Christian Baril

I am having to start driving my s2000 back and forth to the hospital 2 hours away to see about premature twin sons. I live 2 hours from St Louis. We get snow about 5-10 times over the whole winter but for about 70% of the time we just have dry pavement or rain. I am trying to decide between real snow tires or all seasons. I don't really mind if the snow tires wear out quicker on dry roads. My main concern is being able to get through no matter what. So what should I get snow tires or all seasons?

EVLS2K

I had snow tires on my car and i didn't like it specially on wet roads
Now i ordered continental DWS which are all seasons but it looks like they could handle a lil but of snow
I didn't receive them yet
Where i am its more like a dry/wet winter , maybe we get snow 2-3 times
Maybe somebody else can help you better

8.5kallday

I drive on blizzaks from October to march every year for the past 4 years through dry,rain,ice and snow. So far they still have about 50percent thread left after three years but they've never handled rain very well as they like to slip around a lot. As long as the temps around you are close to freezing then they will be fine for your drive but when it rains just be lighter on the pedal since you can easily drift the rear end easier than ever before if you tried to. Id rather drive on these all winter long and not worry about ice patches compared to driving on ice skates which is what my starspecs feel like at 30degrees lol

icantbeseen1

Im with Rosie ^. you just have to be aware of how to drive the car when its raining and keep it a little slower. Also, if the temperatures fluctuate, this has been the biggest issue for me. So lets say it warms up a bit and the roads begin to "sweat" which mixes with the oils in the pavement, you have to be careful with sudden accelerations or turns. I say get the snow tires because when it snows i get through anything. The only thing that holds me back is having a lowered car. The tires perform very well in the snow.

darcyw

take it from a Canadian. i've driven winter tires from wintery Canada to Florida in one trip from cold to wet to dry from 20 degrees F to 80 degrees F. Winter tires- real winter tires- are marked with the snowflake.

snow tires are great in the wet- but they are louder than your typical all season er, no season tires. I've run a set to the cords at an autocross just because the winter compounds are soft and why not?

oh, and summer tires absolutely suck in the snow. really? yup.

good luck and hope the wee ones make out alright.

darcy

8.5kallday

^^^^ I don't know darcy lol
My vsa light never ever turns on unless im pushing the car a little hard in the rain with my blizzaks. Im not a professional drifter but the blizzaks make me look pretty damn good in the rain when I try to slide it around lol My starspec summer tires are much better in rain than my dedicated winter tires but overall I wouldn't drive my s2k in snow without the blizzaks just for piece of mind. I say get snow tires or leave the car home during a snow storm cause you might regret it other wise

Jim@tirerack

The winter tires are going to be fine on the dry roads. The temps are what you need to keep in mind. Winter tires are at their best at or below 45 degrees. Higher temps and they are going to wear quicker. I would just drive accordingly and you will be fine with the drive. I would not want to be caught without the winters when it does snow.
If I can help with anything let me know.

EVLS2K

Under hard acceleration i spin the Blizzaks on wet roads 1st and 2nd gear WITHOUT DROPPING THE CLUCH
For me they are a lil scary
The OP said has to drive 2 hours ....i guess highway, that means high speeds
Finally i got the DSW installed yesterday
I will review them soon as they were my alternative to Blizzaks
My 0.02

jkelley

This may be a little outside the scope of what you were thinking but if I were you with that type of drive, of that type of importance and frequency (I'm assuming it would be every or every other day for a while?) I wouldn't mess around. I would buy a set of cheap stock wheels with a different set of tires on them in your situation. You can always just sell them off again after you no longer have to make that trip. Stock wheels sell pretty fast I think, mostly for people tying to convert their cars back to OEM to be sold.

Christian Baril

Thanks for all the replies guys. I really appreciate everyone's thoughts.