of Jan 18, 2012. Look it up on Internet if you want to see how bad it can get. Worse case scenario.

 

I have Pirelli sottozero on ultralegerra 19 wheels for winter 295 30 19. 235 35 19 fronts. Summer MPSS 305 30 19
235 35 19 fronts. Friend of mine who also has a c4s has 18 inch wheels for winter as he travels over snoqualmie pass weekly.

 

My new 911 is only seeing sunshine. My Golf R will carry the foul weather and daily driver duties. I'd leave the C4S in the garage and drive the X6 if it gets crappy out. If that gets in a wreck, it might improve the looks.

Hope all is well! :

 

Tacoma is just at the south end of Seattle. It's hard to tell where one city ends and the other starts. So you'll be in really mild weather. That being said... I did get stuck in SEATAC airport this last January for 24 hours when a random snow storm really hit the area hard. Ended up catching a coach back to Vancouver. The thing to really understand is the drivers in the Pacific Northwest (Seattle, Taconma, Vancouver etc...) have absolutely NO idea how to drive in snow. When we get even a light dusting the accidents pile up and traffic slows to a crawl. This is why I park the P-car and use alternate transport, often my two feet on x-country skis or in boots.

 

+1 on Chris from Cali comments.
BTW you can only "see" Rainier about 15% of the time due to the grey skies. You'll be real close to Griot's garage flagship store, though. Some nice drives up here with the local Porsche club to Cannon Beach Oregon, Walla-Walla in Eastern Wa.; A few tracks nearby. Pacific Raceways in Kent and new one The Ridge in Shelton which just opened. Welcome to the Pacific NW.

 

I live in Vancouver, and I actually disagree with Zeus! Mine is DD and I drive it all-around in all sort of weather! What I find that works perfect is a combo set, Summer between April - Nov, Winter between Nov - Mar.

This has three HUGE advantages:
1. Nov - Mar, temp drop below 7 degree celsius (44 F) almost everyday at some point, and that is the threshold for summer tires sticking, so Winters actually handle A LOT BETTER in those months than summer, a lot safer, AND you could hit the road if it snowed a bit.
2. The same months, we get a lot of rain, and what I found was that my Michelin PA2, with directional tire thread, AND DEEPER thread, does MUCH BETTER in the rain than PS2, and again is safer and handles better.
3. A set of Winter 18s is a lot cheaper than max performance 19inch, and by using winters for 4-5mos/year you actually extend the life of your more expensive summer tires by 40-50% and that alone pays for the winter set!

BUY a set of Winter wheel/tires, stick to Porsche N-rated, Michelin PA2 or Sottozero, they handle great and can do 300 Km/H, buy a set of OEM 18inch wheels (you can find combo deals online), and be done with it. When season turns in Nov/Dec, put the winters on and forget about it... then for summer season, do your oil change and summer tires at the same time.