Triple-H

Try this story on for size...

I own a 1990 CRX-Si, let the record show this is a very light weight car. I drove this car for just 1 winter, and it had brand new ice/snow tires on all 4 corners. That car was so darn scary in the winter I just had to stop driving it. When it would start to slide no matter how the brakes were locked up or pumped/held/released/repeated, that damn car would just skid along for nearly forever. The low weight would not allow it to dig into the snow and get much stopping traction. The following winter I drove a '86.5 Nissan SE-V6 4x4 KC Hardbody pickup, a nearly 4,500 pound tank, and low and behold when ya hit the brakes on hardpacked snow, the sucker slowed down, it could grip the road, not slide along the top of the snow pack. Based upon my experience I don't buy your theory.

Paul S

I had the same experience in my Integra. I had studded Nokians on all four corners. It actually did pretty well around town, but once you get going up an incline, they start to get squirrely. Going down the hill in snow is also dangerous, because if you do too fast, you will slide out, but try to slow down too quick, you'll slide. With a truck or SUV, I've had no problems.

Best suggestion is to go to an empty parking lot and practice on a snowy day. Try braking, swerving, drifting , etc.

Triple-H

The "best" one that ever happened to me in the CRX-Si was actually going down a slight hill. I was in the city and it was just a narrow 2-lane road, a nice curvy road that ran along side the seminary. The ground was covered with snow, it was early morning, I was headed to work and I was on 4 snow tires.

I know I was going slowly because I was less than a mile from home and I never push a cold engine. As I was coming down this little hill and going through this slight curve a car pulled out to the end of its driveway to back out onto the street. The car was moving rather quickly and I was concerned it might come right out into the street. So all I did was let up off the gas, and before I could even think the CRX-Si had done a nearly perfect 180 degree spin (trailing throttle oversteer) never contacting the huge curbs on both sides of the street. So here I am now, just before this driveway, and my car is now pointed back up the hill. I honestly did not know what else to do other than drive back home and call in sick... I figured I had used up all my luck for the day.

Paul S

Looks like it all worked out in the end, right?

I got fed up with mine when I went to visit my parents for the Holidays. They live up on a hill and the roads are covered in snow for pretty much all of winter. There is one stretch of road where the incline is pretty steep and about 1/4 mile long. I'd never attempted to conquer this hill, but one day decided to test out the Nokians. I knew I had to get a good amount of speed before coming up to the hill, and I hit it at about 35mph.

I was chugging along pretty well, and as I saw the crest about 50 feet away, I thought for sure I was going to make it. By then, I was going maybe 18-20mph. I kept on the throttle, doing my best not to spin out. About 15 feet from the top, the tires started spinning like crazy and I knew I was done for.

The worst part was trying to back down the hill. The road is about 15 feet wide, so no safe way to turn around. I was sweating bullets, as one side of the road were rocks and trees and the other side was a nice drop of 20-40 feet. I barely got it down the hill, parked it on an empty field, called my parents and their MDX made it up with no problems.

I bought my SUV shortly after.

PLYRS 3

we're on our first truck...an ML.

for our driving habits, it doesn't miss a beat.

it's got some sort of truck or A/T tire....it plows through anything.

hell, i used it to dislodge my car last winter.

for 99.999999% of the people that will never go off-road, any truck > car if they're concerned about bad weather driving.

no_really

where I live, we get snow. Some years tons, some years not so much. But most of the winter the roads are dry. Snow tires would be great if there was snow on the ground all the time, but there just isn't. It snows, it gets plowed. We get slop and occasionally everything ices up, but for the most part, a day after a snow the roads are clear. So all-season tires do the job better than summer tires, and don't require an extra set of wheels and a seasonal tire change. Seems silly to put summer tires on a truck or family car.

I would say that most all-seasons tend to work well if you put them on at the start of winter and change them every year. Putting them on in the spring, and/or driving them until they are bald defeats the purpose.

If it snowed every day or so, snow tires would be a better choice. But the rubber compound and handling characteristics of a snow tire aren't something I want most of the time - only on snow/ice.

rai

this is a misconception about snow tires. There are now so-called 'performance snow tires' which would be better called 'winer tires'

The all-season tires don't do well in snow we know that, but like you said 95% of the time it's cleared in the first few hours. But it's still cold and it's the cold temps where the winter tires do better than all season (not to mention when ther is snow on the ground).

Yes, you can probably get by with all-season tires where I live, but the performance snow tires don't give up any dry grip (at least when it's cold which is 90% of the winter) so you can drive them in dry conditions. But when it does snow and we have all been out there, even if they plow a lot, there will always be snow covered roads from time to time. Then I like the piece of mind with a snow tire.

Oddly the only vehicle I don't have snow tires for is my Trooper. It's got those wide-gap treads, not exactly off-road, but def 'truck tires' and I think those plus the weight of the Trooper do OK in the snow.

If it's not deep deep snow, I'd rather be in my Legacy AWD wagon. But if it's a foot of snow, I would take the Trooper. Probably would be even better with snow tires, but I'm not keeping it long enough to make the price of an extra set of wheels and tires worth while.

rai

this is OT, but I don't mind spending an extra grand (or so) for an extra set of rims and snow tires. I believe the tires are very important to how a car drives and safety. I can't tell you the times I've seen people with expensive cars and yet they are too cheap to buy new tires when they are bald.

Or the guy who sold his S2000 b/c he couldn't drive it in the winter. I'm not saying it's greeat in the winter, but with the right tires it's OK. So what I mean instead of buying a whole new car, it's possible snow tires + rims (about $1500) would make a big difference. Also save miles on the summer tires so they last 3 years instead of 2.

Triple-H

Did I neglect to mention the brown spot in my underwear?

Triple-H

Your are not...

Nimesh, how many times do I have to tellya???
You sold the minivan and bought an SUV, that f'ing ML is not a truck...