Winter Tires: Does anyone on LI use them? (insurance, house)

[OhBeeHave]

I''ve lived on the north shore in hilly areas for the past 20 years and have never used snows. I had a FWD Subie when I first moved here, and 4WD since then.

I have studded snows on my VT car -- which stays in VT. Most people up there keep two sets of tires on rims -- winter and summer -- and swap them out on their own. If not, they bring in the tires, have the shop mount and balance them, then bring the vehicle and summer tires home.

The trucks I use to go back and forth to VT don't have snows. I've only had an issue up there once and it was my own doing -- not heading home early when the rain turned to freezing rain. The VSP couldn't get up the hill, it was that bad.

Snow on LI isn't that bad. We've had a couple of bad winters in all the years I've been driving. It's the other drivers who are going to be your biggest head ache. If you feel you're not going to do much driving while there's snow on the ground, you might want to save yourself the time and money rather than buy snows.

[MinuetM]

Thanks BeeHave... I guess I'll try this winter without snow tires! I never ever used snow tires here on LI. But I never had 18" performance tires before. I read about low profiles affecting traction and grip in the snow. But the VW shop says they don't expect me to need them. Just a little overcautious, I guess. Most importantly is to drive watching those around us. I learned to "leave yourself an out". Not to close yourself next cars that you can't evade something if necessary.

[pidge1114]

as long as you realize that your 18" all seasons will get you out in a pinch with little snow coverage, then you'll be OK. But you will come to a rude awakening if you try to move that car in heavy snow.

[ave1024]

I have a set of separate rims and snow tires for my Audi. You can't ride in the snow with the summer speed tires that my Audi normally comes with. Even with the all wheel drive the tires make the car useless in snow.

With winter/snow tires... along with the all wheel drive the car is pretty much unstoppable. I handle better than most cars and SUVs.

[paperman1111]

Originally Posted by ave1024

I have a set of separate rims and snow tires for my Audi. You can't ride in the snow with the summer speed tires that my Audi normally comes with. Even with the all wheel drive the tires make the car useless in snow.

With winter/snow tires... along with the all wheel drive the car is pretty much unstoppable. I handle better than most cars and SUVs.

I had similar experiences with my Z3 and Z4. There was very little traction on any snow covered road with the normal tires. However, with snow tires, both handled the road as well as any other vehicle.

To answer the OP's other question, the tires were mounted right before the first snow storm and taken off at the end of March. When not in use, they were stored in my garage.

[Crookhaven]

I have RWD on the N Shore and Ive always been able to get around (Slowly) with All Seasons and TC.

Good luck

Crooks

[alexei27]

Same as with Crooks...we have all-seasons on the soccer mom mini-van. I have a 4WD Chevy tracker so I can get to work when it's real bad, and we put all seasons on that too.

My neighbor puts on snows, but she has a tiny car. Really it's partially due to your comfort level.

[MinuetM]

Alexei, What kind of small car does your neighbor have?

[JonnyTrees]

I run 17" winter (Dunlop wintersport) tires on Audi and VW instead of the 18" wheels from factory. My previous driveway was a long steep hill, I never had an issue getting up it with winter tires. Road traction is so much better with winters, but also, I do not want to bend a rim on the potholes that open up in winter here on LI. I drive my A4 up to Catskills a couple times a year, no issues even when driving on 6" inches of packed snow on the road surface. Storage is a pain, but not too bad in shed or garage. Mavis usually has coupons for ~$20 rotation/balance you can use to have them swap wheels in winter. I bought the 17" wheels as takeoffs on ebay or forums. Just have to be careful of brake caliper clearance when selecting a smaller rim diameter.

[alexei27]

Originally Posted by MinuetM

Alexei, What kind of small car does your neighbor have?

It's a ford focus or something to that effect. It's small and light.