Tires: Winter Tires, 2007 infiniti g35, infiniti g35

Question
I live in Chicago and considering buying a 2007 Infiniti G35 Sport Manual Six Speed. It has the Sport Tires that are worthless for winter driving.  The Infiniti Dealer selling the car told me I can switch to All Season or Winter Tires for the snow and another said it is NOT possible on the Manual Transmission. Can this be done?  I need to weather the winters here and love the car!  Thanks.

Answer
Colleen,

There is no reason that winter tires - or all season tires - can not be applied to ANY vehicle, provided there are tires of the appropriate tire size.

There will be situations where a particular type of tire might not be available in the particular size that is required.  For example, you probably can not find a tire capable of both on highway and off highway usage - commonly referred to as as on/off road tires - in a 40 series.

I should also point out that there are some cars that do not do very well in snowy conditions no matter what type of tire you put on.  I had a 5 liter Mustang that just was a handful when ever it snowed.  It had a lot of weight in the front and very little on the rear and it had a powerful engine that just did not lend itself to the gentle application of power that is needed to get moving from a dead stop.

So there must be some reason the dealer is saying what he is saying - and it probably is one of the above.