tires suck in snow

[sugrdikdadylong]

I had a similar problem. Approx. 3000 on the car last month and I got stuck down my street in my sweet new car. I felt like an ASS! I actually had to get the car towed. I had it towed directly to Town Fair Tire and told them to put on the best snow tires they had (Yokohama's Ice guard). $770.00 later all is good. Just don't be cheap.

 

[chuyler1]

summer time = use summer tires.
winter time = use winter tires.

well, I'm more tempted to say...

snow = use snow tires
rain = use rain tires
dry = use performance tires
not sure? = use all-season tires.

but we all don't have a pit crew in our garage to change our tires on a daily basis.

My g/f has a corolla, we put snows on it the past two years but didn't this year just because we were busy and they were stored away at my parents house...I drive her car quite a bit and I honestly couldn't tell the difference.

Anyway, when you live in Canada, or Buffalo, or Maine (which also has the 'mud tire' season) and you're driving on snow for most of the winter...it does seem logical to have snow tires. But here in MA I've driven a total of 4 times in the snow this year...my stock-all-seasons have got me where I needed to go with no trouble...for the remaining days, they have worked great on the dry pavement and I have gotten great gas milage and the tires aren't wearing down as fast as snows would.

As for buying "performance" tires for the summer...well thats another risk because performance tires aren't that great in the rain...and it rains way more than it snows in MA so there would be more 'carefull-driving' days...and I don't really need to 'perform' on my way to work anyway...the all seasons have capable stopping power and maneuvering power, and again, they don't wear out as fast. Save the tread on your performance tires for the track.

 

[rocketspeed]

My Bridgestones perform fairly well in the rain, as do the Contis on my SVT. Certainly not unsafe. And in the dry, they're both awesome. I'd miss the extra grip if I ran all seasons in the summer. I'd also miss blasting past SUV's on snowy days.

The only area that some snows fall short on, which you correctly point out, is cold weather performance when its dry. I lose a lot of handling with the Blizzaks on 16in Steelies on the MSP.

I run Pilot Alpins on a 2nd set of factory 17's on the SVT, though, and don't give up a lot, virtually nil when compared to an all-season tire.

My preference would have been the Pilot Alpins on a set of 17 inch alloys for the MSP as well, but I just couldn't afford it.

The Blizzaks do have better performance in snow, though.

 

[chinaman]

As for AWD vs FrontWD, I really DO like the front wheel drive and turbo in the snow - with the proper tires. With the LSD, this thing's almost a jeep! A subie or SUV in decent tires will walk away from me on uphills, tho, but turns and braking is the same (tires and driver skill taken as constants). I never checked, but I don't think the subie handles e-brake turning as well, and doesn't rotate as well under LFB. I like this MSP in snow...

You shouldn't use the e-brake on any Subaru except the STi, unless you want to mess up the center differential.

 

[Spooled]

I am having some Toyo Proxes FZ4's put on all four corners today. I got a great deal through a friend, and I figured that if I was going to spend that much on snow tires, I might as well replace them with all-seasons. I know that all-season tires don't work as well as dedicated snows, but I also don't have to swap them between seasons, and I have the better performace on those RARE dry street days here in Michigan. I was convinced when I got stuck in about 1" of packed snow with my Potenzas while my buddy plowed through 6" in his lowered RSX-S like a Jeep on his Proxes.

I didn't have the extra cash and I thought I could squeak through the winter (I mean, how bad can a Michigan winter be.. haha...ha......hmm(hand)). So my traction just kept getting worse and worse. Well, I looked at the tread a few days ago and there isn't any left. My front tires are slicks now. Constantly spinning on the ice and snow and catching a little pavement here and there just sanded them down to nothing. So just a warning...

 

[kevducridr]

Hey there Spooled, I live in Redford. I had the same problems in mine. You should check out our Michigan Mazda Drive event in the Meets section of the Forum. Good to see another Michigander on the board.

 

[chuyler1]

Well, I looked at the tread a few days ago and there isn't any left. My front tires are slicks now. Constantly spinning on the ice and snow and catching a little pavement here and there just sanded them down to nothing. So just a warning...

Yeah, see...snow tires, performance tires, all-season tires alike, if they are at the end of their life, they are going to perform horribly in snow, rain, sand, and mud. If you try to compare your set of all-seasons w/ 40K miles on them to a set of brand new snows...the snows are going to win...even on dry pavement.