All Winter Tire Questions/Thoughts Go here...

velvetfoot said:

Well, I switched out the summer tires/wheels with the studded winter set last night. I think it's early, but I was concerned whether the wheels would fit over the discs, etc, so anyway, they're on. Noisy as hell.

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I did the same thing the night before on our car - wife was starting to get antsy with flurries now & again. Much to my chagrin, there appears to be less tread on the winters than what I remember there being when I took them off in the spring. Some tread must have evaporated over summer or something - but now I've got to start looking for new winters again, these will likely not make it until spring. Darn.

I know, it's a pain. On the one hand new is expensive, but used takes a long time and everybody else seems to make better deals than I do. If you wait too long, they may run out of inventory.

We went with the blizzaks on my wifes civic. Previously, i only had experience with studded tires and i can honestly say i am more than impressed with the studless. I will add we live on a steep 200 foot driveway. Last year i tried going up and down the driveway to try them out with no slips. The one caveat i would add is i think studded vs studless could be vehicle specific. Someone with more of a commuter car or luxury car would want the quiet ride. Also add in the way certain vehicles handle. I've always noticed studded being very hard tires and actually a little slippery in certian conditions not snow while the studless have to be soft to make up for the lack of studs and grip the ice. On my xterra with a very tight suspension, i would get the studless for the softer tire to loosen it up a little.

I have dedicated winter tires and wheels for my Subaru Outback, they go on around Halloween and come off around Memorial Day. I only plan to get 2 years or maybe 3 seasons out of them with how much driving I do, but they make an immense difference. My house gets between 350 and 400 inches of snow per winter, we've had consistent snow cover in my yard since October 25, and the roads in my neighborhood are crudely plowed and untreated. I assume my particular street, like my driveway, will be covered in packed snow and ice until sometime in April.

So far I have had 5 people try to make it to my house in 4wd or AWD vehicles without snow tires, and 3 simply could not make it, one made it after putting their chains on. Snow tires and smart, conservative driving make a huge difference.

BCC_Burner said:

I have dedicated winter tires and wheels for my Subaru Outback, they go on around Halloween and come off around Memorial Day. I only plan to get 2 years or maybe 3 seasons out of them with how much driving I do, but they make an immense difference. My house gets between 350 and 400 inches of snow per winter, we've had consistent snow cover in my yard since October 25, and the roads in my neighborhood are crudely plowed and untreated. I assume my particular street, like my driveway, will be covered in packed snow and ice until sometime in April.

So far I have had 5 people try to make it to my house in 4wd or AWD vehicles without snow tires, and 3 simply could not make it, one made it after putting their chains on. Snow tires and smart, conservative driving make a huge difference.

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Loc:
Wasatch Front: 78 where is this?

never mind just figured out your link

I live up in one of the canyons above Salt Lake City, UT. It's sort of like living in a snow globe.

lol

Put the General Altimax Arctics on my wife's car today. Opted for no studs . . . waffled back and forth on that before deciding to go without studs and sacrifice some grip on ice to more grip on bare tar as it seems as though the State does a pretty good job of clearing roads these days.

Started running this combo on my tri-axles this year. Diggin mudders!
Wished they made the Blizzard Track (tire on right) for passenger vehicles. They ROCK in snow and mud !

So you run one of each? Interesting.

Forcast is calling for 30+cm (12") of snow Tues night - Wednesday evening. Spent yesterday afternoon in the garage swapping tires.

Only got one surprise. Found this on the driverside fronf of my wifes GP.



Me: Has your car been making any weird noises when you go over bumps or up an off the road into a parking lot?
Her: Yes, kind or a snapping / creaking sound.
Me: You gotta tell me that stuff.......

It's in the shop now getting it's stabilizer bar reattached.......

Flatbedford said:

So you run one of each? Interesting.

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Inside tire is siped about 1/3 in. The shoulders are broke up about half way in. After that it turns into a solid shoulder. Gets better milage with the solid shoulder and less cupping. The outside is just a pure aggressive diggin' tread .
I put this combo on in late fall and run till spring. If they haven't seen much wear I'll remove them and run again following winter and put summers on. If they are 40%+ wore I'll run them out through the summer.
We get pounded with snow here most winters and backing into unplowed drives making a delivery sucks without the very best rubber. Chains are hanging on the truck after November 1 . With this tire combo I haven't had to put them on much.

The snows got a light workout on the way in to work today. Everybody should have them, arrrggghh.
NY would just as soon just dump globs of salt and get the roads black, disintegrating everyone's car in the process.

velvetfoot said:

The snows got a light workout on the way in to work today. Everybody should have them, arrrggghh.
NY would just as just dump globs of salt and get the roads black, disintegrating everyone's car in the process.

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That is what they do in Quebec AND we need winter tires

firestone winterforce are the best and cheap

I just put the Hakkas on my wife's car and they're looking like there's only one season left on 'em. I don't think I got too many miles out of them.

I just bought a set of used OEM wheels and a set of Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 SUV tires for the wifes '05 Volvo XC70.

We have many trips to make over the pass this winter/holiday season and figured it'd be a good purchase.

I looked all over locally and the internet for the best price and then remembered that a friend of a friend owns a tire shop so I called him up and bought them from him.

I'll report back how they do.

loadstarken said:

I just bought a set of used OEM wheels and a set of Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 SUV tires for the wifes '05 Volvo XC70.

We have many trips to make over the pass this winter/holiday season and figured it'd be a good purchase.

I looked all over locally and the internet for the best price and then remembered that a friend of a friend owns a tire shop so I called him up and bought them from him.

I'll report back how they do.

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Now you're talking! you're going to love the tires....