Snow tires in NC (flat area) ... Overkill or not?

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So I have been planning to get snow tires for my to-be winter/snow beater, the 97 Tbird, and was just thinking it over today....

Most people from other states might laugh at using snow tires in NC, where we don't get MUCH snow usually...although last yr my Tbird could NOT get out of the driveway and into the smallish unpaved road.

Sometimes I wonder if i should just put on a good set of all-seasons ( I am in NC, not a mountain area, where we do get some snow, and I have a badly/not paved small road to pass before getting to paved Hwys) and try it out...and save some $$ by being able to use it all year long. The current tires on the Bird are not really worn enough to be replaced in NORMAL use, but they're pretty mediocre in wet weather, and i know they're NOT going to do well in snow..

The only reason I am considering snow tires this winter is, now I have to work and the commute is 1 hr. And they will expect me to come in.
Last yr and before, I only had to get to school, which was only a 5 min drive max . I could have even walked...so I never felt the need for snow tires or that I had to drive...

Now it's different. I need to be pretty much 100% sure that I can get to work...and I need to be safe. and financially, I don't have a big problem getting a decent set of snow tires, so that's not an objection..but I don't want to "waste" money either...wife says, "if it makes you confident and feel safe, then it's not a waste, and you're going to work, not to party..."

And of course the Tbird, my to-be snow beater, is RWD...

WWYD?
 
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I'm a firm believer in winter tires, made a huge difference in driving and stopping my ranger when i had it. which was rear wheel drive as well. If you don't get a lot of snow you don't have to go top of the line tires. If you don't mind buying used tires sometimes on craigs list etc, you can find really good deals on tires. Myself i bought a nearly new set of michelin x ice tires for $100.
 
ultimately, if you care for yours as well as others safety, install snow tires.

I don't really care if someone from gawd-knows-where proclaiming that they've been driving with summa or all-seasons even into their deepest winter on prairier, and lived to see another season. Truth is, bet is on you when you cannot keep your car safely on the road when emergency situations happen (granted that you are on non-snow tires) and you may not be able to steer away from it.

Just like here: many folks insisted that they have been able to get away with all-seasons (yeah right!), unfortunately, when the 1st snow storms/snow dumps with black ice comes around, they are usually the ones who either get stuck or caused accidents to others.

Q.

p.s. my wifey's car already on snows and ditto with my dad's 7th gen civic. Mine currently garaged for winter.
 
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One of my friend who came from Utah said they used to sandbag the trunk in the winter for additional traction, maybe you can consider that as well?
 
Originally Posted By: PandaBear
One of my friend who came from Utah said they used to sandbag the trunk in the winter for additional traction, maybe you can consider that as well?


You beat me to it. Better all seasons and more weight in the trunk. I also used to live in UT and never owned a set of snows but then I also owned 4x4's. I would buy them now for none 4x4 vehicles but not living in NC. We don't get enough snow typically to warrant the purchase and in wet/dry they will ride and wear badly. I live by the coast and we just got a dusting.

My years of snow experience make me a bit biased.
 
We get more ice some years here, i would consider studs , if you can find a dealer that does it. otherwise you will have to order them.
 
Thanks for all the comments - I am leaning towards getting snows right now - I do not have a lot of experience in snow driving, to be honest. and I think better safe than be sorry. I can always sell the used snow tires someday if i feel they're overkill. I am aware that they will ride worse/noisy, but when I think of it, one bad patch of ice or that moment where added traction can help me get out of the driveway and onto paved roads when duty calls, I can live with the side effects...

About studs: I can order the General Altimax Arctics studded $15 extra/tire), but I am not sure if NC allows studded tires...
Where can I find that out?


And how many sand bags should I add to the trunk? as many as would fit ?
smile.gif
 
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Is the t-bird your "beater", or your "winter/snow beater" as you phrased it in your first post. If it's a winter/snow beater there's no reason not to put winter tires on it, is there?

An alternative would be a something like the Nokian WRG2 tires. They're rated for winter (earning the snowflake symbol) but are marketed in some areas as all seasons. They are often used in the "performance snow tire" segment where drivers don't want to give up too much wet/dry performance but need winter tires. I know a couple of people using them as all seasons here in Canada and they say they're great in the snow compared to all of their previous all seasons with seemingly no downside through the summer. One of the guys even says after seeing the difference he can't imagine how well "full snows" would work in the winter.

