I never saw the need for snows until I tried driving my GTO on summer tires in a light snowfall. Up until then all my daily drivers had all seasons and I never had a problem getting through snow, and that included driving up 81 past Watertown through a snow belt that makes the southtowns look like the tropics.
Do you get more traction with snows than all seasons, sure, but with a little care all season tires will get you through the winter just fine.
i always run snows from mid november to feb or march depending on when the snow is letting up. I ended up not getting snows a few seasons ago and i vowed to never again run all seasons in the Acura TL (2004) mostly because the stock size is 235 45 17 on 17X8 wheels, so they arent very good in the snow without getting snows and going to a 225 45 17 or 215 50 17. I can def feel the difference in going to a narrower tire in snow traction.
Edit: There is a night and day difference between snows and all seasons, esp going to a narrower tire for me. The haks are very good snows also.
I am a huge fan of Nokian WR’s. They are now called WR2’s or something like that, but anyways. It is the only tire in the world this is a true all season tire as it has the snow, sun, rain, and whatever the 4th icon is on the sidewall. I ran those on my A4 as a dedicated snow tire, put them on in the fall and removed them in the spring, and they fucking rocked. What was awesome about them was that they were designed for use all year round, so, if the roads dried up for a week or two, no worries. When I heard that they were an all season I thought that they were going to look basically like an Aquatred, maybe a bit more aggressive, these fuckers were aggressive as hell and went though snow like nothing. HIGHLY, HIGHLY reccomended, like getting the best of all worlds in one tire. And I was always a person who said that all season tires = all season compromise
i would probably buy a set for my girlfriend/wife , i dont really think i need them. ive had allseasons on my grandprix, integra and my cavalier and did fine pretty much no matter the depth of the snow, unless it was something rediculous . however i had snowtires on my awd talon last year and it was absolutely amazing to drive in. ive never had so much control before while driving lol. i could blow thru 2 foot snowbanks, pass people on the highway, go in front of plow trucks and not worry about it.
i dont remember the brand of the tire but they last a really long time, speedracer18t has the tires now.
i think if i ever had an awd car again, especially a turbo one i’d definately buy snow tires just because it makes driving that much more fun and exciting
edit: if the temperature was ever over 45degrees the tires would absolutely suck and i would break traction in 3rd gear. theyre very squishy in non freezing temps and wore down VERY quickly if it was not ideal weather. i would wait until the snow falls to put them on, and take them off when the temps starting getting around 40degrees again
I’ve never had snows on anything, and frankly, our winters are not that bad that we get pounded with snow all the time. My civic had cheap ass all seasons with like 40% tread left in the front and I did just fine. Open front diff FTW! lol From a stop I’d pound through the gears till it started catching. Key is just getting off the gas at the right times to stay tracking straight.
The one and only problem I had was coming to stop signs in the falls because they didn’t like to plow and the civic was bottoming out on the snow.
Just snagged some Nokian Nordman 2s from SWERVE, awesome price, and an awesome tire. Haven’t put em on yet though… waiting for the snow so I dont burn em up too fast.
There is a pattern here. The people saying you don’t need snows are the ones with basic cars that come with non-performance all season tires that are quite narrow. And I agree, if you have a non-performance tread all season, especially if it’s narrow, it will do great in the snow.
Any issues with running a bit narrower of a snow tire ? Stock tire size on my winter wheels is 205/60. Id like to run a 195/65 for availability and id still like to run my spacers.
That’s not a large enough difference in width to worry about, many people go narrower with the snows. When going narrow I feel it’s best to keep the overall tire height as close to stock.
I agree, but my 79 Continental will be getting snows, due to its weight and obnoxiously torquey 400ci motor
Older thread, but anyways I am seriously considering snows for my CTS. I was originally thinking 2 would be fine (RWD). Bridgestone Blizzak WS60 , size would be 225/55R16. Does anyone have an opinion on them? $114/ea before shipping from Tire Rack… I’ve never bought snows before.
In my mind its a waste of money if you don’t get four. Sure you will get more traction with two on the rear but braking won’t be that great and cornering probably won’t be as good with two rather than four.
I always get snows.
For the 500 some odd bucks it costs me I find it worth the piece of mind