Snow tires outside of Cleveland?

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Our son will be moving to area outside of Cleveland. Will he need snow tires for the winter or will good All -seasons be sufficient?
 
My parents live in a suburb- north east suburb near mayfield Heights and they get by without snow tires. You can get by but the snow tires will really help especially when the lake effect snow machine kicks in. If he has no experience driving in snow then i highly recommend it until he gets experience driving in it.
 
I'd recommend snow tires for pretty much anybody moving to the shore of Lake Erie. While they're not "needed", they are a giant help in turning and stopping. Both of the cars in my signature have snow tires. There were about 5-6 days this winter where I would not have gotten to work without them, so they have more than paid for themselves.

If he looks around, he could score a set of snow tires on winter wheels for ultimate convenience for about $400-500. That depends on the car, of course.
 
harthamm,-Driving on snow and ice is an experience that takes time to learn. Any RWD car is undrivable in snow without snow tires. As I am retired, my FWD cars are not equipped with snow tires and they do OK. However, if he is first year driver in snow and ice,and he needs to get to a new job or school classes on time, I would suggest that he go for snow tires. FWIW--Oldtommy-(over 60 years in NE Ohio)
 
I think it somewhat depends on which side of town/suburb he is moving to. Some of the northeast suburbs typically get much more snow due to lake effect, and are also somewhat more hilly. I would definitely recommend snow tires if he is going into that area. As a general rule, there is "an SUV in every garage" out there. South or southwest of the city is a whole different story, especially if you go more than about five miles out.
 
Realistically, less than 1/4 of cars in Cleveland have snow tires. I'm not saying they wouldn't help, just that they aren't as common as BITOG'ers would lead you to believe. He can always start with a decent set of all seasons and decide to upgrade if need be.
 
I agree with bepperb, but since he's moving from Florida, I'd recomend you give him all the help he can get. I've never used them, but there are days I wish I had them.
 
Not required, but they make life a lot easier. It took my wife 3 winter's, but on the 3rd year with the Blizzak's (WS-50's)she got stuck for almost 4 hours in traffic, while it was snowing, and after she got home-she thanked me, telling me about people getting stuck trying to climb a hill, and turn etc.. She said it was so bad a plow truck slid off the road and into the ditch-blocking her west bound lanes. That was the main cause of the delay-she managed to keep the RWD-528i on the road and got home.
 
I grew up on the west side of Cuyahoga County, and at the time, we had RWD cars (okay, one was a Corvair), never used snow tires, and never had problems.
Those used to driving in heavy snow can get by without winter tires.
Those new to frozen delight would certainly be safer on winter tires.
Finally, I put a set of Blizzaks on the older Accord for the winter, and the difference is such that I will consider buying more of them for the other cars for next winter.
For someone moving to the north from Florida, I would absolutely recommend a set of winter tires.
 
My snow tires were a lifesaver here in Cleveland multiple times this winter, its been a pretty bad winter... Multiple ice storms, heavy snow storms, etc... I am native to Cleveland, and have done 7 winters on normal all-seasons, and will never go without snows again.

When everybody else is out getting stuck and slipping around, I am flying around with little problem.

They are worth it! I have the General Altimax Arctic tires and they are excellent... I just took them off today as it was warming up now, but judging by the thread still on them, I would expect no less than four winters with these tires (and I am sure more).

Highly recommend them... Worlds difference over all-seasons.
 
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Get a set of snow tires for Ohio driving especially if you are from the South. The road crews seem to get worse and worse each year about plowing from ODOT down to the local town crews and sometimes make road conditions worse. If money is an issue then buy either Firestone Winterforces or General Altimax Arctics which are nice winter tires for the price. Plan to buy them around Halloween (no later than Thanksgiving because of shortages) from the Tirerack and maybe a local chain (it is actually hard to find winter tires here in SW Ohio).
 
All seasons make snow a holy terror.
Winter tires make it a shade of fun.

All seasons behave unpredictably. They can have more forward traction than sideways, so when you're going up a hill with a crown in the road you're suddenly aiming for the ditch when you give it gas. Or the steering wheel has no effect.

Snow tires break free predictably, and fight to get traction back when you're loose.

You don't have to spend a ton of money; everyone makes store brand snows but they sell out by December and are then hard to come by. I like Cooper Arctic Claws but Wintermaster is another decent cheapie.
 
It may be the case that less than 1/4 of the cars have snow tires. It was also the case a few years back that less than 1/4 of the drivers wore seat belts.

But I always wore mine.

There is simply no comparison between snow tires and all season tires. If you're concerned about his safety (ability to stop particularly, as well as being able to go uphill) then get him 4 snow tires.

Snow tires enable you to stop, turn and maneuver the car far, far better than all seasons. In stopping on ice, for example, snows stop in 60% of the distance of all seasons...which is the difference between stopping safely and a serious collision in some cases...

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=116

There's a reason why snow tires are REQUIRED by law in Canada...
 
One huge advantage of real winter tires is the ability to dodge the fool sliding toward you on bald headed summer tires.

Here the best prices for winter tires are in October. Tell him to shop around and negotiate the best prices he can find. Pay no more than tirerack.com plus shipping plus mounting plus disposal, etc.

From now to October he can look for take-off wheels on eBay and Craigslist. Don't wait until the snow flies and everyone else wants wheels. If his car has optional wheels, he wants the smallest OEM size. My mother-in-law's car has optional 16" wheels and standard 15". The 15 inchers are cheaper to buy used and work just fine with the snow tires. Ditto for the tires...the narrowest listed OEM size.
 
I would recommend them... for next year.

usually first week of december or so.
 
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