Snow im looking at getting some snow tires for my 06 accord. Yokohama Ice Guard IG20’s to be correct. I hear/read its a great tire. My question is at what point should I put these tires on the car? If you run these in the summer you will tear them up. dry conditions and the heat of the road. But it should be fine to runthem now right? Though theres no snow…roads are much cooler.
or
Should I wait till 1st snow fall?
Thanks guys
they are going to wear more than a normal tire would because they are softer, equate that to how much you drive, most people drive 1k miles a month or more.
you probabaly wont need them for another 2 weeks, I’d wait til the first to put them on, someone will come in and say well what if it snows.
between now and then, IF it snows, it isnt going to stick around long enough to need snows.
yea i run Blizzaks on the wife’s Forrester, and I’m not putting them on “yet”… It does have all seasons on it so if she is caught in the snow its no big deal… But like J-K stated i would wait as long as possible.
Just remember that summer tires under 40° don’t work and start to become dangerous in a emergency situation.
Good luck
I usually go until almost December to put my snows on, but since I have mine mounted/balanced on a 2nd set of rims it’s just a matter of watching the forecast and if it looks like significant snow I slap them on in about 15 minutes.
It comes down to what you have on your car for summer tires too. If you’re running all seasons it’s not nearly as critical to get those snows on as if you’re running a summer only performance tire. If we get an early snow storm in November you can just go a little slower and be fine on all seasons. If we get an early snow and I’m caught with my 245 max performance summer tires my car will not move in 1" of snow.
This morning driving to work in the cold rain at 7am the summer tires we already starting to turn into bricks though. It was far easier to spin them than it is in a warm summer rain.
If you take it easy, it shouldn’t be a issue to put them on now. They’re going to probably be quite a bit more ‘mushy’ than you’re used to, and driving hard is going to tear them up.
That said, I have went through June with snows while waiting for new wheels. They weren’t torn up too bad, easily made it another season or two.
I gave up on snow tires a while ago, and just went to all seasons. They’re OK year round, and my car doesn’t feel like pudding in the winter anymore.
Just want to add that I delay as long as possible more because I hate how my car handles on snows more than because I’m worried a month will make a huge difference in wear to my snows. First gear on dry roads with my snows is pretty much a useless gear, unless you like lots of smoke and noise.
Use snows only when necessary…
thanks guys
yea i plan on getting a 2nd set of rims with the snows. i personally have never driven on snows but hows the driving mid december with cold temps but still dry roads.
Again this is just my DD accord so im not racing or taking corners like its my S.
I have always had all seasons (what I currently have on the car now) and the winters with the civic or accord were fine.
Actually my civic was a beast =P the accord is well…ok.
Again though, mid december and jan even when the roads are dry, i shouldnt have a problem due to the cold temps right.
Also, same psi? Do i go with door jam psi or tire psi?
Currently the car has 16" but i was thinking of going with a 15" rim and tire set up. Cheaper and my wifes 05 LX has 15"
this should be no prob going from 16" to 15" right?
I run TraccMax Ice Plus from Swerve. Cheap tire and did me some serious good last year in the snow… highly recommended.
Cold dry roads with snows should be fine. They squirm a little more because they have bigger treads with more voids but they will grip fine.
Same PSI as your regular tires.
Should be fine going 15’s if the car has an option of 15’s from the factory. Only concern would be if the 16’s were part of a performance package that came with bigger brakes but I doubt that’s the case on an accord.
On a sports car with wide tires it’s better to go down in width too because the snow tire will cut through the snow better instead of riding on top. The big thing is maintaining tire’s overall diameter so your speedometer (and odometer if you’re leasing) will be correct.
ah ok
yea my accord is an SE so i got little upgrades like better radio and rims but the rotors and calipers are the same.
ill look into the over dia too.
anyone know of any links that will give you and idea of the dia depending on rim size and tire height? ie: 40series v. 50series v 60?
thanks again
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html
^ Is your friend when looking at different tire sizes.
A safe bet would be that what ever size 15’s the lesser model Accords comes with should be the same diameter as your 16’s.
to be honest, you dont need snows.
I had a stock 93 civic auto with regular tires that would barly pass inspection last year, when we got that 24’’ or whutever right in the early afternoon.
they plowed in the morning, there was already like 6 - 8’’ on the ground, i went to my eye specialist, got an injection, in the 3 hrs i was there, i walked out to another 6 ‘8’’ unplowed, and still coming down hard.
I made it home without much issue, the biggest issue was idiots infront of me going fucking 15mph.
anything less than 30 and the civic felt like it was going to fucking burry.
food for thought. snows shine most in slush.
---------- Post added at 11:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:15 AM ----------
Wow I never thought of that, you could lease a jeep, put big tires on it, and drive it for tons of extra miles just in how far off the speedo will be.
considering I should have thought of it, as driving on big tires on my jeeps, has my speedo 7 - 10% off.
I used Nokian Hakka’s last year and they were awesome. I have brand new all seasons on my car now so I’m going to rock those for the winter and let my fiancee use the Hakka’s. We had our first snowfall in early December last year, and I threw them on right after that.
It’s really amazing though how many cars I see with snows on them year round. People in CNY (not all, but many) are really dumb.
yea my 94 civic coupe plowed through snow.
maybe ill get the snows for the wifes car and take her all seasons. shes got a worse drive then me. if i like how her accord performs in the snow over mine…then ill get a 2nd set
thanks for the link btw
looks like i could get 22" chrome dubs on a 25series tire and be all good HAHA
And by the way, I’d get some Hak’s…
Hak’s over yokohamas?
whys dat
Hak’s are just unreal. I’m pretty sure many of the Hak tires outperform other brands in a variety of winter conditions. I don’t remember quite which ones, but they are definitely good for the extreme conditions. On my 98 Civic last year, they just tore through anything and that’s on their 3rd winter season. I can’t speak for yokohamas but ask around enough and people will tell you that Hakka’s are awesome.
Last year was my first year without snow tires (bought my Prizm late in the season) and honestly it was horrible. My car is very light and the slightest snow would cause tires to slip and spin in most gears (had about half life left on tiger paws…ugh)
This year I’m driving up to Quebec and I’m sure as hell buying a set of snows.
Snows are a luxury, not a need to have. Sure, with all-seasons you will most likely be fine as roads get cleared rather quickly. However, snows optimize every element of driving during winter conditions…start, stop, turn…and for that sake they’re great to have.
Between now and first snow, if you’re an average commuter you’re not going to burn snows down enough to have to worry. I’ve seen tires develop dry rot and breakdown from age before trad depth got to low. So, if you get snows…put them on whenever you have the freetime.