PaulModz

Hi All,

My S2000 is a daily driver, I'm new to the Boston area, and I'm looking for a little advice on dealing with my first New England winter.

I live in the Back Bay area of Boston and work in Needham. My daily commute only involves major arteries (Boylston, Mass Ave, the Pike and 95). Are winter tires a necessity?

If they are, given the expense of buying the tires, having them changed twice a year, and storing the tires I'm not using (I live in an apt), would it be wiser to simply spend a few thousand dollars on a winter beater?

Thanks in advance.

jtpassat

yes - the first winter question in this forum!!!!

let me give you the holy bible answer

1. yes you NEED snow tires if you want to drive in New England, not just because of the snow but because the drop in temp <40 degrees will make your summer tires as hard as hockey pucks with the same type of traction.


as far as snow tires vs. beater - this is beaten more than rented mule or a red headed step child

my personal opinion is

1. if you can afford it
2. have a place to store your S

then yes get a beater because the combination of salt and snow is never nice to the S, not to mention the tons of crap that will be kicked up on your front end.

and personally - its not fun to drive a lightweight convertible in the winter time.

wskS2K

I second the second vehicle. My previous ride was an Audi TT. I drove it one winter and at the end of that winter I had so many nick and bumps that I never drove it in the winter again.

But if a second vehicle is out of the question, I suggest you get some really good tires on steel wheels for your S2K. Go thinner/smaller on the tires than what you have for summer for better traction. I also highly recommend Nokian tires. I had WRs on my TT and they were awesome....more high perfomance all weather tires while we have the Hakkapalitas on the Volvo...total snow tire, and they rock.

Oh yeah...if you have to drive your S2k in the winter....make sure you fill your trunk with weight for better traction too.

Bass

with JT on this one

SNOW TIRES after Nov 1... no matter what

beater - think extra insurance (mass is a Killer), parking and storing

Thomas has a brand new set of ws-50s on a nice set of aftermaket rims for $550.00 and changing tires is easy as pie

Bass

i disagree

the car has a 50/50 weight distubtion.. drove my 01 & 04 in the winter with snows and both were just fine

HARDtoTOP

I have to disagree somewhat with what was said here...

While I 100% agree that winter tires should be used here in the winter, it is not the end of the world if not. They DO NOT turn into hockey pucks and send you careening off the road IF YOU DRIVE NORMAL in dry weather. I drove the entire winter last year on S02 rubber and never even lost traction for a second. I did not take the car when there was precipitation and below 40* though.

If you do not have winter tires do not drive in any type of wetness at all. Although Glenn, Jim and I drove in 6" of snow for about 50 miles when we ran into a storm on the way back from the Dragon this April and made it fine.

Bottom line is that I do think you should get winter tires or a beater, but I just wanted to note that some people go a bit overboard when stating how bad the tires are in the cold. Drive around the speed limit and you will be fine with summer tires although it is not the ideal setup by any means.

jtpassat

i love this question.. it's like the innocent trolling no offense to you PaulModz

Bass

but you can never tell if you're out and it starts to rain, snow or worse hit some black ice

550 is cheap peice of mind

jtpassat

didn't I use this condition for the hockey puck reference??

Cubs2k

I think I'm with Wendy on this.....I'd throw a 50lb bag (or two) of coarse sand in the back in case. The extra weight on the drive wheels helps if you are stuck and can also help you get unstuck.....

I'd buy the snow set.......there are plenty of members that would be happy to store your summer wheels for you...if you can get them to my house...or storage for example.

Steve....perhaps you could sell the wheels for $600 and store the buyer's oem for the winter?