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Do rental cars in northern states come with all season tires or snow tires? Asking because my wife's daughter and her family moved to Watertown NY and we may visit them during the winter just get the experience of a real winter. I hate driving in snow but will if they have snow tires. Thanks.
They have what ever they came with from the factory, which usually means some pretty crapy all seasons.
If you guys are careful, it shouldn't be an issue though. Lots of people learn to drive on snow and ice with normal tires. Maybe try to rent something with AWD. Stay away from the Mustangs and RWD Charger-like vehicles.
Do rental cars in northern states come with all season tires or snow tires? Asking because my wife's daughter and her family moved to Watertown NY and we may visit them during the winter just get the experience of a real winter. I hate driving in snow but will if they have snow tires. Thanks.
All seasons.
FWD with all seasons delivers acceptable performance.
They don't rent them with snow tires. No real need to. Pretty much everything they rent is FWD or AWD and with the stock all-seasons, you can get around fine in light snow.
If there's a blizzard incoming, I can't imagine you want to hop in the car and go sight-seeing? I can see if you are a first responder and you need to drive in crappy weather having a set of snow tires, but where you are on "vacation" it's just better to stay home with 20" of snow inbound.
They clear the roads pretty well in the noretheast. 24 hours after a major storm, the roads will be down to bare pavement and pretty easy to get around. I used to equip my vehicles with snow tires when I had a job that I was on call during storms, but now that I no longer do that, I get around perfectly fine with my AWD and FWD car's with decent all-seasons.
FWD with all seasons delivers acceptable performance.
You can also rent an AWD or 4wd vehicle.
That's about it. Not much to worry about.
Most of the difficult driving takes place early in a snow storm before sand/salt trucks get out or a long heavy snow storm.
The trick is to not drive during a snow storm or if you have to is to drive slowly. Give yourself extra time wherever you are going. The rare storm may be an ice storm. And if ice then get off the roads and wait until the salt/sand trucks treat the roads.
Watertown gets a large amount of lake-effect snow, so the road crews are experienced with clearing the snowfall. It's also fairly cold, since it's not far from Canada, so not the same sort of snow that one would experience along the Northeast coast. I think that you would be fine with most rental cars on paved roads; however, ground clearance may be an issue, especially for parking, if you are parking outdoors and prone to getting plowed in, so a slightly higher ground clearance with AWD may be a better option than a sedan.
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In Alaska you can rent a car with studded snow tires, for an extra fee. I imagine it's the same elsewhere, unless studded tires are banned.
I think that’s an Alaska thing. It’s never been offered in the Midwest where I’ve lived.
Quote:
Originally Posted by unit731
That's about it. Not much to worry about.
Most of the difficult driving takes place early in a snow storm before sand/salt trucks get out or a long heavy snow storm.
The trick is to not drive during a snow storm or if you have to is to drive slowly. Give yourself extra time wherever you are going. The rare storm may be an ice storm. And if ice then get off the roads and wait until the salt/sand trucks treat the roads.
The other important thing is that up north, they do a better faster job of clearing snow. They have to. Kids in Chicago and Minneapolis miss way less school for snow than they seem to in NC. Also, the ice isn’t as bad.
I lived a good decade in the Midwest without ever using snow tires, studded tires, or chains. They're not really necessary for typical use. Where you need them is if you must drive on steep grades, uncleared or poorly cleared roads, and/or very extreme low temperatures. (Needless to say I do use them in rural interior Alaska.)
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