Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Pennsylvania
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 09-29-2011, 06:29 PM
 
Location: NW Penna.
1,758 posts, read 3,835,532 times
Reputation: 1880

Advertisements

Chains might be nice for a really icy day, or if you have a long commute on a rural road or such. In the city, you'll still be hampered by all the other drivers with no traction, so it's up to you whether to invest in them or not. I don't have chains for my current vehicles. I only needed them for traveling dirt roads in hilly southern WV, where nobody plowed. Haven't used them since.

Here's what my family's fleet wears, and roughly, it depends on the handling characteristics of your vehicle:

Crown Vic/ Grand Marquis / Town Car (RWD): These cars are really affected by snow and water on the road. And you will need GOOD rear tires, for certain. Good all-seasons that are specifically well-rated for snow and ice will suffice, or you can get snow tires. I used AquaTreds in 2003-2004, but those are discontinued now. I then tried Goodyear's TripleTred Assurance that was supposed to replace and be better than Aquatred, and those totally sucked. They were USELESS on ice. My current tires are Dunlop SP60 all seasons, cheap and they are killer good brand new, but I hear that they get slick after that. I'm going into winter #2 with them. We'll see. I asked a couple of State Troopers what PA puts on their Vics, and they said most are running all-season and some still have studded snows, but the studded tires are far too slick on dry pavement so AS with good traction is what they went back to, overall.

Buick LeSabre: Okay, even I have to say that the LeSabre beats the Vic for winter. Far more predictable and requires less skill and attention from the driver in winter. My parents have LeSabres, and they put just about any old all-season radials on them ("whatever's on sale"), and those cars go anyplace, anytime. They are really bland cars, but they are pretty sure-footed with just all season tires. And you have the awsome power of the V6.

Chevy Silverado 1/2 ton w/ 4WD, regular cab longbed: Trucks and SUVs, you want AT tread for winter, not M&S. Urban and rural guys here both seem to concur with that. The M&S tires are slicker in snow and useless on ice. ATs are better on ice, and they pack a little snow into the tread so you have snow on snow, and that grips the road better, and all the oil & gas people run ATs. On my 1/2 T, I use E-rated 10-ply Firestone ATs. With those, I almost never needed 4WD except to get started if I'd been sitting at a stoplight and was taking off on ice. The 10-plys have nice stiff sidewalls, and I love crisp handling with maximum predictability.

Chevy Duramax 2500 HD diesel 4WD regular cab longbed: Had to go to Goodyear TA Traction E-rated 10-ply commercial tires on this truck, to keep her stable on ice. I might have bought snows like Blizzak or Firestone Winterforce, but couldn't find a set of 4 anywhere when I needed them. This truck is heavy in the front end (diesel weighs more), and tends to plant the front and spin the empty longbed around in the blink of an eye, unless you have some really sticky snows or alternately, traction tires on there. I had Michelin M&S before, and the truck skated everyplace and scared the heck out of me. 4WD + M&S tires on ice was really foolish, b/c you'd just be sliding everywhere and can't steer or stop at all. With the traction tires, I dropped from 19 or 20 MPG highway to more like 14 MPG. My plan was to only run these tires as snows for 3-4 months per year and switch to less-sticky AT all seasons like Cooper or Mastercraft (also made by Cooper) AT for summer. But I scarcely have time to use this truck for anything for the next year or so, and I just left the Traction TAs on there. I am very happy with the handling of the Traction TAs on snow and ice. I scarcely need 4WD last winter, and I was running 120 miles of Interstate at 4AM before the plows had cleared. Nice tires for a heavy truck, but definitely hurt the fuel economy.

Firebird, V8, 1996 or so, RWD: A friend put Blizzaks on his and says he got everyplace that he needed to go.

Taurus V8 SHO: I have run Continental all-seasons on this car for several years without needing anything more.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 09-30-2011, 02:11 AM
 
35,309 posts, read 52,315,210 times
Reputation: 30999
I think some are missing the main difference about winter tires vs all seasons, the winter tires are made with a different rubber compound that remains soft and plyable as temperatures plumet, at -7 degrees an all season tire is hard as a rock and provides less in the way off traction and stopping abilities than a dedicated snow tire that remains soft and grippy down to temps in the -20's, snow tire tread patterns are also designed to deal with slush and snow..

