Tires and snow

[fdcg27]

We had our first decent snowfall yesterday.
Lots of people apparently forgot their winter driving skills, since last winter here was virtually snowless.
This was a fairly warm snow, and began as sleet in the wee hours of the morning.
A wet, icy base topped with 4"-6" of wet snow is pretty slick.
What surprised me is that two people got stuck in the parking lot at work, and they were both on tires with decent tread.
The hoplessly immovable Pacifica was on Nankings (cheap is as cheap does), while the Cruze was on some model of Firestones.
We pushed the Cruze out, but there was no help for the Pacifica.
It was determined to slide down a very mild grade into a curb.
Most people had no trouble on A/S tires in what was a moderate depth of snow.
There are apparently good A/S tires and some that are utterly useless.
There are also some fairly cheap A/S tires known to do well in the snow.
If I had the kind of problems these people were having, I'd be putting new tires on my car this weekend.
Imagine how bad these tires must be on a snowy road.

 

[hypervish]

We had less than an inch of snow here in NJ, and my ES was barely able to make a turn at one intersection. Almost slid into a curb. I have Bridgestone Potenza G019's on it right now, with 8/32" of tread left but they are junk. Make a lot of road noise, and as I've learned yesterday have absolutely no light snow traction. Needless to say, as soon as I got home I ordered new tires. I went with Goodyear Assurance ComforTred Touring.

 

[Nyquist]

The stock Michelin Latitudes on the Equinox did surprisingly Ok when we had our blizzard & subsequent icy roads. My wife's Cobalt has General snow tires on it. She can go about anywhere so long as she has ground clearance.

One thing I've learned over the years as well is that the driver has a lot to do with it as well.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

Originally Posted By: hypervish
We had less than an inch of snow here in NJ, and my ES was barely able to make a turn at one intersection. Almost slid into a curb. I have Bridgestone Potenza G019's on it right now, with 8/32" of tread left but they are junk. Make a lot of road noise, and as I've learned yesterday have absolutely no light snow traction. Needless to say, as soon as I got home I ordered new tires. I went with Goodyear Assurance ComforTred Touring.

G019's should not be marketed as an all-season tire. They are borderline dangerous when the temps dip into the 40s. The rubber compound is just wrong.

 

[redbone3]

I have found that the longer the tread guarantee, the harder the rubber, the worse the traction.

 

[fdcg27]

Originally Posted By: redbone3
I have found that the longer the tread guarantee, the harder the rubber, the worse the traction.


While I generally agree with you that tires with longer treadwear ratings shouldn't be as good in snow, some long life tires are quite decent in winter, like various Michelins and the Hankook H-727.

 

[redbone3]

Not only on snow, even a small amount of rain or just a dry road you can notice a difference if you really have to spike the grabbers!

 

[dailydriver]

I also went out in that < 1" of wet slush we got, and my BFG g-force Super Sport all seasons (albeit pretty much new in the back) handled it VERY well, despite their WIDE 245 section width!!

Now, IF it was any deeper than that, I would NOT have even attempted to drive.

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: Nyquist

One thing I've learned over the years as well is that the driver has a lot to do with it as well.



THIS!!!!

I was out in a major blizzard today and despite the [censored] OE Firestone Affinity tires on my Jeep I had no problems driving because I know how to drive in bad weather.

 

[fxrider]

My Bridgestone Alenza`s did Awesome. What a fantastic Tire..

 

[Quest]

My new set of rubbers (Hankook Optimo 4S, severe snow and ice rated) which is barely 1 mnth old, did extremely well during our most recent snowstorm. My ABS never kick in and traction throughout hilly terrain was fantastic! Since these are also all-seasons (directional, with high silica compound), I would anticipate 6 more years of year-long traction with no need of swapping into snows.

Q.

