colorado winter + tires (Denver: work, bank, move)

[oneyedflower]

i live in boulder and i am due for new tires. i recently moved here from baltimore and am unfamiliar with the winter weather in co. are snow tires nessecary? if so, will 2 suffice on the front? or will all-weather tires be fine?

and has anyone heard of arctic claw tires?

thanks! hope to hear some feedback sometime soonish. my tire treads are bare.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by oneyedflower

i live in boulder and i am due for new tires. i recently moved here from baltimore and am unfamiliar with the winter weather in co. are snow tires nessecary? if so, will 2 suffice on the front? or will all-weather tires be fine?

and has anyone heard of arctic claw tires?

thanks! hope to hear some feedback sometime soonish. my tire treads are bare.

What happened when you searched the previous posts?

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by oneyedflower

i live in boulder and i am due for new tires. i recently moved here from baltimore and am unfamiliar with the winter weather in co. are snow tires nessecary? if so, will 2 suffice on the front? or will all-weather tires be fine?

and has anyone heard of arctic claw tires?

thanks! hope to hear some feedback sometime soonish. my tire treads are bare.

As a rule, you shouldn't mix types of tires. Either get 4 all season or 4 winter tires. The consensus around here is that a front wheel drive car + all season tires + common sense are fine 95% of the time in Denver.

[breaksraver13]

Get Michelin M/S tires that is what I have on my Element, and it is pretty unstoppable

[oneyedflower]

i live in boulder, which is quite different than denver i think. a lot less city and more hills. thanks for the feedback, it was helpful.

[Noahma]

Definatly more hills. What a pain in the rear it is during a snow storm to get out of boulder (commute for work) the hill on US-36 is almost impossable to get up.

[oneyedflower]

ya! it's a pain to get out of boulder even on a dry day with that steep hill to denver.

[vfrpilot]

You don't have to have true snow/ice tires or AWD. But these will give you advantage in the winter, and I'll take as much as I can afford. Sitting in a ditch or snow bank is no fun. You should only run snow tires during the winter as the rubber compound will wear quckly during the warmer months. Always use 4 matching tires as braking issues are more important than acceleration. There are numerous tires sites explaining the differences in tires and advantages for winter conditions. I use winter tires on my 2-wheel drive truck and can tell you they make a huge difference on snow and ice. I usually wait till the first snowfall to change, so I know how regular tires perform on snow compared to winter tires.
Tires will never overshadow common sense, but take any advantage you can get when it comes to safe driving

[McGowdog]

Originally Posted by Charles

What happened when you searched the previous posts?

I came up with this; PS: ditto on the Michelin M/S.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by vfrpilot

I usually wait till the first snowfall to change, so I know how regular tires perform on snow compared to winter tires.

How does that work practically given Colorado's unpredictable weather? I can imagine swapping tires in early October after a snow, then not seeing snow for 3 more months. Would the snow tires be worse then all season tires during such a long dry stretch? What's the tread life of a typical snow tire?