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A few weeks ago during a snowstorm, my wife couldn't get our Jeep up our driveway. Granted, our driveway is a fairly steep hill that low profile cars can't even ascend when it's dry.
And unless icy steep logging roads are part of your typical driving routine (or you run a plow business), 4WD-lockers is overkill. So are studded tires; the only time they provide a net benefit is on ice. Otherwise, they are of no benefit (loose or packed snow) or are a net detriment to handling and traction (cleared pavement, which most drivers will experience for the vast majority of the time even in winter). Modern studless winter tires perform just as well or better than studded tires from a couple generations ago. Those and a competent AWD system will get you through just about anything one can typically expect to face in winter. That was all it took for my little Mitsu Lancer to shove through a foot and a half of snow with little problem.
Just to be clear re: bolded portion: that is as compared to non-studded, modern winter tires, not all-seasons.
And unless icy steep logging roads are part of your typical driving routine (or you run a plow business), 4WD-lockers is overkill. So are studded tires; the only time they provide a net benefit is on ice. Otherwise, they are of no benefit (loose or packed snow) or are a net detriment to handling and traction (cleared pavement, which most drivers will experience for the vast majority of the time even in winter). Modern studless winter tires perform just as well or better than studded tires from a couple generations ago. Those and a competent AWD system will get you through just about anything one can typically expect to face in winter. That was all it took for my little Mitsu Lancer to shove through a foot and a half of snow with little problem.
I agree with you about the ice comment-but icy conditions are by far the most dangerous to drive in. Loose snow isn't much of an issue. Hard packed snow is well, pretty much ice. And studs do better on hard-pack than studless tires. It really depends on your conditions. If you just see a little light snow a couple times a year, fine, studless snows or good all seasons do nicely. And again, cold weather conditions, tires are less of an issue. My experience with studless snows is that they did well under about 25 degrees, in loose or in hardpack. But on ice, they were useless. Especially so when there is water on top of the ice, but also in "black ice" (frozen fog) conditions. False sense of security if you see those conditions. The "2nd worse" condition (after wet ice) is slush. Wet, slushy snow will lift the tire off of contact with the road (basically the same as hydroplaning). Snow tires as such don't help much, but they do provide options. In slush or snow you want the tallest, skinniest tires you can get to cut through to pavement. Which is counter to most summer tires.
I agree with you about the ice comment-but icy conditions are by far the most dangerous to drive in. Loose snow isn't much of an issue. Hard packed snow is well, pretty much ice. And studs do better on hard-pack than studless tires. It really depends on your conditions. If you just see a little light snow a couple times a year, fine, studless snows or good all seasons do nicely. And again, cold weather conditions, tires are less of an issue. My experience with studless snows is that they did well under about 25 degrees, in loose or in hardpack. But on ice, they were useless. Especially so when there is water on top of the ice, but also in "black ice" (frozen fog) conditions. False sense of security if you see those conditions. The "2nd worse" condition (after wet ice) is slush. Wet, slushy snow will lift the tire off of contact with the road (basically the same as hydroplaning). Snow tires as such don't help much, but they do provide options. In slush or snow you want the tallest, skinniest tires you can get to cut through to pavement. Which is counter to most summer tires.
Hard-pack snow is definitely not "pretty much ice." It can, in fact, eventually be compressed into sheer ice if enough traffic drives over it before it's removed. But until that happens, hard-pack snow provides a lot more traction than ice does and studs provide no discernible benefit.
And it is utterly false that winter tires are "useless" on ice. Maybe it's been a while since you drove on winter tires, but the vastly superior grip they provide nowadays versus all-seasons even on sheer ice is so well documented that it's not even worth debating. In fact, modern studless winter tires are just as capable or even more so on ice than studded winter tires from just a few years ago. It's still entirely possible to out-drive their capacity on ice, but that's a problem not with the tires but with the driver.
Nowadays studded tires using modern tread pattern and rubber compound like their studless counterparts do indeed outperform them on ice. But the price you pay for the very few times they provide a net benefit is diminished traction, diminished ride comfort and quality, and increased road noise for the vast majority of times that most drivers will be on cleared pavement. Not to mention the havoc they wreak on that pavement. If you anticipate encountering icy conditions for which studless winter tires will not be adequate, you're probably better off getting something like this.
Hard pack snow, at least in the interior of Alaska, turns extremely hard like ice and is very slippery. And I disagree with your about hard pack providing better traction. That may be the case on your side of the pond, but not here. The best traction in snow is dry and over an inch of it. The majority of side roads in Alaska are made of gravel, and during the winter months these roads are nice and smooth because of a thick layer of hard-packed snow. The DOT spreads crushed gravel on the roads to aid with traction because the packed snow is extremely slippery.
On ice and hard-packed snow, studs provide the best traction possible, and stud-less tires such as Blizzak, Michelin, and a few others are second. But what I like about Blizzak and such is that the abrasive material used on the tread lasts until the treads wear out, while steel and other metallic studs wear out long before the treads do. Blizzak is perhaps the most popular winter tire in the interior of Alaska.
To the OP: my partner and I had the same exact experience but 15 years ago (similar make and model)! Once great snow tires were purchased the little Mazda never got stuck again and never had problems in snowed in parking lots nor sliding at icy intersections! Night vs day driving experiences!
I'm a believer because I've experienced it; snow tires make winter driving a hundred times easier.
if youre driving AWD car all seasons are ok
rwd you need snow tires
fwd you can also drive with all season if you know how to drive in snow
but of course nothing beats snow tires in snow ;D
Best answer.
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