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I drive a small Japanese Hockey Puck and am considering getting studded snow tires. My Hockey Puck is a good summer car (and great for winter bumper cars (with optional inflatable bumper).
Nebraska gets lots of ice in the winter and they are slow (days, sometimes) to clear the streets. There were several times last winter I tried to stop at a stop light only to careen through the intersection and stop somewhere in the next block. Studded snow tires are legal here from Nov 1-April 1.
Would studded snow tires help Hockey Pucks stop/handle somewhat better in snow/ice? Or are they mostly for Trucks/SUVs? Are they worth my considering getting or not?
They're decent, but if you drive on cleared streets a decent amount, I prefer studless winter tires.
Back in Norway (plenty of snow, trust me) I drove a 3 door Toyota Corolla, I drove on Continental Viking Contact 3 (or 5's) tires, which worked perfectly, another brand that's equally good is Nokian Hakkapelitta. Both are studless wonter tires made for "nordic" environments, so they should do you well.
Studded tires deliver slightly more grip on pure ice, but on snow and slush, etc studless are as good or better.
I would say that learning to drive the hockey puck (LOL, I got a kick out of that) a little more carefully will go a whole lot further, safety-wise, than getting tires that will only be effective once in a while.
I've driven in the Colorado mountains and Michigan for almost 25 years, mainly 2WD/RWD Japanese hockey-puck vehicles with good all-season tires. In fact, the only time I ever lost control and slid off the road was in a 4WD GM SUV, while in 4WD mode - I did the classic stupid thing and got over-confident because I had 4WD.
So bottom line, I'd concentrate more on driving skills so you don't slide through intersections than on tires that will give you a false sense of security.
The conditions you describe are exactly why studded tires are needed. The smaller, lighter vehicles need all the advantages they can get and if I were in that position, I would most definately run studded tires.
As mentioned, in slush or deep snow, the studs will do nothing to help. In hard packed snow and ice, they can be the advantage you are looking for.
I don't run them, but my pickup weighs over 9000 lbs. We do not get packed snow and ice very often, but when we do, my vehicle has a weight advantage to get me by.
A bunch of years back, I bought a Toyota Celica GT. I wanted something smaller and cheap for my kids to learn to drive. In winter driving the vehicle was worthless on ice and hard packed snow. I picked up a set of studed tires and it was now a decent vehicle around town. Since then, our road maintenace folks have got a lot more aggressive and our roads are plowed when it starts snowing and kept clean. They don't wait until it gets packed down and then start.
One word of caution is that on the highway, they give you some help, but don't trust them to allow you to drive at speed. You still need to drive cautiously. They will give you the umph to move away from a light, they'll help you stop, they'll help you corner, but they are only one portion of the equation. Not the total answer.
In the snow and ice, you can't beat studded snow tires. Safest thing you can do. But when the road gets cleared, do remember that the studs will hurt handling on the pavement a bit
The only time studs are even worth the bother is if you're constantly driving on ice or dense hard-pack.. Otherwise, they're more of a hindrance than a help. A set of winter tires should be all you need, and for those days when even that's not enough, keep a set of chains or something like these in your trunk. And lest you think it's expensive having 2 sets of tires around, remember that each set will wear at approximately half the rate, so your only real additional expense is the one-time cost to get a second set of rims. Compare that against the risk of racking your car for lack of adequate traction and IMO it's worth it.
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Originally Posted by 12GO
In the snow and ice, you can't beat studded snow tires. Safest thing you can do. But when the road gets cleared, do remember that the studs will hurt handling on the pavement a bit
Studs are close to worthless in snow unless they have some serious hardpack to dig into -- hardpack so dense it's on the verge of becoming sheer ice.
Based on experience from lot's of driving in snow, studs are unbeatable on a clear ice. Otherwise, studless winter tires are just fine. Since we had snow from November to April (including), most of the time you still drive on asphalt or snow, not the ice. I used studless winter tires (Toyo something and Michelin X-Ice) for the last 6 years. Most drivers in that country prefer studs, though.
Studs work great on ice, any other application they are rather useless, they are also quite noisy especially when the car gets up to highway speeds on bare pavement, also be aware of local or state laws that may apply to when you can put them on or have to take them off or whether they can be used at all.
It depends on just how often the roads around you are ice covered (as opposed to snow/slush). If you frequently/constantly are driving on ice, black ice, etc, then yes. Get the studs.
If, however, the roads are mostly wet (from salt), slushy, snowy (not black ice), etc, then get a set of snow tires without studs. They will be good in snow, and better than all seasons on ice.
We get a lot of snow here, but the roads are treated fairly well. I have tried studded snows, but have found regular snows a much better compromise for my use considering how the roads are treated.
I'd second (fifth?, lol) the studless snow tires. As others said unless you are driving on hard pack snow and ice all the time, the studded tires won't perform as well as studless tires. Even in places that get a lot of snow in the US, most of your driving will be on slush, loose snow and occasional ice, which is what studless snow tires were designed for.
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