[Cali to North East]

Hi,

My wife and I just moved here from San Diego, CA and have never......driven in snow. Driving has been described as very easy and nothing to worry about as long as you go slow and have good snow tires... In that same conversation came the discussions about death by moose, being prepared for black ice (I soon learned one of our neighbors is paralyzed because he got in a accident due to black ice), expecting to go into at least a few fender benders/uncontrolled stops.

We have a baby on the way and I am looking for a tire that will be the best for us because we have no experience with snow.

Drive a Hyundai Elantra, front wheel drive. We will be staying primarily on the paved roads of White River, Lebanon, Hanover, and once a month drive to Boston. Occasionally might go to Woodstock.


What are people's thoughts about studs or just winter tires. Also please write down the name of a tire that you believe would be a good fit.

Here are the two I am thinking about
Michelin X-Ice Xi3 Review
Nokian Hakkapeliitta 7 Review








Also any thoughts on getting your car with a coating on the bottom versus a powerwash once a month??

Thank you in advance!!!!

[harpoonalt]

The Nokia tires are some of the best. Put them on my kids cars. Expensive, but they are great tires. Studded snow tires are noisy, and not so hot on clear roads, but they are certainly great when the roads are really bad.
Driving in snow isn't that tough.Warm up the car and defrost the windows so you can see. Be smooth with the gas and brakes. Anticipate that intersections may be slick and slow down earlier. Find an empty parking lot after your first snow and play around a bit to see how your car reacts to braking and turning. My kids loved that part of my driving instruction and said it really helped later.
Good winter tires and a good winter driver will take you pretty much anywhere you need to go. On bad freezing rain days though, sometimes a vacation day is your best friend.

[Logs and Dogs]

Firestone Winterforce are very common up in the NEK as well.......I have used them with studs for 2 years on our Subaru until she dies last week......RIP at 207K miles......but I digress.

The secret formula to driving in snow is: Brains + Tires + Patience = success...... :-)

[vter]

I have Blizzak's and really like them AS noted above Nokian are great as well. Really, any snow tire is better than an all-season.
I second the advice to find an empty parking lot after the first snow. Practice, practice, practice. Slow and steady is the name of the game!

[68vette]

We were Nokia users for a long time until we used Blizzak's. I think they are better than the Nokia's, but you can't go wrong with either brand.

[joe moving]

I think they are all pretty good. The Firestones which I have , are directional, you can only rotate front to rear and vice versa without removing the tire. Probably not that big of a deal.

I've had Blizzaks, also good. Nokians have a very good reputation.

As long as they are a true "severe winter service" you should be fine.

For a first purchase, I always like the tire/wheel package from TireRack. They mount and balance it for you so all you have to do is mount the wheels.

Some like to re-mount winter tires on their existing wheels but I like having a separate set of steel winter wheels with the winter tires.

[Vermonr]

Studs are nice in heavy snow but a little obnoxious on pavement. You don't necessarily need them.

But you absolutely need snow tires. Don't go with just all-season.

How well you will do in the snow, as long as you have snow tires, is mostly dependent on how you drive, not what kind of car you have. Remember to give yourself an extra 30 minutes before you have to leave to start thawing your car out. Turn the car on, wipe off all the snow, and scrape off the windows with a plastic ice scraper. Make sure to buy really heavy layered or leather gloves for this purpose; regular cloth gloves will leave your hands freezing.

Try to avoid making any quick stops and instead opt for small braking. Keep the steering wheel as stable as possible and take all turns extremely slow. If you are driving in terrible conditions and there is nobody else coming it is often safer to slow down and drive through a stop sign or red light than come to a complete stop; no police officer would pull you over for that.

Don't be afraid of driving in the snow. There aren't too many days that you will have to be driving in heavy snow, and plows usually clear up blizzards within a day or so. Also some of the most beautiful roads in Vermont are the quiet, snowy dirt roads.

[jackmccullough]

You're getting good suggestions. In most places up here they do a very good job of clearing the roads, particularly in the well-populated towns you mention. Nevertheless, as they tell us every year, Vermnot does not have a "clean streets" policy, it has a policy of "safe streets at safe speeds", which basically means that they won't necessarily get every flake off the roads the same hour that it falls.

As for studs, all the reading I've done is that the only time they are better than regular snow tires is on ice, and at all other times they are worse. I don't recommend them. Definitely snow tires on all four wheels, though, and be prepared to decide that on certain occasions even if you have dinner plans or want to get out to the movies you're better off staying home.