Winter Tires?

Some manufacturers have recommended all four be winter tires for best handling. They also help with traction to control and to stop the car. I've seen this for both front and rear wheel drive cars.

Me too. Wouldn't have it any other way, and leave the all-weather tires on year-round. If in doubt, mount the set with the greater tread-depth about now. All-weather tires are fantastic in heavy rain, besides.

Many people assume that the two drive wheels are most important and the other two tires sort of tag along. This idea was valid twenty or more years ago when snow tires were different only in their tread design. Today's winter tires have different compounds and designs that deliver from 25 to 50 percent more traction in snow and ice, and using just two on a vehicle creates a traction mismatch that can have serious handling consequences. Using four winter tires ensures optimum traction and control for all vehicle types. Take for example winters on front and all seasons on back - right away, in snow you have a braking mismatch as well as traction. more times than not, especially at higher speeds the rear of the car could fish tale for reasons due to speed or braking. As well - where I live you could actually be in violation of insurance regulations by not having all four on as opposed to just two

- call your insurance company and ask them. Good all season tires are fine in rain - when it comes to ice, snow they are crap.

I was actually thinking about buying two sets at once, One winter and one all season and then just switching as needed. Storage isn't an issue.

And to save yourself a few bucks during change over see if you can get

where do you live???

Why not try an automotive news group last time I looked this was home repair.

Tom

Yep and I figured we all have a car at home.

That made a lot of sense some years ago. Ever price the wheels on most of today's cars if you want factory dupes?

i got 4 rims at a scrap yard for a 2003 model for 80.00. vehicle was in a roll over.

My front Michelins apx 5 yrs old were worn and slippery so I replaced them, but knowing tires oxidise , get hard and slippery with only age. At the tire store I checked rears and new fronts for oxidation hardness and yes the new fronts, same model are nice and soft and the rears noticibly harder when poking in my fingernail. I thought it was going to be an issue, one day its wet out I slam on the brakes, first time ever the rears slide, later I go around a turn on snow and sure enough the ass slided around and I lost it. Replace all 4, I went back and got new rears even though tread has 50000 left. So your new sticky snows will outgrip your rears and you could loose control with only 2.

-snip-

I'll disagree here, though. Check out the stats on Goodyear's TripleTred. It is far from crap, and overall a good trade off [for most folks] given how nice they ride on dry roads, and how well they handle on wet roads.

Here's the Tripletred;

DryTraction 9.4 [8.1] Wet Traction 9.4 [8.3] Hydro Resistance 9.3 [8.3] Snow Traction 9.0 [8.9] Cornering Stability 9.0 [7.7] Steering Response 9.0 [7.8] Ride Comfort 8.7 [8.1] Noise Comfort 8.6 [7.6] Tread Wear 9.1 [7.8]

Wow- I don't think Blizzaks were out when I bought that set of TripleTreds last year. But from what I've heard, I thought the Blizzaks would beat my Triple treds on ice and snow-- and maybe on wet roads.

Oh crap! I thought these figures were the result of testing, not an

If I was sure I'd be driving on packed snow all winter I'd look for a winter tire.[probably studded] But the truth is that 90% of the time, even in winter, I'm drivcing on dry roads. [upstate NY -- lots of snow, but I rarely *need* to drive in it]

Unless I see some good solid evidence tot he contrary, I think I'll stick with all season tires.

Jim

"All weather" tires are not the same as "winter tires".

Guess your wife and her father are just ignorant. Read any vehicle manual and you find that for any front wheel drive you need traction tires on the real also. If your vehicle is a rear wheel drive then you would have to be a complete idiot to put traction tires on just the front. Was I too harsh?

And yes, your last sentence is correct.

All weather tires are great but they aren't worth a damn in snow and ice. Assume that that winter means snow and ice.

Exactly and have both mounted on wheels, so you don't have to dismount them when you switch, just change wheels.

Depends on how expensive a car you have or how fancy those aluminum wheels are. However, for winter, why not just use regular steel wheels at about $20-25 a piece.

Sounds good to me. I have no anecdotes, but can't help thinking that mounting and remounting the tires poses a risk to the bead, etc. Do you think it does?

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let me know if you have posted also.