How many people have a set of winter tires? (Chicago: lease, neighborhood)

[SeriesOfTubes]

I'm curious to see how many people here swap out tires for winter weather driving. I'm not talking about all-season tires here, I'm talking about do you have an extra set of wheels with snow tires mounted on them that you put on the vehicle between December and March?

[BOBNCHI]

In my 45+ years of driving in Chicago and in the Chicagoland area, I've never used them.

[flamadiddle]

No, seems old school to me. Remember the chains? lol

[BOBNCHI]

Originally Posted by flamadiddle

No, seems old school to me. Remember the chains? lol

Or studded tires!

[Hiruko]

Originally Posted by SeriesOfTubes

I'm curious to see how many people here swap out tires for winter weather driving. I'm not talking about all-season tires here, I'm talking about do you have an extra set of wheels with snow tires mounted on them that you put on the vehicle between December and March?

My dad needed winter tires on his 1999 BMW 5-series growing up. When he had the summers, he would get stuck constantly in very little snow and slip and slide everywhere. After that, he only purchased and leased AWD vehicles with all-seasons and they were fine.

I have a set of all-seasons and winter tires for one of my SUVs, and the winters are definitely better in the snow. My two other SUVs run all-seasons. One is running Continental All-seasons and is frequently getting stuck. The other is running Hankook All-seasons and I've had next to zero problems with traction in the Rockies and at home. Never been stuck. I also have a 16-year-old AWD sedan running all-seasons. It got stuck on the last set of Continentals, but I don't drive it much anymore.

In the end, I think winters are worth it depending on your driving needs and vehicle.

[Manigault]

I last had winter times on my Chevy in '82. The new radials really made the thought of changing out with the seasons impractical.

Now I have a four-by SUV with a high clearance. I've been lucky to avoid being stuck so far.

The Chicago region itself is very lucky due to the few hills. I was born in a hilly area back east and it was very difficult to navigate some streets! In Chicago, there really isn't even a decent incline, IMHO.

[Bitey]

Originally Posted by SeriesOfTubes

I'm curious to see how many people here swap out tires for winter weather driving. I'm not talking about all-season tires here, I'm talking about do you have an extra set of wheels with snow tires mounted on them that you put on the vehicle between December and March?

I do, plus I have AWD -- with default 50/50 torque split mind you, not the "FWD until the front wheels slip, then AWD" system most AWD vehicles have these days. There have been some winters when I'd have been just fine with all-seasons, but it's better to have dedicated winter tires and not have much snow than to get piles of snow and not have them. Just this weekend I was at Woodfield and saw CUVs with all-seasons getting stuck trying to cut across unplowed portions of the parking lot. I was able to cut across the same spots in my AWD & winter tire-equipped sedan with little hassle.

Bottom line, at no point during all the snow we've had so far this year have I had any issues whatsoever getting where I wanted to go, even before the plows got to my neighborhood. In fact I haven't been stuck in snow since that huge blizzard 2011, and that was with a FWD car. But even with FWD and winter tires I was still able to get around way better than vehicles with all-season tires.

[mathjak107]

I usually use winter tires , why ?

Simple , they are almost free ...if I use winter tires for a few months it means I am saving the tread on the regular tires extending their life a few months ...the other is if I have to stop in the slop or ice and it stops we one ft sooner avoiding hitting something and saving me a deductible then it is a double win

[CookieSterlings]

Having Nokian and Blizzak on both of my AWD cars. Doesn’t cost too much extra since two sets tires alternate, basically double the life of each set. Never got stuck and ABS barely engaged during winter.

With the same question in mind, I checked tires of every cars at COSTCO parking lot I passed by whenever I went shopping there, roughly about 100 cars, haven’t found even one winter tires. Considering COSTCO shoppers’ above average income, I would guess in total less than 1% cars in chicago have winter tires. The sample size isn’t huge but still I am convinced my finding is pretty informative.

[Driver 47]

Originally Posted by BOBNCHI

Or studded tires!

I've got a set of studded snow tires mounted on steel wheels for our 2020 Hyundai Kona SE. First off, this saves the nice factory alloy wheels for the rest of the year when they're not exposed to sand & corrosive salt. Snow tires are made from a rubber compound which stays flexible in sub-freezing weather. Dedicated tread patterns give the tire a good grip and a self - clearing action which helps get consistent traction.

If you live anywhere there are varying weather conditions, you'll encounter icing and that's where studded tires are needed. Our Kona has the all wheel drive so its pretty sure footed, adding the studded snow tires makes it pretty much unstoppable. The only thing limiting where we want to go would be ground clearance as its a small car designed for street use. Having studded snow tires on seperate wheels assures us the ability to get where we need to go and the seasonal changeover can be done in our driveway.