 

[OVERKILL]

My LTX M/S's are on their third winter. We have a few inches on the side streets and I had, as always, no issues in the Expedition. Though I watched a Golf get stuck on his mad-cool 19" rims with summer tires and have to take a 100ft run at an intersection to get across it, LOL

 

[oldhp]

If you want to go in snow, you need snow tires. All season tires are not snow tires. Hercules Avalanche snow tires are very good snow tires. My 2wd 03 Dakota would go anywhere with those tires. Bought set for my 2012 Ram Express, night and day difference over the Goodyear Wrangler HP's.

 

[Frbl]

Originally Posted By: oldhp
If you want to go in snow, you need snow tires.


Perhaps more importantly, if you want to STOP in snow...

 

[[email protected]]

With a set of Michelin X-ice's on, my Prius made it through 6-8" of snow no problem. I even drove through a drift and made it.

Our 2wd 2010 Escape got stuck right away in the same route my Prius went...LOL. I had to laugh about that. We had to dig it out. It has Michelin MTX or whatever Michelin's they put on the Escapes from the factory in 2010

 

[GMFan]

I have never had snow tires on any vehicle...most people I know use A/S tires in winter and are fine in the snow. The key is in how you steer, brake and accelerate in snow. Just drive carefully and usually you will be fine. Another thing folks forget to consider is to simply NOT drive when it is blizzard conditions....not a good idea to run out to a movie during a blizzard or run to the store for milk. I stay home when I can during bad snow storms...it's just not worth the risk of being on the roads.

Also consider tire width....thin tires will generally do much much better in the snow than wide tires.

 

[hypervish]

Originally Posted By: GMFan
I have never had snow tires on any vehicle...most people I know use A/S tires in winter and are fine in the snow. The key is in how you steer, brake and accelerate in snow. Just drive carefully and usually you will be fine. Another thing folks forget to consider is to simply NOT drive when it is blizzard conditions....not a good idea to run out to a movie during a blizzard or run to the store for milk. I stay home when I can during bad snow storms...it's just not worth the risk of being on the roads.

Also consider tire width....thin tires will generally do much much better in the snow than wide tires.


+1, I never purchase snow tires. I've been perfectly fine, even while driving RWD cars. A little bit of common sense, and knowing the car's capabilities goes a long way. Not saying you should go driving in the snow with summer tires, but it's definitely do able with all-seasons.

My RX is a beast in the snow, have driven through 2 feet plus of unplowed snow with no problems at all, and that was with Firestone Destination LE's. I now have General Grabber HTS'.

 

[otis24]

While some people can get by ok without snowtires, a bad tire, even an A/S is a disaster waiting to happen, no matter how skilled the driver.

I was using a company car today. Brand new tires, but cheap tires. The car slid everywhere. No control whatsoever. Almost slid into an oncoming Dodge pickup at slow speeds. Luckily, he was able to avoid me. I sure wasn't able to avoid him.

 

[UG_Passat]

most all season tires are adequate for light snow

I did fine so far with kumho ecsta platinum lx in light snow (less than 1")

I have to pick up my snow tired today for deeper snow

 

[ridgerunner]

Originally Posted By: GMFan
I have never had snow tires on any vehicle...most people I know use A/S tires in winter and are fine in the snow. The key is in how you steer, brake and accelerate in snow. Just drive carefully and usually you will be fine. Another thing folks forget to consider is to simply NOT drive when it is blizzard conditions....not a good idea to run out to a movie during a blizzard or run to the store for milk. I stay home when I can during bad snow storms...it's just not worth the risk of being on the roads.

Also consider tire width....thin tires will generally do much much better in the snow than wide tires.


Agree on the width, narrow = better traction on snow and ice. Also consider aspect ratio. Meaning if U have a large/tall rim and little rubber on it (like most cars come with anymore), traction suffers greatly on snow, ice, as well as mud too. Great on dry or wet hwy and handling is better in the dry though. Anytime else those tire/rim combos are terrible, not to mention more expensive to replace.