Blizzard Car/Tire Choice: '14 Subaru '08 Civic?

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Tough call. My Sonata will do 8" of fresh snow with the Conti EWC. Probably less now as they are at 6/32" and last season on them. According to latest I saw for here on Long Island is 20-30", 24"+ for CT and Boston area. I would probably opt for the Subie if the tires are decent. The Sequoia had brand new Conti all season one year so I tried it for the winter. WORST tires I ever had in cold/snow. Wife came home, parked Sequoia and took Sonata they were that bad. After Christmas I sprung for new snows. It went places in 2 wheel that it couldn't do in 4wd (same day, same places).

I have 4 snows on both vehicles I prefer the Sonata for most just for driving dynamics etc. That said the Sequoia will be my choice today for ground clearance and plowed areas. Old Corolla (with snows) I was "stuck" driving on the expressway as i couldn't get OFF because of the non plowed ramps and cars stuck. Sequoia took same places and drove around them all 4 Altimax Artics churning away.
 
the oem tires for the 18" wheels for the forester XT are far below average in the winter for all seasons.

Even the geolandar g91 (17" wheel size) are sub-par at best in the winter.

I'd just stay home. Option 2 the civic may get hung up on too deep snow, Option 3 The Subaru you may fly off the road or into something and total it.

AWD is less stable than FWD with poor tires. Because you spin all 4 instead of just the front 2.

AWD is amazing with good snow tires. I selected blizzak ws-80 this year for the 2015 forester I-Premium 6mt.

They are definitely a step up from the blizzak ws-70 I had on my 2011 forester x-prem 5mt.

So in summary personally I'd take the civic or stay home.

The ws-80's are so good on black ice and sheet ice I've had several close encounters with falling getting out of the vehicle because I never noticed it was slippery driving.
 
Having owned both a forester with OEM grolanders and a civic with snow tires ( currently my snow car), I would easily vote for the civic. The only advantage the forester has is the ground clearance.
 
I have a lifted Jeep with studded all terrains. Unless we're going to get 3-4 FEET of snow, I'll usually take the Focus with snow tires.

I have been through a foot of snow or more with the Focus before. It sometimes will struggle if I get high centered, but usually a dig of the shovel and I'm good to go!
 
Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
Doodfood, could you elaborate on your "no contest" comment?

The Forester is more likely to prevent inconvenience, and the Civic with winter tires is more likely to prevent an accident.

Inconvenience prevention vs. accident prevention. No contest -- the latter should always win.


That's what I figured. The Civic handled the first part of the snow today amazingly. When I was by myself on the road I had a little fun and found the limit surprisingly further away than I thought. There was only a few inches, but it did well.

//

My job made my decision for me; 1st shift cancelled tomorrow.
 
Tough call. The civic has better tires for the situation, which we know is more important than AWD. That said, the forester is higher, heavier and larger, all of which play into safety when it comes to if you were to get hit.

So my thought is likely to take the forester, slow down and take twice as long to get to your destination, and be more careful.
 
my co-worker had a similar choice.

CR-V with Michelin Defender (his)

vs

Hyundai Accent with some cheap winter tires (wife)

he chose the Accent with winter tires for today's blizzard as they commute together
 
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There is the possibility of just getting a two sets of tire chains/cables for the Subaru in case of conditions where you absolutely need to get home or get somewhere. I think they're legal anywhere in New England provided the weather conditions warrant it. You'd be reduced to a crawl because going to fast might damage the chains (and subsequently your vehicle) but I understand emergency vehicles often are equipped with chains.

For a Subaru, it might even work to have something like Z-type cables on all four tires. Something like the SCC (Peerless?) Super Z-6 is supposed to fit in even tighter clearances than the typical type S chain clearances noted in most owner's manuals. The manufacturer claims that they can sometimes be used even in rear-wheel wells where the vehicle manufacturer doesn't even recommend chains at all because of clearance.
 
Originally Posted By: Sequoiasoon
Old Corolla (with snows) I was "stuck" driving on the expressway as i couldn't get OFF because of the non plowed ramps and cars stuck.


This is what did in route 128 in Massachusetts during the Blizzard of '78. Cars would get stuck in onramps then the right lane of the highway would queue for said ramp. Once traffic stopped, plows couldn't move and snow started drifting between peoples' bumpers. Very quick transition from bad to worse.
 
