Winter Tires
 

Hey all, first post on here. We have a 2008 Entourage SE with the optional 17" wheels. The stock Turanza EL400's were a disaster last winter so I've been looking for some snow tires. I'm having issues finding any in the 235/60R17 size aside from the Blizzak WS70 or super pricey Pirellis. Does anyone have any personal preference/experience with using snows on their van? Any advice would be appreciated!

I have a 2006 Kia Sedona EX which is a twin to the Entourage. It also has the 17" wheels/tires. I don't have specific winter tires for it but I recently purchased a set of BFGoodrich Long Trail T/A Tour all-season tires for it. While not as good as dedicated snow tires, they were awesome last winter. They preformed in the snow better than any other all-season tires I've used.

As far as specific winter/snow tires, I have a set of Firestone Winterforce for my Tucson and they were amazing in the snow last season. Firestone doesn't make them in the size you're looking for but I would suggest going down one wheel size to 16" and buying separate wheels. Narrower tires are better in the snow anyway. This way you have tires mounted on wheels and only have to swap wheels instead of having the original tires dismounted, the winter tires mounted and then rebalanced (and then repeating the process in the spring). I'd suggest either a 215/70-16 or a 225/70-16 set. Firestone makes the Winterforce in those sizes for about $74 each. Then all you would have to do is find a set of 16" OEM Hyundai steel wheels from an Entourage or Sedona base model. Ebay is great for that. See this thread about my Tucson's winter tires.


The only down side is not having TPMS sensors in the winter tires and having to look at the TPMS light on all winter. However, this is the cheaper route. That's because TPMS sensors aren't cheap and you would have to go to a Hyundai dealer and have the sensors programmed to the van every winter and then have the other tires re-programmed back in the spring. This is because the car and only be programmed with 4 sensors at a time. And the dealer is the ONLY place that can do it (at a cost to you).

The cheapest 17" winter tires I could find are the Blizzak WS70 for about $115 each.

Thanks for the quick reply! Going with steels for my winter tires is probably the best idea; the salt they put down in this area destroys clearcoated wheels anyhow. I'll hit ebay tonight and see what's available.

The salt is another reason I went that route. Those 16" steel wheels may be hard to come by because of the 6 lugs instead of 5 (it's a 6x5.5" bolt pattern). Don't forget to search for the Kia Sedona as well since that are the same vehicle. Also, I believe some Chevy, GMC, Caddy trucks and suvs and many Toyota and Nissan trucks and SUV's use that bolt pattern as well so that should help the search. Lastly, don't just search for steel wheels, buying a set of aluminum wheels will also work. Sure the salt will affect them as well but at least the 17" wheels for the summer tires are still protected. That's what I did. I'm using the original 16" Tucson aluminum wheels for snow tires and I bought a set of 18" Hyundai Veracruz wheels for the all-season tires:

18" Veracruz wheels with all-season tires:
http://www.novaresource.org/Tucson/IM002394b.jpg

Original 16" Tucson wheels with snow tires:
http://www.novaresource.org/Tucson/IM002399b.jpg