Winter Tires

98AV6 · Nov 24, 2004

Tis the season. Everybody has questions.
Here's some good sites with answers. Enjoy.
All right where's the snow? I'm all ready with UG GW3s!
Real World Snow Tire Tests

You need Google translator for the German site.

German Automobile Association winter tire test 2004

drive it forever · Nov 24, 2004

Good Snow tires make a world of difference in snow. When i lived in northeast ohio, I had 4 michelin artic alpine's on my honda civic for winter time. My car was as good in the snow to my brothers chevy s10 4wd. All-season tires dont cut it in heavy snow, and you need at least 6/10 of tread for them to be effective at all. It amazes me that so many people who live in the snow belt dont relize how much better your vehicle can be with good snow tires compared to all-season tires. The big trade off with snow tires is that they are super soft and wear out quickly, are noisy, and give the vehicle weird handeling because they have a mushy tread and soft sidewalls.

Patman · Nov 24, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by drive it forever:
Good Snow tires make a world of difference in snow. When i lived in northeast ohio, I had 4 michelin artic alpine's on my honda civic for winter time. My car was as good in the snow to my brothers chevy s10 4wd. All-season tires dont cut it in heavy snow, and you need at least 6/10 of tread for them to be effective at all. It amazes me that so many people who live in the snow belt dont relize how much better your vehicle can be with good snow tires compared to all-season tires. The big trade off with snow tires is that they are super soft and wear out quickly, are noisy, and give the vehicle weird handeling because they have a mushy tread and soft sidewalls.

Not all snows are like this. I bought Kumho KW17s for my wife's car, and they handle the dry roads so well that I left them on last summer. The tread life is still good, so I'll run them this winter too and perhaps even next winter before replacing them. When you get an H rated (or better) snow tire, it doesn't behave all mushy like a typical snow tire does.

98AV6 · Nov 25, 2004

quote:

Good Snow tires make a world of difference in snow.

That's what I've been hearing from winter tire converts. I can't wait for snow to try out my new tires!

Minivans and grocery getters should check the Snow test.
For the sports car crowd or anybody who wants stability and durability at high speeds check out the H or V rated tires in the German review.

More info here, cop car tires! Police Severe Snow Tires

Just the ticket for a retired Crown Vic cruiser,the Firestone Firehawk PVS. A V speed rated, Pursuit Vehicle Snow tire. Big $$,too expensive for me.

BTW everybody is welcome to post their tire test links here. Knowledge is power.

[ November 25, 2004, 03:24 PM: Message edited by: 98AV6 ]

DJ · Nov 25, 2004

I switched to high performance z-rated tires for summer use on a larger rim, and used the old 15" rims for snows, the car handles better in all weather than it ever could have before providing I have the right set of tires on for the season. The way I see it is I would rather spend a few hundred dollars on snowtires than risk spending it on an insurance deductible. Even a lowerend snowtire like the Cooper Weathermaster is a nice step up from an allseason. Then in summer even if not concerned with high performance you can still choose to run a tire with long life and hydroplaning resistance probably still going to look at an allseason but you can ignore the snow rating.

Brikhead · Nov 25, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by 98AV6:
Real World Snow Tire Tests

Thanx for the ^^post^^, 98AV6. There's definately some useful info there.

98AV6 · Dec 6, 2004

quote:

would rather spend a few hundred dollars on snowtires than risk spending it on an insurance deductible.

My thoughts exactly.
Goodyear Ultra Grip GW3 Review
Dry or Wet, very sticky, glues the car to the road
Runs with very little noise for a tire equipped with such a super aggressive tread.

This tire has enough belts to fill a karate studio! Five all together, 2 steel, 2 polyester and 1-nylon.
Pros: Good handling and turn in. No sloppy winter tire stability problems at highway speeds.
Cons: Compared to the soft riding OEM MXV4s, big bumps are more noticeable.
Bottom line:
These tires rock ! I'm a winter tire convert.
Freezing rain and snow hit TO today during rush hr. I witnessed first hand the futility of pitting A/S tires against the elements. Spinouts, slipping and sliding everywhere.
Equipped with UGs, driving around in this mess was a piece of cake. Stable and in control at all times.
From my experience, Highly recommeded.

edvanp · Dec 6, 2004

Just put a set of SnowTrakkers, from Sam's Club, on my wife's new Grand Caravan. They only had 2 left and they were priced at $46 a piece. Didn't notice any more noise on the drive home. Now waiting for some snow to see how they work. With front wheel drive, they should perform ok. Have a trip to Toronto coming up along with a lot of weekend trips to the ice rink, so I thought I'd give these a try. Will post how they do.

lyle · Dec 6, 2004

So you put two snow tires on the front of your car, and left the rears stock? You're asking for trouble, what's going to happen is that your back end will try to swap ends with your front end around a curve or turn sometime. It may not happen for a while, but it'll happen. I learned my lesson on an older Caravan, good thing I was driving and not the wife.

