snow tires

By no mean I am the expert, but I am also hunting for winter tire for winter driving in Minne-so-tah. I have consulted with a friend that know quite a bit about cars in general. He recommended me a set of winter tires last year (2010) for my 2007 CRV - EX AWD and I will tell you that winter tire is one of the two best investment for a car if you live in a place where you get average 4-5" of snow. The other best investment that I made is to install remote starter and it helps a lot especially when you have kids and often park your car outdoor. When you get in to the car, it is warm and the snow in the windshield falls off easily. Makes it easier to clean after it gets dumped by 2-3" of snow. Anyway, let's go back to my finding on winter tire for my 2011 Sienna LE V6 - FWD. The original tire configuration is 235/60/17. I was recommended by a friend (and I double check with DiscountTire shop), that I can go with 225/70/16. With this configuration, the tire is a bit skinnier (225) and taller (70) with 16" wheels. It will help you to easily plow through snow and lift up the car few inches (not much) from the ground. Another configuration if you don't want to get an extra wheels, is to go with 225/65/17. With this you still get a skinnier and taller tire but you would not need to get a new set of wheels. For tires, there are two options that I like. One is the Hankook iPike Winter RW11. I have these winter tires installed on my 2007 CRV EX AWD. I had it last year and I am very happy with it. The cornering is good, it grabs the ground pretty good. It reduces oversteering when you make a turn in 30-40 mi/hour. Also, the traction and breaking are a lot better. The second tire that I was recommended is a General Altimax Arctic. This tire is cheaper than the Hankook but has a good review. You can go to tirerack, select this tire and watch the test video that they had between this tire and another two tires (michellin and Pirrelli if I remember it correctly). From pricing prespective, here is what I have been quote for from Discount tire: 4 sets of Hankook iPike RW11 tires with my original 17" wheels = $750.00 out the door 4 sets of General Altimax Arctic tires with 4 sets of 16" new wheels (MB Octane wheels) = $850.00 out the door Pricing may vary depending which state you live in. Hope it helps. WW

Do you have a pep-boys,or a discount tire store up there? Next option.......Google.....Tire Rack . Com

I use to live in VT. WHen I lived in that climate I always used a studded winter tire. The difference between "allseason" tires and studded winter tires is night and day. With studded winter tires you will feel like you are driving on pavement when u are driving on snow and ice. Blizzak tires is what ive always used.