OT: Winter Tires

[batman1425]

Originally Posted by Mikej

YOUR tires don't matter as much as other people's tires...

Until YOU lose control and hit someone or something else.

[carpediemracing]

I'll add that studless snow tires are typically super quiet and, for those that care, tend to be very light.

Studdable snow tires tend to be pretty noisy and are pretty bad on sheet ice if not studded. I'd hazard a guess and say that the ones I've used are about the same as an all season on sheet ice, based on my own experience. The ones I've used tend to be pretty good in snow though, due to massive knobs and tread voids/gaps. Apparently the more snow the tire can pick up the better traction, because snow sticks to snow the best. I read that somewhere but I have no idea if it's true.

For the Expedition the snows I got (Blizzaks) were significantly quieter than the OEM highway all seasons. Due to limited miles (10k in 4 years?) I've left the snows on year round. They're still fine as of now. I'm going to replace the vehicle and for the next vehicle I plan on dedicated snows/rims.

On the Expedition with snows I don't use 4WD even though our driveway is 21% and the road leaving our complex is a quarter mile 10% grade "I warm up quickly when I go for a ride" hill. It's good doing pretty hard braking at 70 mph in 5+ inches of snow (I was experimenting on an empty and snowed over highway, going uncomfortably fast and braking as hard as I dared; for me travel speed was 45-50 mph which was still faster than many vehicles around me).

I've only bought one set of snows through work (a tire place, among other things) so far but I have some leeway there on pricing. For those in my area that need tires let me know, I might be able to help out.

[IFRider]

We needed to order tires/rims for my wife's Q5 and got the last day of the promotion.

We always run snows here in Southern NH. We get a second set of rims and just change them out at home. Makes a huge difference in handling and safety.

They way I figure it, in the end, I am paying almost the same as just running all seasons. My summer tires last longer and the factory rims don't get beat up. More importantly, I can make it up my steep driveway with 12" of snow and being a long distance commuter (60 mile each way) I have had the snow save my bacon when accidents happen around me on the highway. All it takes is one good fender bender and insurance/deductible chew up any money saved not using them.

[Zee]

Being a native of northern Chicago suburbs, I am sold on winter dedicated tires. I happen to have a winter vehicle exclusively on winter tires and a winter set for my summer car as well when I still drive it in cold temps.

Free reminder this ends tonight.

[fmradio516]

Of course I didnt check this thread because i thought it was about bike snow tires. Really wish I did. looks like I missed out on this one...

To add to what people are saying, I remember seeing a video of (IIRC), a WRX AWD with All Seasons and a BMW rear wheel drive with Snow tires in a parking lot at a dead stop with about 10" of snow on the ground. Both cars take off at the same time. The BMW is well on its way without issue while the AWD car is fishtailing trying to get a grip on things..

[carpediemracing]

Although a big fan of snow tires, the videos I've seen of "snow vs not-snow" seem to pit snows against summer tires. To me that's not fair. Should be snows vs all seasons.

Summer tires are worse than useless in cold weather - I spun a car in 28 deg F weather with maybe 1/4 throttle accelerating from a light. It was at that moment that I realized just how bad summer tires were in cold weather.

They might as well be like these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvYLBO_DdNc