DON'T WAIT UNTIL SNOW FALLS TO BUY WINTER TIRES; Get 'Em While It's Hot!(Special Report)

Byline: ANDREW LUU Ask most any tire distributor or manufacturer about obtaining winter tires for your car next year and the response is consistent: "Buy them early.'' While this may sound like a self-serving sales pitch, the winter tire business has changed. We learned that firsthand when trying to shod both the long-term Nissan 350Z and Mazda RX-8 test cars in our fleet.

When we tried to buy winter shoes in November for these cars, the store shelves were bare of the required 18-inchers. We then contacted the tire companies directly and were told the same thing: Sorry, ...

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