Some sobering realities.
.All-season vs. winter tires
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-30-2011, 02:34 PM
 
393 posts, read 1,530,681 times
Reputation: 198
I've always used 'all season' but one year I decided to buy a high quality set of winter tires. One day on my way home from work,(about 5 inches of snow) I got stuck three times, even while backing into my driveway. I had to have the neighbors help push me out. I never got stuck one time with all season treads. I'll never buy winter tires again.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-02-2011, 04:16 PM
 
35,309 posts, read 52,315,210 times
Reputation: 30999
Quote:
Originally Posted by susquehannock View Post
I've always used 'all season' but one year I decided to buy a high quality set of winter tires. One day on my way home from work,(about 5 inches of snow) I got stuck three times, even while backing into my driveway. I had to have the neighbors help push me out. I never got stuck one time with all season treads. I'll never buy winter tires again.
5 inch of snow shouldnt give a dedicated winter tire any problem.And theres no way an all season would out perform a snow tire in such conditions, I suspect theres another piece to your story you arent telling us.
But if you think all season tires are better than snow tires in snow
I'm not going to waste time convincing you otherwise.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-02-2011, 05:28 PM
 
9,846 posts, read 22,679,821 times
Reputation: 7738
Quote:
Originally Posted by jambo101 View Post
5 inch of snow shouldnt give a dedicated winter tire any problem.And theres no way an all season would out perform a snow tire in such conditions, I suspect theres another piece to your story you arent telling us.
But if you think all season tires are better than snow tires in snow
I'm not going to waste time convincing you otherwise.
Yes there is a large volume of testing out there dumped on tirerack.com and youtube showing the differences on winter conditions with all seasons versus winter tires. The all seasons don't come close. The all seasons are hard and don't wick away moisture and grab hold of the road in winter conditions. Modern winter tires are designed via their tire compounds and siping to spread out and grab the road, wick away moisture like a sponge and have the tread pattern to kick off accumulated winter precip within the contact patch as the tire rotates.

All seasons work okay in a light snow or the occasional winter weather. If you live up in the northern tier like I do and especially considering the predominance of tight 2 lane roads around here, a dedicated winter tire is the way to go. It can handle the slush, ice, snow, snow pack a lot better.

You can give me any winter surface you want with identical cars, one with winter tires, one with all seasons and I will outperform the all seasons, accelerating, braking, steering, accident avoidance, whatever you want to set up.

And one thing to consider is there are "winter tires" out there are old tech or off brands. A Hankook snow tire for instance is miles away from the abilities of a Bridgestone Blizzak or Michelin X Ice tire.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-03-2011, 02:18 PM
 
393 posts, read 1,530,681 times
Reputation: 198
I stand by my post. Those winter tires were brand new and were pure garbage. I don't give a rat's keister whether anyone believes me or not. That was my exact experience and I'm sticking to it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-03-2011, 02:28 PM
 
9,846 posts, read 22,679,821 times
Reputation: 7738
Quote:
Originally Posted by susquehannock View Post
I stand by my post. Those winter tires were brand new and were pure garbage. I don't give a rat's keister whether anyone believes me or not. That was my exact experience and I'm sticking to it.
Well some "winter" tires are garbage. Like any product line, they have varying levels of abilities and quality.

What brand and model were they?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-03-2011, 02:28 PM
 
Location: On the Chesapeake
45,402 posts, read 60,592,880 times
Reputation: 61018
Quote:
Originally Posted by susquehannock View Post
I stand by my post. Those winter tires were brand new and were pure garbage. I don't give a rat's keister whether anyone believes me or not. That was my exact experience and I'm sticking to it.


I had a set of Michelin winter tires years ago that were Ensign killers, absolutely no grip. The car itself was a 79 Grand Prix with the 5.1L 4 barrel. Too much of a touchy motor/gas pedal and light rear end on the car.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-04-2011, 09:49 AM
 
1 posts, read 1,599 times
Reputation: 14
Default Winter tires are not like All-Season tires

Winter tires are not like All-Season tires. Winter tires have special rubber compounds designed to improve traction, handling and braking in all cold weather conditions, not just ice and snow.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-05-2011, 02:52 PM
 
Location: Litchfield Park, AZ
132 posts, read 266,443 times
Reputation: 142
A lot of it depends on the type of terrain you drive on. If you live in an area with a lot of flat, straight roads, you could probably make do with all seasons with plenty of tread life left. However, I live in Pittsburgh (lots of steep hills, curvy, windy roads, and frozen bridges w/ black ice) and for this type of terrain I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND snow/winter tires. Not only do they have a more aggressive tread pattern for added traction, but they are also made of a softer silica compound that is designed to have much more grip in temps below freezing than harder-compound all-seasons. They have saved my bacon in many hairy winter driving situations that would've surely ended in an accident otherwise, and are cheaper than an insurance deductible.

See here
Winter Tires vs. All-Season Tires - Discount Tire
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Pennsylvania
Similar Threads
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:21 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top