winter tires worth it?
 

I'm in a lil civic hybrid way up here in lake effect snow country, MI. I replaced 2 of my tires a few months back with some good 80k mile all season tires and I'm thinking about buying another pair of long life all season tires BUT I'm thinking about just putting snow tires up front for the winter and putting all seasons on come spring time.

I've traditionally bought snow tires for all of my RWD vehicles and it did miracles with traction but on FWD should I even bother? I'm only going to do it on the driving pair... This is my first winter without 4WD so I'm just not sure...

If you dont have all wheel drive or 4wd then yes its worth it. They will last you a lot of seasons.

definitely worth it, but make sure you take them off at the first sign of spring because they don't last long on dry pavement

thats what I've always done before ;) ended up taking them off TOO early every time it seems.

Places like discount tire will bend over backwards for ya. When you have bought all 6 tires from them I've had them toss on and take off the winter tires for me FREE as a part of that normal free rotation. I'm not sure if this is a standard service or not but I never skimp on the tires! the last pair I bout were $120 each and the snow tires will likely be about $80 each

Depends on how well snow removal crews are by you. I lived in Wisconsin my entire life, sans the six years I was in the Navy, and have never bought nor used snow tires. Then again, snow removal has been superb where I have lived and they dump enough salt on the streets to convert the great lakes into sea like water. If things were worse, I may have considered them, but GOOD all season tires have always worked for me.

winter tires are more important due to ice, not snow

No tires are good on ice but snow tires help a bit

Hence my comment about salt

where I live there are some fairly steep areas just to get from my house to the main roads. A few years back we couldn't even get out of my driveway for a few days because of packed down snow.

I have a big GMC Yukon Denali that came standard with 20 inch rims. After the bad snow then, I bought a set of standard GMC 18 inch rims and studded winter tires. I put them on in late Nov or early Dec and take them off in late Feb or early March.

For the piece of mind to me, it's worth it.

PK

I wouldn't bother with it on a FWD nig.
:2 cents:

around here everythings so flat... last year in the snow driving I did with this it worked great with all-season.

Like the guy from Wisconsin said GOOD all-season tires make a huge difference. I never skimp on tires. Those like sub $50 tires just aren't worth it.

I got 4 tires for winter, i like their sound too :)

yes - if the temperature drops to below 5c degrees, then get witnertires, because the softer compound will grip better, both on dry, and on wet/ice

Also. It dont matter if its RWD, FWD or AWD - if its cold, ALWAYS use wintertires.

I lived up in the great frozen tundra (canada) for a short bit, 2 winters though.

My car had a set of Yokohama tires, pretty much are all higher performance but they have mid level all weather ones and they did f'in amazing on the snow. They climbed every hill and stopped every time. Did great in heat, rain, snow and at high speeds. Honestly, best set of tires I have ever purchased, a bit more expensive.. but damn worth it.

Now in some areas around the lakes that just get dumped with snow, prob still better to go with snow tires, which they also make.

Lake Effect snow warning AGAIN, the last one we had ended up dumping 8 or 9" on us over about 16 hours. I drove over near the lake just yesterday and all of the snow they had was melted already! I live in that area of the darkest blue just north of the I-94 line. Just like the last time around Kalamazoo isn't getting dumped on but right where I live is getting NAILED again.


lake effect snow is a weird bitch. It can dump 6+ inches in some areas and 20 miles away 1" or less.

The wifes family lives in Western NY. I don't know how you guys live with the cold weather, snow, slush and mud crap all over just screwing your cars up. Then most of ya don't have an AC so when it gets hot/humid it's just short of total misery.

I love AZ... I was outside in shorts and a wind breaker at 7:30am.

Alright so as a technician for over fifteen years here is my take.
The big thing about winter tires is not the tread type but the fact that the compound is far different then all season tires. In short it is a softer compound and does not freeze lie all seasons tend to giving you little to no traction.
Winter tires give you better control and grip but more then anything the ability to stop far faster on snow and ice then all season tires (a big plus)
You should always go to a set of four tires no matter what you drive.
Having two different tread patterns (all season on the trailing wheels and winters on the drive wheels) is not a good idea as the vehicle will tend to spin around as the snows grab and the all seasons slip.
In short it depends on where you drive and when, if you have the option of staying home on real bad snow days then maybe you dont need them if you have to go to work then get four.
I have no intention of killing myself or my loved ones because I cheaped out on tires.

I live in the snow belt too in upstate NY and I've always used all season's. Mind you I dont drive more than 2 miles a week anymore, but when I used to commute I never got stuck. Car is FWD as well.

Living 20 minutes from Lake Erie in Southwestern Ontario most of my life, i never had winter tires nor felt the need to have them or even know of many people who did. Now that I live in Ottawa though, its a totally different story. Winter tires are a must here and in Quebec, its the law. I doubt you really need them that much though.

I agree, snow tires are a good investment. They give you a better grip in snow.

When my daily driver was a car I always used snow tires in winter.. Now I have 4X4 suburban with big all terrain tires and they work great in the snow... I love it when it's snowing and everyone on the highway is going slow, sliding, slipping, etc and I can just keep cruising along at 55 with no problems..

