Altimax Arctics on the Thunderbird...

Status
Not open for further replies.
9

97tbird

Joined
May 9, 2003
Messages
9,282
Location
Fayetteville, NC
Snowbeater Thunderbird with the snow tires...doesn't look like a big deal but this is exactly the kind of snow that got me stranded last year, not being able to get out onto the road...the snow tires performed great in all the snow/slush at almost regular speeds, and never slipped...and then even managed some icy patches...hes when I came back home around midnight.

The road i am getting onto on this video is an unsalted, unplowed road, that leads upto the main hwy. I was able to drive at 60 mph on the main hwy which still had a dusting pretty safely without any problems...

There were some bad slick/snow packed spots on exits from the interstate, and one time i had to brake while traveling 55-65 mph to avoid a snow plow (wasn't plowing), and it was like braking on dry pavement...well, almost - I don't know how I'd have gotten to work and back without them...By the time i came home, there were a good amount of icy patches on the hwy, and I could just FEEL the tires going over them wihtout a flinch...

VERY Good tires for the money!
 
Last edited:
Move to Florida you won't need those tires anymore, heck you won't need a car because you wouldn't have a job either...lol Nice vid, it looks beautiful there.
 
Now it makes me want to get a better camera with better video...Hmmm....perh. I should've asked for a used Nikon D40 for Christmas
smile.gif


Just checked : mt P&S Nikon did have a better setting (Higher Quality) for videos..just didn't have it set to that..
I think this is my 1st ever video LOL
 
Last edited:
Video is fine.

Put 100 pounds of anything in the rear seat or towards the inside of the trunk and you'll help the balance of the vehicle quite a bit.

If there is snow pack 55-60 MPH is too fast. Trust me I've seen thousands of accidents with folks in 4x4, AWD, Studded tired and such going to fast with "little" snow/ice on the road. Going is always easier than stopping.

At least its flat there. Wait till you are going up a steep grade with snow/ice and get stuck in the middle.

Looks good for the Tbird!
thumbsup2.gif


Take care, Bill
 
Yeah i should be careful, and I really was when coming home, I didn't drive faster than 50 mph I think...esp. due to bad visibility..(wish I had the Bimmer's xenons on the Tbird)...

I only encountered one "steep" spot - where I get on to the main hwy from our little lane - i drove slow, and it never even slipped..I am thinking that spot might be slicker today, and I will be extra careful...
 
Did you have those studded when you got them & did you only stud the rears or all 4? IMHO there's no substitute for studs on a RWD vehicle-ESPECIALLY on ice (which is a threat that we here in SW OH share with you in western NC)!
 
Agree with Bill.

I have owned half a dozen of those body style thunderbirds.. Wonderful cars, they just rot out in the rust-belt..

Yours looks like a sport model, great car!

Put a couple sand bags in the trunk, the car is very nose heavy, and nothing is in the back.. 100-150 pounds is about right, or a dead body!
 
Nice! Always good to have a purchase justified.

The Generals on the Buick are slowly making me into a convert. They're good snow tires for the money. They make doing donuts quite difficult on loose snow.

Be careful on the slush, as that's where I've found the Generals become a bit of a handful. They're so busy digging through it all that sometimes they don't track that well.
 
bullwinkle:
I got them all 4 unstudded- I think they're more than enough for NC like that...what we have seen in NC may well be the worst/only snow here, too...

Bill / JustinH
Yeah it's a 97 Sport - I have some heavy stuff in trunk, but not sandbags - i might just get through without them, but very good advice. I just got late in acquiring sand bags, and never got to it. I should have thought of them sooner..

PS: I am on tccoa.com as ortbird
smile.gif
i have plans to make the Tbird a show-car (instead of sNow car) someday..
(New paint, lowering, different wheels/tires, clear corners are planned)

Sciphi:
They did pretty good on slush so far, but I will keep that in mind - Thanks

Crinkles/QuattroPete:
smile.gif
Yeah she filmed it - she had the camera in the hand and was filming around the house to show the "winter wonderland" we had, so she just filmed me driving off, too
smile.gif

(I was going to ask her to do it anyway, LOL)
 
Last edited:
Im in the Altimax Arctic camp as well, Got to try them out in the last few days real good here in NE PA.

No issues whatsover, I Live on a rural mountaintop and they are on a 2000 Jeep Cherokee Sport. Of course I have 4wd so that helps a lot, But mostly I really like how they stop, Both in snow and slush.

I drove some in Rwd when it was not too deep, And that mostly was pretty solid going as well. Just had to be light on the gas pedal.

Another thing worth noting is that they do not plow that much in tight downhill corners, And that made me feel pretty good about purchasing them.

Time will tell how they hold up.
 
Last edited:
I am wondering, provided that I take these tires off and stop using them when temps are above 60F or so, how long (how many winters) can these tires be used effectively...

Any ideas?

winters in NC are short (at least the amount of time where snow is really there...otherwise it's just cold and dry, where I can use my other car with regular tires...)
 
Last edited:
I would say about 4-5 winters. If you don't drive much, wear may not be a factor, but with age, the soft winter rubber will harden to the point where the tires won't be as effective on snow anymore. Theoretically, at that point, if you still have plenty of tread left, you might be able to sell them on craigslist - some people only look at tread depth and don't care about age.

Last winter I put on about 6K miles on mine, and they still look new.
 
You'll have to see how your individual car wears tires. The ice grip comes from a combination of the tire compound (which will dry out and harden with age) and the sharp edges of the sipes. If your alignment/driving/suspension geometry wears the corners off of the sipes very fast you'll be left with no ice grip despite lots of tread depth.

On my BMW I had a set of Michelin Alpins which had good grip until they didn't have enough tread depth to continue using. On the other hand the Dunlop Wintersport M3s I replaced them with (because of raving positive reviews everywhere I looked) had the sipes rounded right off and lost a lot of grip within two seasons despite having unmeasurable wear in tread depth. I threw them away after 4-5 seasons because I couldn't stand them anymore (i.e. unsafe) with something like 8-9/32nds left. The sipe edges were all toast, yet this didn't happen to the Alpins on the same car. It doesn't seem to happen to my dad who gets great life out of Pilot Alpins (PA and PA2) on the same platform. We'll see how my current Hakkapeliitta RSis do.
 
Well as some of you might know, we got ICE ICE ICE everywhere in NC last night/this a/m, and will be there tomorrow, too - so I thought it's time for an update:

The Altimax Arctics and the Tbird made it through some real ice this morning, around 5-6 am, especially on bridges and sides of the roads - It really was impressive - the car never slipped even once, and I could drive at a steady pace even on pretty icy bridges...I probably could have driven faster than I did, but there was no need, and the roads are full of idiots...

For the money I spent, I am VERY satisfied how much it has already done, bringing me safely to work and back, on a day where very few people showed up due to the icy conditions
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Nick1994
Tire troubles on multiple vehicles
2
Replies
31
Views
2K
hrv
A
Nokian Outpost APT All-Weather (Summer Off-Road) Review
Replies
5
Views
6K
edyvw
pezzy84
Michelin CrossClimate2's installed on EV - 2021 VW ID.4 AWD
2
Replies
22
Views
7K
edyvw
Hermann
375 mile Day Trip in the Maverick.
2
Replies
24
Views
2K
odie
C
Viking7, Hakka R3, Pilot Alpin PA5 on AWD BMW?
2
Replies
31
Views
6K
slacktide_bitog
Back
Top