The catch is that I'm guessing (totally guessing) that you might deal with more ice than snow. Freezing rain, flash freezes, and wet snow packed and polished? A "performance" winter tire gives up the most on glare ice because the sipe count/density is dramatically reduced compared to "full winter" tires because they're trying to preserve handling.
 
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Originally Posted By: 97tbird
wife says, "if it makes you confident and feel safe, then it's not a waste, and you're going to work, not to party..."


I want your wife.
grin2.gif
 
I've seen folks with 2 50 lb sandbags in the back of their pickups with studded snow tires around here.

I'd get some inexpensive snow tires and call it good. Firestone Winterforce tires are a popular cheap snow tire around me. Having a set of the General Altimax Arctics on the Buick, they are a tradeoff. Worse fuel economy, but darn do they grip in the wet and snow.

I don't have any experience with studs, so no comment there.
 
Studded snows are like permanent chains they chew up road ways in the dry and wet. If snows are overkill I don't know what to call studded snows.
 
My son lived in Raleigh for 5 years so I learned a little about winter time driving conditions in North Carolina. Snow in the Raleigh area tended to arrive in depths of 1-inch or less at around 30 degrees F. Every car that drove over it momentarily melted the snow, then the water would quickly re-freeze to the cold pavement.

Winter tires in that scenario should be more of an ice traction tire rather than the traditional snow tire. I agree that winter tires are a good idea in the Triangle area (not sure where you are at) but tires with walnut grit or carbide grit or fine siping for ice traction will be better than an aggresive blocky snow traction tread.
 
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Originally Posted By: 97tbird
wife says, "if it makes you confident and feel safe, then it's not a waste, and you're going to work, not to party..."

I like your wife.

Also, get yourself a ticket to a winter driving school as an x-mas gift. That should boost your confidence by teaching you what to do when things get squirrly so that you're not surprised by it when they happen in real life. Just make sure they have a RWD car to practice on.
 
Get cheap and get skinny. Your T bird should have a universal enough lug pattern you can get cheesy steel wheels from the junkyard, and tires from tire rack. +1 on the weight, if you can get the trunk to weigh as much as the front end you'll be golden.

You can get firestone winterforces in 205/70/15 for $61 a tire. Load rating 96s. Not sure what the Tbird weighs or what it has for stock tires...

I would not expect to find used snows in NC though it wouldn't hurt to look. You should take care though that they weren't driven in summer, baking the rubber into uselessly hard frictionless junk.
 
NC legal verbage:
Quote:
•§ 20-122. Restrictions as to tire equipment
(b) No tire on a vehicle moved on a highway shall have on its periphery any block, stud, flange, cleat or spike or any other protuberance of any material other than rubber which projects beyond the tread of the traction surface of the tire, except that it shall be permissible to use farm machinery with tires having protuberances which will not injure the highway and except, also, that it shall be permissible to use tire chains of reasonable proportions upon any vehicle when required for safety because of snow, ice or other conditions tending to cause a vehicle to slide or skid. It shall be permissible to use upon any vehicle for increased safety, regular and snow tires with studs which project beyond the tread of the traction surface of the tire not more than one sixteenth of an inch when compressed.



Article 3, 20-122 of NC statutes

http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/Statutes/StatutesTOC.pl?Chapter=0020
 
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In North Carolina, I would get a decent set of all-seasons and when it does snow, drive slower. Goodyear TripleTreads would probably work out OK, and let the other guys blow by you when it snows. Nothing more impressive than passing that guy going too fast for the conditions who is now in the ditch. Sure, you feel bad for the guy, but he's old enough to know better, right?
 
If you have no real winter experience, and you cannot miss a day of work when your local weather is intimidating to you, invest in a set of winter tires.
In the area in which I live, we have some quite heavy snows, with one each winter of 10-12" (had a moderate one overnight, about 4"), not as much as I used to see when I lived in the norhtern part of the state.
However, you can count on a couple of ice storms (freezing rain) each winter in this part of Ohio, which you don't see in the north.
Now, having grown up with winter weather, I feel comfortable on any tire. Any present day all-season is better than anything we drove on back in the day.
Had I never experienced real winter, I think I'd consider a set of winter tires a really wise investment.
After all, if you are a new hire, and you are expected to be at work come what may, you won't be getting there if you wind up in a ditch.
 
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