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Maintenance & Repair Winter Driving - are you prepared?
149 messages, Last post on Aug 19, 2009 at 8:38 AM
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Replying to: stuckamy (Jan 24, 2007 2:38 am) Ice is very slippery. Metal studded tires or chains do better. Snow tires are not much advantage on ice, because the sipes can't grip a solid substance like ice, whereas snow can get into the sipes and provide grip. Stopping on ice is a realy adventure. 
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Replying to: smithed (Sep 24, 2007 11:50 am) I have a 30,000 lb service truck that wasn't very sure footed on ice until I went with siped tires on the steer axle. Once the front tires were siped, I didn't have half the problems. So I would have to say that I am convinced. |
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Replying to: smithed (Sep 24, 2007 11:50 am) Yes and no. As previously suggested you need studs or chains to stop well on glare ice but snow tires are made to be flexible in low temps that might cause regular tires to become very rigid and lose grip. Snows are also designed to trap snow in their grooves and this packed snow actually helps keep the tire from slipping as it makes contact with snow on the pavement.
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Replying to: andys120 (Sep 25, 2007 4:18 am) |
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Replying to: andys120 (Sep 25, 2007 4:18 am) Snows are also designed to trap snow in their grooves and this packed snow actually helps keep the tire from slipping as it makes contact with snow on the pavement I find this response rather uninformed. A modern winter friction tire has very good traction on ice. The physics of ice driving are that ice is slippery due to the water layer on top of the ice. The ~ 1000 pounds of pressure exerted by the tire on the ice also acts to melt the ice somewhat. That is why black ice that forms near 32F is so deadly... there is always a substantial water layer. At very cold temperatures, you actually get decent traction on ice since there is no water layer. What modern tires do is place lots of siping cuts in the tire to displace the water layer. The rubber compound is also much softer than a summer tire or all-season tire and this aids grip in cold weather. On ice, the weight of the car is a really big factor. A 5,000+ pound AWD SUV will perform much worse braking and cornering on ice than a 2500 pound FWD car equipped with equivalent tires. I run the studded Nokian Hakkapeliitta SUV on my Mountaineer. I'd been running Nokian Hakkapeliitta Q friction tires on my recently sold VW GTI. On ice, the VW with friction tires out-performed the SUV with studs. I just bought another GTI and I'm doing my research since friction tires have evolved since the last time I bought them. Last year, Consumer Reports rated the Michelin X-Ice as their top performer. Aftonbladet, a Swedish newspaper, does extensive winter tire reviews and rated five friction tires as a tie. The X-Ice and the Nokian Hakkapeliitta RSi were on the list. I'll likely either get Tire Rack to ship me a set of X-Ice mounted on wheels with tire pressure monitors or buy Nokians locally and find used wheels from a take-off.
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Replying to: geoffdgti (Nov 06, 2007 2:32 am) You don't run them on the east coast. 
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But it may be a good time to check tire pressures (not that we don't all the time anyway  ). We had our first pretty good storm last week and I found myself slipping a little more then I should (even with good winter tires) and checked pressures this weekend........... Down abot 10 lbs from where they should be  after only being on the car about a month and a half (25 degree temp change in that time). Much better today after correcting.
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Hi. In lieu of not being able to find a suitable AWD vehicle for Portland OR, I am now deciding to equip my trusty Malibu Maxx with 4 winter tires until the right car shows up. Blizzak series 60 seems to be the most promising tire I can find. However, because I live on a 500' high mountain in Portland, we are plagued with "snow thresholds" that can give us occasional snow and ice while the surrounding areas get rain. The mountain makes for hills, and I have a FWD traction control system that cuts power rather than brakes the spinning wheel. I can turn the traction system off as needed. Can forum members here tell me how the Blizzaks hold up in cold, rainy circumstances with occasional snow and ice? Will the tread wear as fast as it would on a dry road? How many seasons of use can I get from the tires, assuming I don't rev or spin them a lot?
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Replying to: kurtamaxxxguy (Dec 18, 2007 5:46 pm) I've used other Blizzaks in NY, however I am not familiar with the WS60 - I think they are the newest of the Blizzaks. My first set had the multicell special snow compound that gave great snow/ice traction. They were also very good in rainy, cold weather. The only knocks against them were that they were a bit "squishy" for me, though I don't see this as a problem for the Malibu, and that you have to be very vigilant about swapping them out once snow season is over, else they wear like crazy... As for how many seasons, I was able to get about 25 thousand miles (2 seasons plus) from my first set. There was still some tread left, and they were actually fine as all seasons, however I wanted to try something else, so I got my current set of LM22s, and I'm happy with them too. Hope this helps.
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Replying to: ray80 (Dec 17, 2007 5:57 am)
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