Tires = traction
not awd
easy decision.

Except for people who haven't driven a new(er) subaru and seen how awful the oem tires are.
 
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Winter tires! So Civic!
I have FWD VW CC with Bridgestone Blizzak's LM-60.
I outpaced Subaru's with A/S tires in Colorado blizzards.
AWD is helpful, no doubt about it. But winter tire is the key. I put winter tire on wife's Tiguan and in the winter it can go anywhere, literally.
 
Originally Posted By: Rand
Tires = traction
not awd
easy decision.

Except for people who haven't driven a new(er) subaru and seen how awful the oem tires are.


You sound like you haven't driven an older Subaru and seen how awful the Bridgestone Potenza RE92 were. The newer Subarus get upgraded tires compared to the RE92
 
IMO I would take the Subaru. As big of a Honda fanboy as I am Subaru has a reputation for great performance in adverse driving conditions for a reason.
 
Originally Posted By: UG_Passat


You sound like you haven't driven an older Subaru and seen how awful the Bridgestone Potenza RE92 were. The newer Subarus get upgraded tires compared to the RE92


Indeed I have, but its not applicable as the OP's cars were a 2014 forester and a civic.

the 2011 factory tires were terrible as well. In just the wet you could end up with a slide if someone infront of you stopped at a yellow light.

I had a few unnerving incidents where it was about 50F out and the road was wet... but not puddles etc.

Going 35mph and got cut off and ended up sliding.

Replaced those g95's with kumho 4x and the wet traction was better then the oem dry traction. This from a set of economy tires I got for under 100$ each. The MPG did go down about 5%

The g91's are slightly better than the g95. So far I think I will run them for a couple years before upgrading. I had the g91's on snow 1 time.. and that was enough. The ws-80's went on that night.

However if the right double or triple rebate deal comes along from DTD.... The OEM tires will find themselves on craigslist shortly thereafter.

Good tires make a new car that much more enjoyable.
 
I have Michelin X-ice snow tires on my Focus and Michelin M/S 2 all season tires on my F-150. The Focus gets around so much better than the truck. More importantly it stops in about a quarter of the distance e truck needs. It is also more stable when turning. I didn't know how icy my street was until I drove my truck yesterday. I needed 4 wheel just to get away from a stop. The ABS kicked in every I stopped and I never got over 10 mph. The car drives on it like it was dry pavement. The trucks only advantage is ground clearance, but that's an important one. It will have snow tires next year and so will the Grand Cherokee.

That said I would take the Civic unless the snow gets too high. If it does, add a little weight to the Subaru and take that.
 
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Do not forget guys that you also have to stop, and best AS tire cannot come close to worst winter tire in the snow/ice conditions.
I am seriously wondering why people think going forward is biggest problem, but not stopping once you move forward?
 
Originally Posted By: edyvw
Do not forget guys that you also have to stop, and best AS tire cannot come close to worst winter tire in the snow/ice conditions.
I am seriously wondering why people think going forward is biggest problem, but not stopping once you move forward?


Sorry, I have to disagree with this based on my experience with the LTX M/S 2, which stops better than the dedicated snows I have on the Charger. The LTX's are exceptional on ice, don't ask me why, I'm not Michelin, but it has me re-evaluating my winter tire choice on the Charger. I may go with some X-Ice 3's next year. My sister has them on her 330i and they are absolutely incredible on ice.

I am certain that these are the exception rather than the rule, but they blew my mind last winter in that ice storm we had
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Originally Posted By: edyvw
Do not forget guys that you also have to stop, and best AS tire cannot come close to worst winter tire in the snow/ice conditions.
I am seriously wondering why people think going forward is biggest problem, but not stopping once you move forward?


People are afraid of getting stuck going uphill or too slow from a stoplight.

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Sorry, I have to disagree with this based on my experience with the LTX M/S 2, which stops better than the dedicated snows I have on the Charger. The LTX's are exceptional on ice, don't ask me why, I'm not Michelin, but it has me re-evaluating my winter tire choice on the Charger. I may go with some X-Ice 3's next year. My sister has them on her 330i and they are absolutely incredible on ice.

I am certain that these are the exception rather than the rule, but they blew my mind last winter in that ice storm we had
21.gif



I've had experience with Micheline Xice3, and they are a breakthrough. They are extremely high speed rated, long wearing, and an ice tire. You could classify them as an all-season really.
 
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