Tires for snow/ice on Cornelius Pass/30?

[psichick]

Originally Posted by Thom52

Les Schwab is a company I really would like to buy from. Heck, I live in the town of their company headquarters.
But, I am bothered by the lack of reviews of their tires. Seems like there is a blackout on actual reviews of their tires. I did a quick search just now to see if that changed. Lots of testimonials on their site for incredible customer service. But also found lots of complaints elsewhere about not standing behind their product. And still no real basis of reviews. Even less than Nokians reviews, which are sparse.

I did find something referencing the little known fact that you can order any tire from LS, if you want their service but aren't sure about their tires. Of course you can do that through Discount Tires or probably most other sources. Same thing with their "fix flats free etc", which is also included at Discount tires.
Of course, like any franchise all the LS or DT stores will all have individual levels of competency.

$680 out-the-door for Nokian WR G2's sounds about right. They are not cheap tires. You get what you pay for with tires, in general. (Kumho might be a budget priced exception)
I am not sure of the difference between G2 and G3. I think it is a negligable performance difference. My one complaint about Nokian (other than price) is they have suddenly come out with a bunch of new models. And if you read their website, it is impossible to figure out what the difference really is between them. (availability maybe?) They are big in northern europe(and Vermont), and I suspect a lot of the tire models are only available over there. The range of models baffled a friend of mine that recently ended up buying G3's.

My daughter is on a very tight budget and bought the all-season Kumho's and really likes them for Seattle driving, but she does not expect them to be a snow tire.

There will always be tradeoffs. I look at the price of Nokians as being insurance and cheaper than a wreck. My non budget constrained bro-in-law swears by Blizzaks for his Audis, beamers and Subies, year round. He just replaces them every other year....or sooner.

Thanks for all this. I felt $680 w/installation was on the affordable end. Granted, I think I'm used to buying $200 tires (per tire) for my stupid sports cars that I used to have.

From what I read about LS's tires, they're name brands, but they don't use the name brand. And they only suppose a few brands. Personally, I'm good with my current shop and I tend to buy tires from TireRack.com if the shop doesn't carry them. Nokian won't allow Tirerack to sell their tires, so they're not on there.

And in case anyone is reading this. Continental ExtremeContact tires are really awesome for PNW, affordable too - cheaper than the Nokians. They are M-S rated and a top rated tire for wet, dry, snow and a bit lower for ice, but still top rated. It's what I have now. I decided to try the Nokians to see how they compare.

[psichick]

Originally Posted by jjpop

psichick, the cold weather this week might provide a good opportunity to see what the conditions are on those roads.

I would agree and I'm worried about BF. I know he can handle the roads, I'm concerned about the idiots who can't. He's already told me he's noticed new railings in a few places. Saw one overturned SUV, one car go off the road (well, he passed it, didn't actually see it). And it wasn't even icy; only rainy.

Thankfully, he's off Mon/Tues. We are more worried about his drive home (he leaves at 7:30pm and in the dark, ugh).

At least he has chains.....just in case.

[Nell Plotts]

The LS store in NW Portland is fantastic. My son uses LS when he needs help with tires on his rolling crane... those shoes are the same as used on a 747!

[Thom52]

Originally Posted by psichick

.... I'm concerned about the idiots who can't. He's already told me he's noticed new railings in a few places. Saw one overturned SUV, one car go off the road (well, he passed it, didn't actually see it). And it wasn't even icy; only rainy.

.....

This is the bottom line issue.

You can drive just about anything, if you are cautious enough and don't make any sudden moves.

But dealing with all the Invincible but clueless drivers out there is a problem.

I have already seen a completely flipped over truck coming back from Mt Bachelor, and being new to the road coming down from the ski area, I was amazed to have people on my tail, on the icy road, when I was going 60mph. I would do my best to let them pass, and I would estimate they continued on at 70+ mph. But hey, there was only ice on the shaded curves. Cars would also tailgate in icy conditions.

I just kept in mind that image of the end for end rolled truck with all the windows blown out, and figured the few minutes potential time saving really wasn't worth it.

It is worth it to let the maniacs pass, whenever possible, rather than try to create a blockade, which ends up with them tailgating and pressuring you to go faster.