Snow/Ice winter tires

708 messages, Last post on Nov 10, 2009 at 12:57 PM

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What is this discussion about? Tires, Wheels

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#41 of 708 Nokian Q's by r_scott_g May 24, 2001 (8:38 am)
It's not really that season, but for anyone thinking about tires for next winter, I ran Nokian Q's. I used them on a new Mazda Protege. My previous vehicle was all-wheel drive with ABS. So I was a little spoiled the previous two winters. The Nokians worked very well. I almost went with Blizzaks or Observe's, but decided on the Nokian Q's. They would of been the same price as the Blizzaks or the Observes, but I managed to get them on a bit of a sale ($110 canadian). They're were a lot cheaper than Goodyear Ultra Grip ice($180 or something insane like that).
#42 of 708 Winter Tires.... by odie6l May 28, 2001 (2:07 pm)
Even though it is now Memorial Day. You will have to soon think about Winter/Ice tires again shortly... I currently have a 1998 Stratus and I got Goodyear Eagle GTII tires on it... they have pretty decent grip in the snow, ice, rain, and when it's dry. I live in Hershey,Pa so when they say it will rain... it could snow, when they say it will snow.. it just may do that very heavily, or it might just rain. Weather up here is so unpredictable NEVER trust it. I looked around at so many different tires I though I was going to go batty. But they worked really good this past winter. And here in PA we have different Seasons than the rest of the world, here are 4 seasons are - ALMOST WINTER, WINTER, STILL WINTER, & CONSTRUCTION. Have you ever seen our roads in Pa... they are just horrible. so up here I needed a tire that could handle many multiple tasks. Dealer actually gave me more for my trade in on the Escape I just ordered 3 weeks ago because of the Goodyears on the Stratus. Good luck in you tire hunting Odie
#44 of 708 using snows year-round by leogenghis Aug 21, 2001 (10:49 am)
I'm sorry if this idea was knocked about before - if it was just tell me where I can find the archives of it. But here's my situation. I drive maybe around 10-12,000 miles a year and live in upstate NY. I know the best thing to do, of course, is to change into snow tires when winter approaches and vice versa. But I'm in college so I move around pretty frequently, maybe once every year or two, so changing tires twice every year and in addition storing the old tires would be too much hassle. Which would be the better option: use snow tires year-round (Dunlop Winter Sport M2) or all-season performance tires? (Dunlop SP Sport 5000) I wouldn't mind slightly less mileage out of the snows for tremendously improved winter performance. At least I'd be changing tires less than once per year, I guess! Thanks for any opinions. Leo ps. would your suggestions be different if I were driving an AWD instead of a FWD?
#45 of 708 by drew_ Aug 21, 2001 (12:36 pm)
In my opinion, I'd run the all-seasons regardless of whether you have an AWD or 2WD vehicle. The reason is simple...winter tires are not designed to run in hot weather, and your handling will suffer (emergency handling will definitely be significantly less competent due to the softer tread). Additionally, winter tires do not necessarily work well in the rain, so wet performance may also suffer. The best choice is for you to purchase a set of 4 winter tires on inexpensive steel rims, and simply swap them with the all-season tires/wheels with the snows. It's probably simpler and less of a hassle than you think! Good luck, Drew Host Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
#46 of 708 snows vs all season by rs_petty Aug 22, 2001 (5:37 am)
My advice is also the all seasons. However, I do not have any experience in your part of the country. Perhaps all seasons with a pair of cable chains for the real bad stuff would be a better compromise.
#47 of 708 Snow Tires for BMW by skijazman Sep 04, 2001 (1:35 pm)
For the past 15 years I've had either front-wheel, four-wheel or All-wheel drive vehicles. Living in Connecticut I travel to Boston weekly. Just bought a used 2000 BMW 323i (rear-wheel drive)that has Dynamic Stability control and traction control. Question is: do I need to consider buying snow tires or will the all season tires that came on the car suffice?
#48 of 708 Michelin Pilot Alpins by iamz Sep 09, 2001 (4:03 pm)
Anyone have any experience with Michelin Pilot Alpin tires for winter snow/slush/ice driving? I am thinking of buying a set with new wheels just for the long Minnesota winters. My P5 currently has 195/50R-16's on. I have found a good deal on the Pilot Alpin's with new rims at Discounttiredirect.com. The one thing I don't like is that I need to step up in tire width to 205/55R-15's. Droping to the 15" rims though should help with frozen slush and pot holes.
#49 of 708 snow/all seasons by leogenghis Sep 09, 2001 (8:28 pm)
Thanks for the replies guys! (and sorry for my late reply!) So I guess I'm leaning 75% with the all-seasons. But snow tires have that undeniable allure, especially if you've got an AWD vehicle - you have an I-can-conquer-anything-in-this-snow-now-HAHAHA! kind of feeling. Neat. The snow tire I was thinking about was the Dunlop Winter Sport M2. According to Tire Rack's customer survey results, that particular winter tire has superlative dry and wet handling traits, plus the advantages of a "wintrish" compound. I've actually never driven a car with winter tires before! I wonder what it feels like. skijazman: Snow-tires are your best choice. Many newer-model BMWs I've seen have winter tires shod in the winter. Even with the ESP feature, having just all-seasons might mean very slow acceleration up hills, or even not at all. And turning corners will be tricky, since power is to the rear and not the front. Leo
#50 of 708 Dunlop and Bridgestone by blackgtp Sep 10, 2001 (9:21 am)
I used the Dunlop Wintersport M2 last winter on my Grand Prix GTP. Good in the snow and on ice. The tire still had good wet and dry traction and was able to handle the torque of the engine. I will be putting them back on again in a couple months. Don't use winter tires in warm weather because they will wear out very fast. Also, I used Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50 tires on a Neon a few years ago. These tires had superior snow and ice traction. I don't, however, recommend using Blizzak WS-50 tires on a performance car. The tire tread is so good in the snow that dry traction is sacrificed too much.