Snow Tires for the Northeast US

[Kether]

I'm not in a position to garage my '89 325i as I had originally hoped, so I need to get some serious snows for a 2800lb, RWD, open diff car. I absolutely love the Hakkapeliitta tread design, but there isn't a tire in the 195/65R14 size on Nokian's website. What have other people used in the snow reliably on these cars? I'd like to not repeat last year's snow disaster where I fused the differential's spider gears by spinning the wheels up a snowy hill, thus creating a no-diff rear end for my E30 ) Also, driving in the snow is a must since I'm employed as a ski instructor come snowfall.

 

[Ben]

well first off, since the thing's an IS conversion project, put a limited slip diff in. also, if you go to Nokian's site, and do a search for the model of your car, they have 195/60R14's and 105/70R14's. check it out.

 

[MilTownSHO]

Blizzacks work wonders for the 89!

 

[Kether]

The LSD is coming.. along with a 5-spd and related required parts to get the A out of my 325iA. I left out the part where I got a free replacement diff out of a car up the street - a 325. No, not a 325i. So the car is SLOW to boot. I called my new buddy Dave at Motor Works West here in NJ, and he says the Blizzaks are the tire to have, and at ~60 a pop, not too bad on the wallet.

 

[epj3]

If you want all seasons, try some bridgestone potenza RE950's. $75 a piece on tirerack.com

Though, with an open differential, blizzacks are probably you're best bet if you get snow often (blizzacks suck on the dry and wet, but rock in snow - like most snow tires)