[slicky]

I know it doesn't necessarily answer the question, as OP noted that he is ok with keeping the all-seasons for the duration of their life, but...regarding long distance trips in general. If a trip is several hundred miles one way, I would absolutely not drive my own car, but rather rent. Especially if most of the trip is the driving with little time spent at the destination. Cost to rent is small. It saves wear and tear on your own vehicle. There is a risk of accidents, animal strikes, mechanical breakdown, tire punctures, etc that would be disastrous (financially and timewise) hundreds of miles away from home. With a rental, you get another vehicle and keep going. My approach is to rent a car I like (or can tolerate) and let the rental agency carry all that risk.

 

[tinman]

I know it doesn't necessarily answer the question, as OP noted that he is ok with keeping the all-seasons for the duration of their life, but...regarding long distance trips in general. If a trip is several hundred miles one way, I would absolutely not drive my own car, but rather rent. Especially if most of the trip is the driving with little time spent at the destination. Cost to rent is small. It saves wear and tear on your own vehicle. There is a risk of accidents, animal strikes, mechanical breakdown, tire punctures, etc that would be disastrous (financially and timewise) hundreds of miles away from home. With a rental, you get another vehicle and keep going. My approach is to rent a car I like (or can tolerate) and let the rental agency carry all that risk.

Really not a terrible idea and bears some merit. Easily worth a look

 

[jguerdat]

Rochester, NY here (glad I'm not in Buffalo which is an hour west - we got .5" of snow while just south of Buffalo they got 5.5 FEET!). Assuming you're staying on major roads for the trip, AS tires are generally fine. I've only had to resort to true snow tires once in my life several years ago. Intelligent driving according to conditions works wonders. New tires with max tread depth would likely be fine as long as you're not driving in snowmagedon.

ANd a set of tires is a lot cheaper than renting. I'd drive it in a heartbeat!

 

[tinman]

I really love driving my car. And at 27 mpg with performance on tap, what's not to like about that?

 

[LNF]

I really love driving my car. And at 27 mpg with performance on tap, what's not to like about that?

That's always my argument with driving. I love driving my cars and taking a road trip with my car is special and enjoyable. Driving a rental or someone else's car just makes it a mundane trip.

 

[tinman]

So, my original post was really inquiring about good A/S tires to buy. There are the Michelins and the Contis. Should I stop right there and weigh the differences between them?

 

[slicky]

Yes. You dont need to look further. I've used both and both are excellent and the best all season tires in existence. Michelin on the v and contis on the familne on one vehicle for the winter and the contis on wife's family hauler year round. Both do great to get my family through Chicago winters.

 

[jguerdat]

I haven't been happy with the Michelin AS3+ set I have - noisy! My next set will be the DWS.

 

[wanderer54]

jguerdat has ir absolutely right. The Michelin AS3+ are obnoxiously noisy tires. As I said previously, I got rid of them for the Continental DWS and do not regret the purchase. I doubt you will either.

 

[tinman]

I had an older set of AS3. I loved them. Actually I had 3 sets.

 

[tinman]

Definitely the Michelins are out. Too bad, but maybe the suspension on the regular CTS wagon I had was 'better tuned' for those tires.

 

[grtwhtv]

My AS3+'s seem fine. I'm running 265/285 sizing, maybe this helps with noise.

 

[tinman]

My AS3+'s seem fine. I'm running 265/285 sizing, maybe this helps with noise.

How many miles on your set?

 

[grtwhtv]

Not sure exactly, maybe 5K. I only run them Jan-March (winter) in Texas. I do have them on now though and I'm happy with the tires.

 

[tinman]

Often tires in the last half/later stages of life quite often can be noisy. This does not seem to be your case.

 

[AAIIIC]

Winter tires are designed to be driven when the ambient temperature is below 45degF. If you put the tires on in Florida, depending upon where you start, you could be driving up to a 1000 miles at presumably 70mph, before you reach consistent low temperatures. That will have the same effect as driving rain tires on dry pavement.
Explain to whomever you buy tires from your plans.

This is a bit of a moot point, since tinman clarified he's looking for all-seasons, but I wouldn't worry at all about driving winter tires in warmer conditions. I bought my CTS-V in August with winter tires on it, and drove on them for a month or so before finding a set of new wheels and summer tires to throw on the car. Southern New England, so temps in the 80s and 90s. I bought the car at a dealership out of state, so that month started with hundreds of highway miles in the hottest part of summer. The winter tires were no worse for wear - I ran them for 2 winters after that.

 

[bleu18v]

You could probably rent a car local for a week to drive up to Detroit for a week for less than a set of tires

EXACTLY my thoughts on this. Although maybe he really wants to do a road trip in the V, can't blame him 4 that!

 

[tinman]

Things are not taking shape for my trip. If I were to take the trip I would probably buy Continental A/S and drive my V.

 

[wanderer54]

Exactamundo Tinman,,,,Continentals DWS all the way. ,Best decision.

 

[JawFixr]

I'd also say RENT if you're doing just this one trip... Alamo just gave me a fully loaded XT6 w/ 9 miles on the odo....... But, if you want to invest... This LINKis $20 more a tire than I paid, but this is what I'm currently running on dedicated 8.5" wheels. I used to run Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3's...they were awesome in the snow, but not so great in the Chicago "everything else". These Hankooks are very quiet, very cheap and can keep up with a heavy braking scrub on semi salty roads. Not available in a size that will fit OEM wheels, however.
FWIW: In winter time for reviews, GM would give this car out on OEM wheels with Blizzaks 255/35 square.
Have fun in the Motor City. Here's a pic of my first Cadillac in front of GM HQ