Driving in Winter

[TheProf]

Hello,

I hope everyone is well.

My Michelin MXV4+ all seasons are approaching the end of their lifespan. As I live in Toronto, which often gets large snowfalls, I thought perhaps I would purchase winter tires instead of another set of all seasons, then next summer purchase summer and flip back and forth.

But I am new to all this and I have a few questions:
1) are there any drawbacks to this approach? Would it be better just to stick to all seasons?
2) Do I need to purchas an additional set of rims? That would jack up the cost a lot which isn't something I'd want.
3) If I do purchase winter tires, I've been reading online and found favorable reviews for both Blizzak, X-Ice, and Dunlop Winter sport M2 tires. Does anyone have any experience with these?

thank you.

[StanT]

I live in mountains where snow tire aren't optional. The 2 tire approach works well for me. I'd strongly suggest a second set of rims for your snow tires. Inevitably, there will be a huge line at the tire dealer when you want your tires swapped. Having them mounted means you can easily swap them when it is convenient. I'd suggest cheap, used steel rims for the snow tires, over the life of the car, the cost of the rim will be cheaper than paying to swap them twice a year.
I've never used the tires you mention, but have had great performance from my Nokian Hakka 1's.

[politicophile]

I run Blizzaks on my WRX in the winter and they work really, really well. The difference in snow grip between those and the stock Potenza all-seasons that I still use in the summer is huge. Definitely buy a set of real snow tires: you'll be glad you did. I've had a great experience with my Blizzaks, as well...

[BigBen]

Blizzak have "Saved my life" twice since I have owned them. I used the brake on solid ice and the tires just bit into surface. All of the other people on the road were skating. I smiled, but in a nervous sort of way. Remember, whether they are racing slicks or off-road winter tires, it is the ability of the DRIVER to not overdrive the ability of the tires. If you drive like you have good tires, you might get a little bit agressive and start to get into trouble...

Yes, get a seperate set of Rims. You need the space to store your off-season tires anyway, so space isn't an option. I also had a bad experience with a guy transferring the tires to rims (the tech bent two rims, and replaced them free of charge) so having a second set is the way to go.

[Salomon]

If you are satisfied with the winter performance of the all-season tires, why not just get a new set of those?

If you are not satisfied with the all-seasons, I also have had very satisfactory performance from the Bridgestone Blizzaks. Of course, then you are stuck with the burden of paying for new wheels (snow tires usually require a narrower wheel), a place to store the non-winter wheels/tires, and the hassle (if one considers it such) of mounting/remounting the tires as needed.

As the other folks above have mentioned, winter tires do make a night & day difference. I had a rear drive car that was, to put it mildly, a challenge to drive in deep snow. Good snow tires not only improve rear wheel traction under acceleration - they also provide traction to the fronts which greatly improves the steering and overall control of the car in snowy conditions.

[shakran]

Tire Rack and Discount Tire usually run deals where you can get a set of blizzaks on steel wheels for a discount. This is a good way to go because even with good winter tires you might hit glare ice and smack a curb. Much better to do that to a cheap steelie than on your good wheels.

As long as you can afford the tires, there really aren't any drawbacks, and there are lots of advantages. Remember that it takes a very different tread pattern and composition to excel in dry handling than it does to excel in ice/snow handling. So an all season tire by definition is going to be below the best in both situations. That's not to say they're all horrible -they're not - but a blizzak (winter) or a falken azeni/yokohama ES100 (summer) will outgrip any allseason tire.

[merkerguitars]

Get some Nokian Hakkapeliitta, amazing tires, pricey at about $85 a pop but well worth it.

[TheProf]

Hello,

Thanks for people's replies. So I've been reading a ton online as well as calling around, and here are some outcomes:

1) All of the Bridgestone (Blizzak or Revo-1) are composed to two different compounds. The really good rubber compound for the first 50% or so, and the rest is regular winter compound. Thus it didn't make sense to pay a premium for these tires and not get the excellent performance for the entire life of the tire

2) Nearly any winter tire will outdo the best all-season tires.

3) Prices vary no matter where or who you call. It seems to be mostly based on the position of the moon in the sky

As was suggested to me, I'm going to be getting rims as well. And I'm leaning towards the Viking snowteck winter tires as they were rated 2nd by consumer reports (after X-ice) but are substantially less expensive. Has anyone heard or used these?

thanks.

[shakran]

Originally Posted by TheProf

Hello,

Thanks for people's replies. So I've been reading a ton online as well as calling around, and here are some outcomes:

1) All of the Bridgestone (Blizzak or Revo-1) are composed to two different compounds. The really good rubber compound for the first 50% or so, and the rest is regular winter compound. Thus it didn't make sense to pay a premium for these tires and not get the excellent performance for the entire life of the tire

You're right that it has a different tread compound. But there's a very good reason for that - the good ice gripping compound wears off very easilly if you drive it around on dry pavement too much. If they made the entire tire out of that compound, people who don't realize it's not supposed to be driven on dry pavement would find themselves skidding out of control when the tire wore away and blew.

2) Nearly any winter tire will outdo the best all-season tires.

Bingo!

3) Prices vary no matter where or who you call. It seems to be mostly based on the position of the moon in the sky

That too. That's one reason I like the blizzak/wheel deals. Even if you end up replacing the tires next season, you've still gotten a very good deal on getting wheels to save your good rims.

As was suggested to me, I'm going to be getting rims as well. And I'm leaning towards the Viking snowteck winter tires as they were rated 2nd by consumer reports (after X-ice) but are substantially less expensive. Has anyone heard or used these?

thanks.[/QUOTE]

[MSD]

Originally Posted by Salomon

As the other folks above have mentioned, winter tires do make a night & day difference. I had a rear drive car that was, to put it mildly, a challenge to drive in deep snow. Good snow tires not only improve rear wheel traction under acceleration - they also provide traction to the fronts which greatly improves the steering and overall control of the car in snowy conditions.

Snow tires and 400 pounds of sand (actually, two of the bags are ice melt in case the shit hits the fan,) in the trunk make a world of difference.

[TheProf]

So now the question becomes when to transfer over to the winter tires. But I've got one complicating issue.

I'm driving from Toronto -> Chicago and back over the last week of november. That's nearly 900 km one way. Now, the question is this: Do I stay with with all-seasons (which are running low on tread) and switch to winter immediately upon arrival at home, thus saving the winter tire tread, or do I switch right before going in case the Windy city has a lot of snow and I'm stuck spinning wheels?

Thanks

[IanSturgill]

Check the weather channel, really though, if you feel unsafe on the all seasons, switch now, don't be unsafe.
Also, if you use the winter tires, make sure to set up optimum air pressure for as little wear as possible, cause they definitely are an investment.

[Ilow]

I really like my Dunlop winter tires. Even though my car is AWD I still get a lot of benefit from them. I agree with the second set of wheel suggestions. If you don't like the ugly black steel wheels (as I don't) you can get a cheap used set of rims for a couple hundred bucks at a junkyard. Re. your Chicago trip, I would use the winter tires and save myself the anxiety from worrying about sliding off the road when I'm trying to avoid some dipshit in a RWD muscle car doing 360's down the highway in a snowstorm.