I'm looking for advice on running snow tires versus new/newer all seasons for the winters.
The car would be a 2013 Chevy Cruze LS - stock size is 215/60/16.
The car will see about 500 miles a week with my girlfriend commuting to and from work. We live in Southern NY, about an hour Northwest of New York City. The commute is split mainly between local county routes that are 45 mph to 55 mph and highway/interstate 65 mph to 75 mph. Typically the snow is not terrible, we definitely get the occasional big storm for our area and this past winter we saw more than a few bad commuting days.
I've never put snow tires on, and usually opted for new all seasons when needed with my 2 main criteria being treadlife and good snow/ice reviews via tirerack, which has served pretty well dealing with the snow. Given the length of her commute I thought snow tires would be a good idea. From what I've been reading, it's best only to run snow tires with temperatures below 45°F. We occasionally see snow as early as November and as late as March/April, at the same time, we get some days with temperatures above 45°F throughout the month.
So, I'm wondering, is my concern about days above 45°F reasonable? Would I lose significant performance over the lifetime of the tire if it sees some days over 45°F? Advice/thought?
If it matters, here is the count of days above 45°F by month for the last two years:
2011-2012 2012-2013
November 26 12
December 13 10
January 6 4
February 7 1
March 22 5
April 30 26
The car would be a 2013 Chevy Cruze LS - stock size is 215/60/16.
The car will see about 500 miles a week with my girlfriend commuting to and from work. We live in Southern NY, about an hour Northwest of New York City. The commute is split mainly between local county routes that are 45 mph to 55 mph and highway/interstate 65 mph to 75 mph. Typically the snow is not terrible, we definitely get the occasional big storm for our area and this past winter we saw more than a few bad commuting days.
I've never put snow tires on, and usually opted for new all seasons when needed with my 2 main criteria being treadlife and good snow/ice reviews via tirerack, which has served pretty well dealing with the snow. Given the length of her commute I thought snow tires would be a good idea. From what I've been reading, it's best only to run snow tires with temperatures below 45°F. We occasionally see snow as early as November and as late as March/April, at the same time, we get some days with temperatures above 45°F throughout the month.
So, I'm wondering, is my concern about days above 45°F reasonable? Would I lose significant performance over the lifetime of the tire if it sees some days over 45°F? Advice/thought?
If it matters, here is the count of days above 45°F by month for the last two years:
2011-2012 2012-2013
November 26 12
December 13 10
January 6 4
February 7 1
March 22 5
April 30 26
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