First winter in buffalo(tires) (how much, where to buy, tax)

[Robhu]

Any basic radial with a M&S rating will get you through common winter driving.
You don't have to buy over priced snow tires.
Stay away from the "touring" style tread tires.

[cheese9988]

Driving slow > snow tires. A good set of radials will suit you fine.

[HomerBrink]

Remember that when your car begins to skid to steer into the skid.

[Checkered24]

Originally Posted by Dockwalliper

Buy Made in Buffalo DUNLOP tires. A good set of all season radials then just take it slow the first coulpe times you drive on snow or ice.

I bought Dunlop winter tires.

They were made in Germany.

[Checkered24]

I gotta ask you folks who advocate the all seasons over the snows, have you experenced both in the same car?

Seriously. I agree you can get by with a good all season tire in general. However, not every all season is all that good in the snow either, depending on construction, tread design, and size. Also, a snow tire is superior, and has been proven to be superior on all kinds of tests.

If someone feels more comfortable on them, I would hate to discourage them. I have driven both all seasons and snows on the same car through multiple vehicles and Buffalo winters. I have gone through winters fine with all seasons. Dedicated snow tires are vastly superior.

Whether it is worth getting "overpriced" snow tires depends on what your replacing too.

My car came from the factory with a very pricey set of low profile summer only tires ($250+ per tire for OE replacements), and a set of brushed aluminum 18 inch rims (the kind that will pit and rust under the clearcoat from salt). They are completely unusable in the winter. So I had little choice. I could have gotten a stock size of all seasons for about $1200. Instead, I bought dedicated snow tires, an extra set of rims to save the nice factory ones, and an extra set of air pressure sensors for $1100. It made perfect sense to go this route. Plus the smaller wheels, larger sidewall snow tires will also bite into deeper snow better if I get caught out during a snowfall.

Also, if the OP has a rear drive car, snow tires, maybe even studded ones, will be far superior to all seasons in the snow. Especially if they are wider, low profile all seasons.

I guess my long winded point is that if all season m+s tires are good, mountain snowflake snow tires are great, and getting a set of snows may make a lot more sense for some than others, depending on the car and it's current state of tire.

[donbuy]

Originally Posted by Checkered24

I gotta ask you folks who advocate the all seasons over the snows, have you experenced both in the same car?

Yes, and I quickly realized that snow tires were a total waste of money.

[biggP]

Also makes a difference where OP is going to be driving...mostly around the city and small commutes go for all seasons.

If you plan on driving to or from the southtowns a lot, you may want snow tires, especially on the 219

[Dockwalliper]

Snow tires are great if your driving on snow but the fact is most of the winter we are driving on wet pavement and all seasons are the best. Those "Blizack" tires are wonderful for snow and ice but wear out very quickly on pavement. They are best suited for Zambonis.

[jblake78728]

Originally Posted by Checkered24

I gotta ask you folks who advocate the all seasons over the snows, have you experenced both in the same car?

I understand where you are coming from but I also got the impression that the OP doesn't have a lot of extra money laying around to spend on snow tires. I can't speak for anyone else but my comments were made with that in mind to let them know that as long as you drive carefully you can get by just fine without snow tires.

[proulxfamily]

Dunn Tire. Get two new all-seasons on the front. They'll put them on, rotate and service them for free for the life of the tires. And they're inexpensive.

*If* you went with snow tires, you'd have to get FOUR of them. NYS law recently required that. You can't have one or two snow tires replaced, you have to buy all 4. For all-seasons, they can't change out less than 2... if you blow a tire, they have to replace both tires on that axle. Of course, you *can* change them out yourself but... getting both tires done is safer. You'll get more wear out of them too.

Every time you drive over a bridge or on/off ramp, be careful of your steering and braking. They're made of cement and are MUCH more slippery than tarmac. For example, if there's a cold day (maybe 15-20 degrees or less) and the roads are wet, DO NOT brake, accelerate quickly or change lanes over a bridge, if you can at all help it. Just take your foot off the pedals and if you have to break, do it gently and without any sudden movements on the steering wheel. Start braking WELL in advance of the off-ramp. In certain weather, you can actually see wet snow sticking to the cement overpasses and the tarmac is just black and wet... the cement stays much colder (and more icy/slick) than the rest of the road.