KJA426 · Dec 7, 2004

My family always had good results with the Firestone Town & Country radial for generations. I believe that they quit making it last year and the size offering had dwindled.

Whimsey · Dec 8, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by KJA426:
My family always had good results with the Firestone Town & Country radial for generations. I believe that they quit making it last year and the size offering had dwindled.

Now that name is a blast from the past. As far a snow tires go that's all we used in the 60's through 80's. I even used them on my 1972 VW Beetle

.

Whimsey

cangreylegend · Dec 9, 2004

Could not help remembering how the Kumho KW 11 and the Michelin XZX of the 70s look so similar in tread pattern.

About the snow tires only in the front; my sister and I both drove our FWD subcompacts that way for many years in the 70s and we never swapped ends. If anything makes for a 911 feel??

Brikhead · Dec 9, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by cangreylegend:
Could not help remembering how the Kumho KW 11 and the Michelin XZX of the 70s look so similar in tread pattern.

Yea, I can see how you could make that comparison. I'm sure the major differences are in the rubber compound though. Also, the KW11 tread is very deep and all of the tread blocks have a sharp, square cut with lots of tiny sipes. Awesome tire for the money....if you can find them.

JohnnyO · Dec 17, 2004

I bought 4 Blizzak WS-50's for my wife's Taurus wagon this week. Keep ya'll posted on how they do.

doitmyself · Dec 17, 2004

I have no argument against the validity of snow tires. They do their job as intended.

But......... with today's impatient drivers, would they instill a false sense of security and result in more accidents over all???

The first few snows here in lower Michigan you see lots of 4wd Suvs in the ditch.

Experienced drivers farther up north are less likely to end up off the road. It's called SLOWING DOWN.

Brikhead · Dec 18, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by doitmyself:
I have no argument against the validity of snow tires. They do their job as intended.

But......... with today's impatient drivers, would they instill a false sense of security and result in more accidents over all???

The first few snows here in lower Michigan you see lots of 4wd Suvs in the ditch.

Experienced drivers farther up north are less likely to end up off the road. It's called SLOWING DOWN.

I generally view winter tires as a security blanket. The added traction they provide can help you avoid the fast driving, over-confident idiots you've mentioned.
The one thing that peaves me in the worst way is being tailgated on snow-covered roads. Chances are, my winter tires on all 4 corners will probably enable me to stop better than the jerk who is 20in. off of my back bumper. I usually end up pulling over to let the impatient drivers go tailgate someone else.

labman · Dec 18, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by doitmyself:
snip...
The first few snows here in lower Michigan you see lots of 4wd Suvs in the ditch.
snip...

So I wonder how many of them had 4WD engaged. Did the driver even understand how or why one would do that?

1sttruck · Dec 19, 2004

A friend from Montana joked that in the winter you can tell which vehicles on the side of the road are SUVs as they're the ones that are upside down. A wife's friend noted that a common joke in Germany is that it's the expensive cars in the diches in the winter, as they're commonly rear wheel drive. A brother in Alaska was able to talk to a state trooper who surveyed winter accidents and vehicle type; older Volvo sedans did well as they were low to the ground and kind of heavy, pickups were usually bassackwards, and SUVs, especially full sized ones, were often upside down.

1sttruck · Dec 19, 2004

The 'need' for winter tires will vary on terrain and conditions. All season or all terrain tires can do just fine in snow, and with careful driving on hard (cold) ice on fairly level terrain. On steeper terrain with soft (32F or slighty less) ice not much besides chains or studs seem to work well. I've seen 4wd Jeeps with studless severe snow rated A/T tires stall and slide backwards on steeper streets, like the one that I live on. The heavily siped studless Michelin Arctic Alpins on one of our sedans didn't do that well in those conditions either. I never had problems with studded tires on a Civic, which was our dedicated 'snow car' for 8 years, and I didn't have any problems when our 4wd pickup had all 4 wheels chained.

JohnnyO · Dec 19, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by labman:
So I wonder how many of them had 4WD engaged. Did the driver even understand how or why one would do that?

True story: Two winters ago, I come up on some backed up traffic, bunch of people spun out in the snow/ice/slush. Babe in an S-10 Blazer is trying to back out of the shoulder without success. Astutely, I notice only the rear wheels are spinning.
Me: "Put it in 4 wheel drive."
Her: "How do you do that?"

Winter Tires

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