Want snows for my wife's Sienna,but where,and what?

Hey guys,

I would love to get a set of winter tires for my wife's 06 Sienna. I love Nokian's,but for the most part they are pricey although I found a set of 4 Hakka 5's without studs new on ebay in the 215/65-16 that her van has on it now for $550 shipped. I also looked at DTD,and they want $171 a piece for the same tires in a 225/60-16 instead of the 215/65-16 her van has now!!! The other issue is I would love to get a new set of wheels for the van as the stock steelies with wheel covers are kind of lame looking. The thing is I am not sure wheels are in the budget now as I would love for them to be alloys. Do I just buy a set of winter tires,and get them swapped over to her steel rims? Can you guys recommend a set of winter tires other than the awesome Nokian Hakka's? Can one find steelies for the snows fairly cheap in a 16" with 5x114.3 bolt pattern,and a Sienna friendly offset(whatever that may be)??

Chris

You can get a tire package on steel rims from The Tire Rack and others. I'm partial to Blizzaks.

Hakkas are the goods. I would say however that I like having snows on their own rims so they can just be thrown on without any fuss or added cost.

Former tire guy here.

Skip the Hakkas. The traction is impressive, but the price is unbearable. Bridgestone Blizzaks are a good all around-er, though I prefer Hankook i-Pikes for the same purpose(I run them on the wife's Subaru). If either are out of your price range, go for Firestone Winterforce; they're mushy and won't last as long but are downright impressive in the deep stuff.

Skip the extra wheels unless you're planning to keep the van a few years. Tear off the hubcaps and get the 225s for the awesome factor.

Happy shopping!

The van is staying around for a long time hopefully so I would like extra wheels,mainly for the convenience. The Hakka's are my favorite as I have had them before and a set at $550 shipped isn't bad,but I could probably do a set of Blizzaks with steel wheels for close to the same price. Mounting,and balancing shouldn't be too bad as I have a hook up for that,but I wouldn't want to have to do it every fall/spring so extra wheels would be great. Maybe a set of take offs from another car?? A GRM member on here was selling a set of Acura RSX wheel a few months back with snows on them,and I wanted them for the van as they were the proper bolt pattern,and offset,but he sold them out from under me before I could pick them up. Do you guys know of any other cars that use a 5x114.3 pattern in a 16" FWD offset wheel?

It might be a pain up front, but what about some decent wheels for the summer and use the steelies with the snows? Just buy snows now (I have Generals on the wife's ride and love them), have the all-seasons dis-mounted and mount the snows. Then when it comes time to take the snows off, pick up a set of wheels to mount the other tires on. That way your slick new wheels won't get torn up from salt, sand, etc.

IIRC, the Generals were about $60 per in 205/55/16 from TireRack

I'll second the generals. we have them on the wifes sienna (it's an 03) and she was carting her friends around last winter in the snow. (now thats a downside :))) because their cars wouldn't go with all seasons. nothing stops em.

+3 for General Altimax Arctics. They are rebadged Gislaved Nordfrost tires. Continental owns General and Gislaved, a Swedish tire company that's 2nd only to Hakka for winter tires in Europe. I use them on my MS3 and the only thing that can stop it is when the snow's high enough to plow with the front fascia! They're cheap to boot ($87/tire for 215/65/16 on Tire Rack).

Some tire places do summer/winter wheel swaps for free or for a small fee if you don't want to do it yourself. I prefer to do the wheel swap myself since most shops in my area use impact guns to (over)tighten lugnuts.

Mazdax605 wrote: Do you guys know of any other cars that use a 5x114.3 pattern in a 16" FWD offset wheel?

You have quite a few choices:

http://www.roadkillcustoms.com/hot-rods-rat-rods/Wheel-Bolt-Pattern-Cross-Reference-Database.asp?LugCount=5&StudSpreadInch=&StudSpreadMM=114.3

Looks like Chryslers would be a good bet.

MisterWrigley wrote: It might be a pain up front, but what about some decent wheels for the summer and use the steelies with the snows? Just buy snows now (I have Generals on the wife's ride and love them), have the all-seasons dis-mounted and mount the snows. Then when it comes time to take the snows off, pick up a set of wheels to mount the other tires on. That way your slick new wheels won't get torn up from salt, sand, etc.

I did that on both of my cars. It seemed the easiest way to go.

Speaking of winter tires, I was amazed last March when we went up to Montreal for a hockey game that I think 99% of all the cars I saw up there had winter tires on them. Now I didn't look at every car mind you,but of the ones I saw parked in the city most had winter tires on them. Now either they are required by the Province,or the people up there are just a lot smarter than us here in the US. I say that because I don't know a lot of people that use dedicated winter tires around where I live,and we usually get a fair amount of snow/ice in the winter. Now winter tires are not necessary around here,but they sure do help when the white stuff flies. I wish we didn't have to use so much damn salt around here.

I will look into those Generals as they seem to be highly recommended. I think I will do the winter tires now on the stock steelies,and then get some new alloys in the spring for the all seasons. Thanks for you help guys.

I have had good experiences with Cooper snowtires on Volvo 242, Rx-7, Miata and Nissan Pick up.

Mazdax605 wrote: Speaking of winter tires, I was amazed last March when we went up to Montreal for a hockey game that I think 99% of all the cars I saw up there had winter tires on them. Now I didn't look at every car mind you,but of the ones I saw parked in the city most had winter tires on them. Now either they are required by the Province,or the people up there are just a lot smarter than us here in the US. I say that because I don't know a lot of people that use dedicated winter tires around where I live,and we usually get a fair amount of snow/ice in the winter. Now winter tires are not necessary around here,but they sure do help when the white stuff flies. I wish we didn't have to use so much damn salt around here. I will look into those Generals as they seem to be highly recommended. I think I will do the winter tires now on the stock steelies,and then get some new alloys in the spring for the all seasons. Thanks for you help guys.

The Province of Quebec passed a law requiring ALL vehicles to have winter tires that took effect last year.

That makes sense. I thought that may be the case,and mentioned it to my wife when I noticed it. I also noticed that the Mazda3 was a very popular car up there,as I saw a ton of them on the streets.

Big Hakka fan here, but not at current prices. I've recently used the Hannkook IceBear (pretty good for a performanc snow) and the Continental Extreme Contact on the wife's E30 (replacing a set of Hakka 2's). I'm not a Conti fan in general, but will be buying a set for my daughter and myself this winter... Tire Rack currently has a "cash back" special on them.

I don't have it here, but the most recent issue of Consumer Reports has a test of snow tires. You might want to check it out.

wcelliot wrote: Big Hakka fan here, but not at current prices. I've recently used the Hannkook IceBear (pretty good for a performanc snow) and the Continental Extreme Contact on the wife's E30 (replacing a set of Hakka 2's). I'm not a Conti fan in general, but will be buying a set for my daughter and myself this winter... Tire Rack currently has a "cash back" special on them.

x2 on the Conti Extremes. I used them last year and was impressed by the ability dig out of a drift and be comfortable and civil when it was clear and dry out.