Snow/winter tire experience?

[Salt Peanuts]

With the winter just around the corner, I've been pondering about snow/winter tires for my car. While I never had real issues driving in snow/winter, with my daughter around now, I'm wondering if it's a worthwhile investment to get snow/winter tires.

So if anyone here can share their experience with them, I greatly appreciate it.

[grawk]

I've had good results with both blizzacks and michelin X-Ice. I definitely recommend studless vs studded tires, unless you're mostly going to use them in wet icy conditions. And even then, I'd get studless.

[Nebby]

I really liked the blizzaks I got while in Japan, they made a very good improvement over the standard all-seasons I was using up till that point.

[tkam]

I've always managed ok with good all-season tires. Though you guys do get a lot more snow up there, so I suppose if you've got the budget for it snow tires might make some sense.

[grawk]

It's hard to appreciate how much of a difference snow tires make til you have them

[Nebby]

I was thinking of picking up snow tires, though I've been told I should be fine with all seasons if it's a typical Maryland winter.

[grawk]

Ben, how far from the cities are you? How often do you plan on leaving the main corridor?

[Nebby]

I'm in Columbia, roughly 15 miles southwest of Baltimore. I don't plan on going anywhere far, especially during the winter (work is only a 10 min drive away) What concerns me the most about the upcoming winter are the other drivers on the road; I've seen how people drive in the rain here and I don't get warm fuzzies thinking of how they'd drive in snow.

[grawk]

Yah, go with good all season tires. Even in winter, the roads between columbia and balto and dc will be wet way more often than snowy, and the 4 times the conditions will be more favorable for snow tires,you'll want to stay off the road, because everyone else will switch to racing slicks and get drunk before going out.

[Nebby]

Thanks for the info Dan, I'll stick with my current all seasons

...the 4 times the conditions will be more favorable for snow tires,you'll want to stay off the road, because everyone else will switch to racing slicks and get drunk before going out.

So their driving behavior in the rain correlates to their driving behavior in the snow? Oh dear.

[dBel84]

I have been mulling this exact question over - for the most part, I will be in the city with decent roads but twice a week I have to go 40-50 miles to an outreach facility and the idea of snow driving has not been inspiring thoughts of happiness. At least I know that I have the ability to drive slicks in 4 inches of snow - foolish lesson learned from believing January car salesman that tires were 4 season and perfectly capable for connecticut winter driving and me, non-the-wiser, having just landed from a tropical climate at the time. Just putting on good all season tires made a huge improvement so if winter tires make handling even better then this is worth serious consideration..dB

[Salt Peanuts]

...and the 4 times the conditions will be more favorable for snow tires,you'll want to stay off the road, because everyone else will switch to racing slicks and get drunk before going out.

I just priced 4 tires w/ steel wheels and the damage wasn't as bad I expected (~$500-600) so I'll probably end up getting them.

[Dusty Chalk]

So their driving behavior in the rain correlates to their driving behavior in the snow? Oh dear.

Yup. We suck. Your best bet is to stay off the friggin' roads if it snows.

[Aimless1]

Lake Michigan makes our winters milder than they should be ... if you don't factor in lake effect snow where along the lake they may be getting 4-12 inches of snow and 20 miles inland nothing. But we get our share of snow here. I have used all season radials with good success. I have never wished I had snow tires, but I grew up driving in the winter with rear wheel drive on regular tires. Probably more important to learn how to drive on snowy roads than it is to get snow tires.

[swt61]

It's hard to appreciate how much of a difference snow tires make til you have them

Completely! I also agree with Dan's recommendations. I especially like the blizzacks.

It's not just about getting traction while starting out, it's equally if not more important to be able to turn while braking without just sliding.

[Nebby]

Snow tires make one hell of a difference during emergency maneuvers. For instance, having to swerve around someone that slid into an intersection because they were going too fast to stop at a stop sign. That one was a common event when I was in Japan and it was always an American....go figure.

[Dusty Chalk]

Yeah, some people just don't know how to drive...using 4 rudders.

[Nebby]

Rudders....that's just so apt.

[jvlgato]

Snow tires make a big difference for me. On big snow days in Chicago, I'm very happy I have them. There is much more control with steering, road feel and start/stop performance on snow and slush. I've felt in control when others are sliding or spinning out.

I've owned several pairs of these:

Nokian WR

They are actually All Season tires that lean toward winter performance and do actually have a winter rating. I use them as my winter tires on my Subaru Legacy GT and year 'round on my wife's Prius. When I looked them up a few years go, they were also rated as being low rolling resistance for gas mileage. The company is in Finland, I figure they must know a bit about snow!

They're a little soft for a sports sedan in the summer, that's why I swap them out on the Legacy. But it's great in the winter, and if I don't have time to switch them out, it's no big deal to drive on them as long as I want into spring. It's perfectly fine for the Prius all year. The tread seems to last about as long as most other All Seasons in my experience, although I think they might be rated a bit lower on tread life on paper. Even in Chicago winters, on most days, I really don't feel like I need winter tires. But on the several days that I do, I'm REALLY glad I have them!

Only problem is it's limited in distribution, so you have to go out of your way to find a dealer.

[naamanf]

I plan on pick up snow tire/wheel combos for the MDX soon, probably from tire rack. The stock wheels are 19" and stepping down to 17" and getting a tire/wheel combo is the same price as just getting the 19" tires. It then saves having to have them swapped and rebalanced every time they are swapped. Won't look as nice but it's only a couple months during the winter. I plan on doing the same thing when I get my new car.

We had a lot of snow last winter and I didn't have any problem with my all-seasons on the Tahoe or Subaru but I don't want to risk it now with the little one on board.

[grawk]

Timely thread. I think I'm going to buy the nokian wrg2s for my pilot.

[jvlgato]

Oh, great! I really like my Nokians. Did you find a dealer? There aren't that many ...

[grawk]

yah, about 2 miles from where my kid plays hockey

[Cankin]

I use Pirelli all season and winter tires, but driver precautions beat every safety devices IMO.

[grawk]

driver caution doesn't help in an evasive maneuver. it's always safer to have more traction.