LE / SE tire options (17" rim)

The OP said in their first post that they don't get much snow and ice, but they do get some. They specifically asked about all-weather tires, which means they considered dedicated winter tires and decided they didn't need them(which is probably the correct call for their conditions). An all-weather tire would give them the snow/ice performance they need without having to swap between two sets of tires/wheels.


(just in case you didn't know, all-weather tires are not the same as all-season tires - unless we're comparing North American all-weather to European all-season - those are the same)

 

Maybe it's a wash, when you consider Toyota recommends a 6 monthly tire rotation? If you DIY changes and have the storage space, rotating one set of tires is not much different than doing the rotations in conjunction with changing between all-season and snows. There's also the advantage, that you can wash/wax the wheels coming off, at your leisure.

 

If you are physically able, rotating your own wheels has the advantage that you will know each wheel was correctly torqued with a torque wrench. Any opportunity to keep your brake discs away from an impact wrench seem like a way to keep them from being bent.

 

But you also have to factor in how much you drive per year. Say you only drive 15k km a year. And let's say your summer/winter split is 9k/6k. Seven full years of life(via date code on the tire) is really the max you want to use a tire. More realistically, you should start looking for a replacement during the sixth year of life and do the actual replacement late in the sixth year or early in the seventh.

So that means roughly 55k km on the summer tires and 35k km on the winter tires. Most good all-season tires are rated for 90k or more(some much more), and good winter tires should give you 65k. So you'd be leaving 40% or more of your tread unused when you do the replacement. That's a big waste of money.

On the flip side, if you can get by the whole year with an all-weather, then all of that 15k km a year goes on a single set of tires. A good all-weather tire should get 100k km or more. So at 15k per year, that would mean you would start running low on tread just as you were approaching the 6-7 year mark.


My rule is 20k km or less yearly driving, all-weather no question*. 40k or more, dedicated winter tires no question. Anything in between is a judgement call depending on where you are in that spectrum, what tires are available in your size, and exactly what types of winters you get. I'm right at 20k, but I'm doing winter tires solely because there's no (quality)all-weather in my size and my winters can get rough. I'm a prime candidate for all-weathers as soon as the CC3 gets to North America in 205/50-19(confirmed it's coming) or 195/50-19(still waiting).


*unless you have crazy winters, like you live in the mountains or something

 

Oh cripes, we're doing about 3k kms yearly, and have all-season and snow tire sets. It used to be more, lol. Anyway, here we are, lol.

I do agree with your logic. Doubly so considering snow is only sporadic here, and we're rarely if ever obligated to drive.

That's assuming you're infallible. I have snugged them, lowered the car, and forgotten to do final tightening with torque wrench. It was son's car, I realized an hour or two later, immediately called him, he got out the car's lug wrench and gave them all a good torque, sans torque wrench. No wheels fell off...

My trick now, as soon as I've snugged the nuts (in the air), is to put the socket on the torque wrench, and lay it on the ground, in a prominent location, where I can't miss it.

 

Heck, one time this spring I forgot to fully tighten any of the front tire nuts. Some weren't even hand tight, they were just spun on a few times. I had just installed those front side radar sensors and was focused on testing them. Thankfully I only drove around the block and realized my mistake on the way back. But it was a bit of an "oh, crap" moment when I remembered.

 

When I’m doing wheel swaps I try to keep the underside of tires to an inch clear at most, easier lifting the wheels. Then when preliminarily tightening lug nuts I jam a wheel chock under the side it’s going to rotate, try to push it on with my foot, and bounce the long handled wrench on the lug nuts as best I can. The wheel starts slipping on the chock, I’m done.

I’d guess I get 20~30 ft/lb at most. Seems like enough to take just the dead-load of wheels on the ground. And then 76 ft/lb once the car is down, in a crisscross. That’s third gen, and likely 4th gen as well. For 5th gen I’d check owners manual, might have changed, it’s a somewhat beefier wheel.

a little trivia: Tesla model 3 lug nuts are 129 ft/lb. Removing them I find my corded electric impact is near its limit, has to hammer at them a second or more before they break loose.