Last winter I was able to drive in 3ft of snow without getting stuck or sliding

True dat toots.

all season tires are like a sweater. Its too hot to wear it in the summer and too cold to wear it in the winter.

I personally run 18s with summer tires for summer and 17s with winter tires for winter

Go with winter tires..
Here, we don't even have the choice anymore...they passed a law this year and we have to put winter tires on our vehicules or we'll get fines.

:)

You had an AWD before and you're asking about winter tires?

Winter - you're doing it wrong.

I've never had an AWD vehicle... I've stuck with REAL 4WD trucks. My Ram 1500 Quad Cab is badly missed tonight. I was driving out to get my son a little while ago and had to turn around and go back home. Within a 4-5 mile stretch heading west we went from green grass all around to damn near whiteout with 6+ inches of snow on the ground.

Kalamazoo was green everywhere but heading west things went to hell.... Thank you lake effect snow! My son can just stay with Grandma LOL

invest in a winter set, it will last you 3-4 seasons, and you will have ALOT better control of your car... winter tires make HUGE difference

hoosier R6 ftw!

Think in terms of safety mainly, if you crash, it will cost you a lot more than having winter tyres. Get them put on, even if only for winter

i drive a honda civic. i didn't have snow tires last year and it was hell. mind you we had an abnormal amount of snow. but ya, i think its worth it.

crash, possibly life .... orrr.... snow tires...

easy decision :thumbsup

Depends how much you drive. I use my car once a week to go to the shop to get food less than a mile from where I live. The snow removal downtown in Toronto is excellent, so there is no need for winter tires. However, If I drove to work and spent a lot of time in the car, I would get the winter tires.

What he said :thumbsup

Se ya in few weeks Jimmy :)

If you go through the winter without an accident, then they are a total waste of time and money.

If they help you stay out of one accident, then they're worth it.

Right? :)

Yeah I never got all seasons either.. I'd much rather have a nice set of summer tires and winter tires, so you can enjoy driving all year round..

I mean shit, buy an old buick while you're at it.

Yes they are worth it, just take them off when the snow is over, and keep them well stored for next season. Don't do like some people and leave them on until they wear down.

I've been hearing that some places (like Ontario for instance?) have or are making it mandatory that people have winter tires on their vehicle during winter months.

Anyone live in an area that has a law like that?

I've always just used all-season tires, no accidents in the last 20+ years. Slid into the odd ditch mind you, but no collisions. :D

i would suggest not going cheap as its your life saving thing on the road, i got these:
http://montreal.kijiji.ca/c-cars-veh...QAdIdZ88016352

The new law is in effect in Quebec (could just be Montreal not 100% on that). All cars must have winter tires.

fuck, yeah

last year I had to go to another city and the weather was perfectly fine over here, not even 30 km from where I live - fucking snow and ice, I had to drive with the speed of a turtle for 4 hours afterwards.

First thing I did when I came back was to replace my tires.

Worth every penny, especially where we live.

it is a must here in norway!

I finally got around to ordering my tires last night from discount tires ebay store and stacked that 30% live.com cashback + the direct 5% discount and a 10% paypal/ebay coupon. I'm going to end up with the pair of snow tires on the front and my normal all-seasons on the back.

Your front brakes traditionally account for ~70% of your actual stopping power and since those are my driving wheels the added traction up front from the snow tires will certainly help. As far as some people saying the rear will slide more and make it harder to drive... I've never had an issue like that. The tires on my rear currently are the OEM tires and are damn near bald and I was out driving last night in snow covered roads without any problems with my rear sliding on me (other than the times turning that I pull the ebrake for power slides)

Anyway I'll likely have my tires in Wednesday since they ship UPS ground and have a warehouse in Ohio which should go out today. Usually UPS ground from that area is overnight.

Walking into the store and getting this pair installed would have run ~$212 after the cashback and installing I'll have saved around $80 by buying online even if I take them to discount tire for installation!

bought my first pair last winter .. I was amazed at the difference .. even with front wheel drive .. I recommend them to every one

I just got back from driving all over the place after last nights 8" of snowfall.. It is 17 degrees outside and we have a lake effect snow advisory in place. Roads are packed snow on all secondary roads which makes them virtually a sheet of ice right now.

I am absolutely amazed what a pair of snow tires on JUST THE FRONT does. Discount tire told me they wouldn't put snow tires on Just the front so they put them on the back for me and I rotated them myself to put the snow tires up front.

Traction isn't an issue now at all! I've stepped on it in quite a few different slippery places and it just takes right off! I slammed on my brakes several times on completely covered roads and barely slid (same roads when the snow tires were on the back I slid like crazy)

They would only put them on the back? What the hell lol :)

Sounds like they did the trick for ya!

they didn't tell me till I was already dropping off the car yesterday and I needed them mounted so said fuck it I'll just rotate them myself took me about 90 minutes cause I couldn't find my second jack so I had to use jack stands and the lil jack that came with the car instead of a pair of good jacks + stands. Its been a LONG time since I rotated my own tires! My garage isn't heated so my ass FROZE while other parts of me were sweating like crazy.

I would say yes

Way to read the whole thread Biddy LOL I ended up getting a pair and damn did it ever help ;)