I live in a Calgary suburb and have just bought a 2008 Grand Caravan. I have been trying to source some winter tires but am not having much joy as the tire size is unusual and winter tires are hard to come by. I am getting the same story from numerous tire dealers.

The Yokohama 225/65 R16 tire already fitted is rated as all season. When I spoke to the dodge dealership they told me not to bother as the current allseason tires are of a good spec and should be good enough.

It would be great to get the opinion of you more experienced guys who may have some advice on this. Should I stick with the all season Yokohamas or continue to try and source a winter tire.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

My wife's '92 Caravan is one of the best vehiclesI have ever driven when it comes to traction in snow.I have driven in hurricane (Ivan) induced rainstorms at over 80 mph for over a hundred miles to take one of my dogs to an emergency vet with tires worn to about 50% tread with no problems.We passed everything else on the interstate.(the dogrecovered completelyBTW)
Now with that being said,tire tread design has a lot to do with traction as well as proper inflation but the large amount of weight over the drive wheels will go a long way to get you through problems.
My car is an 04 Mustang GT and is the scariest thing I have ever driven in snow,even with brand new tires.The tiresare summer tires but a light car with lots (?) of power is the root ofall evil in this case.

If your tires have an M&S (mud and snow) rating you should be fine.Just make sure they are inflated to the proper pressure plus about 10%.Low tire pressure can cause a loss of traction due to sidewall flexing.This can cause the grooves and sipe (the little tiny cuts in the tread) to actually close up and not get a bite on the snow or be able to channel out water trapped under the tire (hydroplaning).

 

All season tires are pretty darn good, but you will be shocked at how much better a dedicated snow tire can be. What you need to find is atire with the same circumference or rolling radius as what is on there. Most tire dealers can find that on their computer instantly and should have something in stock. You will probably want a set of dedicated wheels for them as well. FWD cars are good in snow, but vans are not as good since the weight distribution is not biased to thefront or driving wheels.

 

That is an odd size. I just picked up an SE and just notice it. Hopefully there will be mroe choices next season.

For now, X-Ice has 235/65/16. According to http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html, it's about 1% faster with this set. I did the same on my Altima as well when they don't have to size. These tires should clear as they are not much wider than OEM.

What get me more is the TPMS sensors need to be installed on the winter rim. That's at least another $200-$300 just to buy extra sensors for winter rims.