Winter Tires

Yes, I agree.

Do you want to submit your wheels and tires to twice-yearly mounting and balancing?

Well, a narrower, taller tire will act like a runner on a sled - cut through to the pavement more easily. Also, a set of steel wheels at 50 bucks each or so, doesn't take long to pay for themselves when you consider that a mount & balance is what, 15 bucks per wheel? 3 or 4 changes (2 years tops) and they've paid for themselves, even without considering possible wear or damage to the tires from the process.

Even if you don't buy tires from Pat, give him a call and he can explain the situation. He will not bullshit you.

Dave Hinz

The Michelin Pilots that came on my '02 9-5 Aero were absolute death in the snow -- sliding through intersections like you say was almost unavoidable. I didn't want to go through the remounting &etc like Dave mentioned, but I didn't want to cough up hundreds of $$ for alloy rims either. (Everybody including the dealer said the Aero cannot use steel rims, though I don't remember why.)

So I tried high-performance all-seasons. Ended up with the Pirelli PZero Nero, which were rated very highly at tirerack.com including for ice/snow. Pretty good tires on dry roads, though they "tramline" badly on rain grooves. (Rain grooves tend to grab them and throw you to one side or the other.) In the snow, though, I was seriously unimpressed. They're barely acceptable for my driving, which only involves light snow maybe 4-6 times a year. There is no way you could call these things "winter tires."

Maybe somebody knows of good all-seasons that actually work on snow. But unless you get a good solid recommendation or very seldom drive in snow, I wouldn't go the all-season route.

Gary

All-season tires suck equally year-round.

Do it right. You won't regret it. Get tall, narrow tires on ugly steel rims, with the minus size. OK, they don't have to be ugly, but it's nice not to worry about your rims for two or three months a year. Get real snow tires like those famous Bridgestones or some Nokians. I have the Nokians, and I seem to have traction equal or better to those driving SUV's. I'm driving a 1995 9000CS.

Every year, I bolt on the snow wheels in December and the 3-season wheels in March. I'm not even a home mechanic, but I can do this myself with the scissor jack and a bicycle pump. Takes me an hour, and I get a bit of exercise. Or you could pay about $20 to have someone do it quickly.

I'm the only one around here (NJ) who does this, but overall, the investment hasn't been that big, and the security is great. Since the snow tires save wear on my 3-season tires, I'm not really paying more per mile, unless I sell the car with tread left on the tires. ;-)

Tom

Because the brakes are larger on an Aero compared to "standard" car.

Removing the wheels every now and then, and cleaning the hubs from rust, is also necessary if you drive in wet/snow climate where roads are salted. If you don't, you may loose your wheels due to broken bolts, as a result of the decreased tensioning of the bolts. Saabs had very little problems with rust on hubs until the 9-3/9-5, where it seems necessary to clean the hubs very carefully at least twice per year if you have alloy rims. If you have a 9000 or older models the rust problem (at least on Saab original hubs) is not very significant but a brief cleaning at least once per year is anyway recommended.

Thus there is no extra work involved in changing between summer and winter tyres. Saab workshops doesn't seem to do anything about the problem. When I had my 9-5 rear hubs/discs changed some time ago, they just attached the wheels, no protection in the form of copper or aluminum paste, and after a couple of months the 9-5 hubs had rusted more than the 9000 hubs do in two years.

Should anyone be interested, I have a set of 4 original saab steel rims for sale, these have have never been on a car . These are 5 lug, 15" type that fit a wide variety of models and years.

I have been doing the winter / summer swap with 2 set of wheels/tires for all my cars for years and find it is the best of all worlds.

reply by email for more info

I highly recommend dedicated winter tires on all four wheels. I have driven Saabs since 1986. While Saabs are good with all season tires, they are great in the snow and ice with dedicate snow tires. Try it once and you will never consider driving in the winter with all seasons again.

sorry for not being more specific,

these fit Saab 900 model from 1994-1998 Saab 9-5 model from 1998-2004

These steel rims are the 5 lug nut type, (the bolt pattern is 5 on 110 mm)

They are 15", Saab part number 4688156. They may fit others that I am not aware of.

Hope this info is helpful.

Also, fit Saab 9-3 model from 1998-2003

That quite a few recent models and years Wouldn't you say?

Yup. Saab is pretty good about not changing things "just because", and wheels have been one of those things. If these were the earlier 5-bolt wheels, I have a car I would have liked to have an NOS set for. Ah well.

could you fill me in on what years/models uses this other 5 lug pattern and what the pattern is?

I did. 1949 to 1980, Saab models 92, 93, (94 but there were only 5 of them), 95, 96, 97 (98 but there was either one or two of them). Large circle on the hub, maybe 4 or 5 inch opening. Think "old beetle-type wheel" if that helps.

The opening is 13 cm (5") on the steel wheels (too big to fit on modern balancing machines...) about 2" on the alloy soccerballs (same as on some 99 wheels):

-- MH '72 97 '77 96 '78 95 '79 96 '87 900T8

I have a local guy who can do it - he has an attachment that has 5 studs on a spur-gear type arrangement, which keeps them at the same distance from the centerline. Lugnuts on the studs of that mount, and it works great. He charges more, but...

Dave Hinz

Green Diamond Tires... either the Inari or Icelanders

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