Topic: Winter tires and rims for X-Trail questions

[tanyamarise]

Hi,

I live just outside Ottawa and my return drive is 120 Km which is almost entirely highway.

Since I decided to put winter tires on the vehicle, I've heard differing opinions on whether I need to get winter rims or just leave the alloy rims on. Any opinions on this?

As for winter tires, my Nissan dealership has a winter tire and rim package for $999+tax. This includes Toyo G02 Observe tires. The rims that come with the package are Altima rims (104 each) rather than the X-Trail rims (171 each). They also offer a package that includes the Altima rims and Hankook W404 tires for $850+tax.

Does anyone have any thoughts on:
- Toyo vs. Hankook listed above?
- Altima rims vs. X-Trail rims?

[random006]

Separate rims are the way to go.  Using separates allow you to flip all-season to winter and back again without having to risk damage to the tire or rim with repeated changings.  It's also faster and most likely less expensive.

I don't know about those Nissan rims, although it sounds like a pricey option to me.  Have you considered a tire specialist garage with 3rd party steel rims?  They might be cheaper.

As far as the tires go, I considered the Toyo but decided having a higher speed rated tire would give me better value.  I went with the Yokohama Geolandar I/T+ for my Sorento.  No snow yet, so I can't write up a review! 

Morty from Tire Trends can fill you in on the Hankook tires.