I took delivery of my 2014 Range Rover HSE about a week before Christmas. I've put about 650 miles on it so far and have had the opportunity to drive in snow a few times (I live in the Boston, MA area). The stock Pirelli Scorpion Verde tires seem to be fine when there's no snow on the ground, but don't seem to be good at all in the snow. I'm pretty sure the issue is the tires, not the vehicle, as reviews I've seen tend to praise the tires until snow enters the picture and then most of the comments are not exactly favorable. I suppose it could just be a matter of getting used to the Range Rover, but this certainly isn't my first SUV - I've had a 1995 Mitsubishi Montero, 1995 Disco (which was great in the snow with BFG AT KO's), a 2005 Nissan Pathfinder, 2006 Lexus LX-470, and 2008 Toyota Highlander, all of which did just fine in the snow.
My stock wheels are the 19" Style 1.
My options are:
1) Get another set of wheels and mount snow tires. There are some take-off wheels with or without tires on eBay, which would be a lot less expensive than buying another set of wheels from the dealer. I could then get a set of snow tires mounted and swap the original wheels/tires and the 2nd set when the seasons change. Are Nokian Hakkapeliitta's still considered the best snow tires on the market? Other recommendations for snow tires? If I go this route, am I better off going with a second set of 19" wheels or would I have more options with a set of 20" wheels?
2) Replace the current tires with all season tires that do better in the snow than the Scorpion Verde's. Any recommendations for better tires that would fit my 19" wheels?
If 20" wheels would open up better options for option 2, that would be an option and I could then sell my original 19" wheels and tires. I suspect that option 1 is probably the better way to go, as the Scorpion Verde's would probably be fine for non-winter use and I could then go with tires that are really good in the snow rather than ending up with tires that are a compromise either in snow or for the rest of the year.
My stock wheels are the 19" Style 1.
My options are:
1) Get another set of wheels and mount snow tires. There are some take-off wheels with or without tires on eBay, which would be a lot less expensive than buying another set of wheels from the dealer. I could then get a set of snow tires mounted and swap the original wheels/tires and the 2nd set when the seasons change. Are Nokian Hakkapeliitta's still considered the best snow tires on the market? Other recommendations for snow tires? If I go this route, am I better off going with a second set of 19" wheels or would I have more options with a set of 20" wheels?
2) Replace the current tires with all season tires that do better in the snow than the Scorpion Verde's. Any recommendations for better tires that would fit my 19" wheels?
If 20" wheels would open up better options for option 2, that would be an option and I could then sell my original 19" wheels and tires. I suspect that option 1 is probably the better way to go, as the Scorpion Verde's would probably be fine for non-winter use and I could then go with tires that are really good in the snow rather than ending up with tires that are a compromise either in snow or for the rest of the year.
), so I think I'm going to live with the tires it came with through this winter and look into picking up a set of 20" wheels on eBay (or elsewhere) over the summer and plan on putting either dedicated snow tires or all season tires that are more biased towards snow late in the fall. I really wish the manufacturers would either stop going with ever larger wheels, go with tire sizes that are more common, or work with the tire companies to come out with more tire options in the sizes they've decided on. It's ridiculous for Land Rover to sell vehicles with tires that suck in the winter in a market that gets snow. And it's not like I took delivery in the summer ether - I took delivery on December 16th.