Here is the big question. I live in Southern Illinois, Carbondale. We rarely see snow down here, and at the worst a little ice. Here is where the question comes. I will be doing some consulting this winter and driving back and forth, about 360 miles each way, once a week. My 740 has the ten spoke fifteen inch wheels. Pretty wide and hadles like crap in the snow. What kind of snow tires can I get that will handle the three hundred miles of pretty dry pavement and then drive around all snow in Rockford and Chicago. Should I just get some 14 inch wheels and all season tires? This will be going on for the better part of four months starting in December. And I have to drive on Interstate 39 which always has lots of snow and drifts. What do you guys think.

We have family up in the area, but just drive the 240 when we see them, but I would prefer not to put 800 miles a week on that car, but man it handles great in the snow.

Thanks in advance for you ideas

Peter

Grab a set of Nokian Hakka Q's and you won't be unhappy ( and you wont have to worry about snow or ice )

This is what is on my wifes commuter wagon now and she regularly cruises on the 'fun side' of 70.

they hold up well on dry pavement , we're in Arkansas , doesn't snow often usually just ice storms( great on ice )that sneak up. and it's worth it to have the snows so she doesn't have to crawl around in her buisness duds trying to put chains on.

They handle OK on highway the place that snows get squirly is on tight curves ( slow down a bit on offramps etc , the'll cut loose at lower speeds than summer tires )

Buy yourself some Gislaved Nordfrost III Snow tires. They handle great on dry roads and handle 80mph no problem. They handle like a dream in snow and are really good in icy conditions. (Lots of natural rubber compounds)

Get studded if you encounter Ice conditions frequently. I do alot of interstate highway driving and I was able to get 3 good seasons out of the tread. I could probably push for a 4th but I have a brand new pair for the fronts. I just bought a set of 4 studded for the wifes wagon. It should handle real sweet. European tires generally are better speed rated tires due to the nature of their unlimited speed restrictions on the major highways.

Best regards,

Jack W.

PS. Don't worry about piling up the mileage on the 240.

Those cars love to be driven massive amounts of mileage.

How many miles on yours?

Mine has 225,000.

We live in central Iowa with similar weather. Much of my driving is on bare roads in the cold, with some snow and ice thrown in as well. I bought Yokohama Guardex 600 from Tire Rack and have been very pleased with both their winter performance as well as longevity. They are, like many winter tires, a little squirrelly on dry roads, but other than that they're fine. They don't have the ice performance of Blizzaks, but they last at least three times as long.

Steve:

When you say they are a little squirrelly on dry road, how squirrelly are we talking? This drive is one that I like to do, umm, a little over the speed limit. Nothing unsafe, but traffic normmaly flows around 75 mph when stuff is dry. When it gets wet things slow up a lot. How long do they seem to last. I am really not as concened with the ice performance as I am with getting moving in the snow. I prefer to have the mind set that I can't drive well on ice which causes one to be much more careful in conditions that favor iceing.

Thanks for your imput.