Best Cars / trucks for the Springs (Denver: house, living in, floor)

[Brill]

Originally Posted by ryanek9freak

whatever dude. I'll take my Jeep over anything. You'd be wishing for a CJ if you were stranded on a mountain pass. I guess if you never go to the mountains, then yes, a FWD car will do.

I take my Ford Focus into the mountains weekly to go skiing. Today I made my way up a snow covered Hoosier Pass. In December I drove across i-70 in a blizzard. I put a set of Michelin Hydroedge tires on my car back in October, I've yet to have a problem in the snow.

The only downside I see to the smaller cars is less distance between the bottom of the car and the ground. It does take less amount of snow to get stuck. But if it is snowing so bad that a car will get stuck, why be out driving in the first place?

Besides, every winter it's always the 4WD SUV's you see sitting spun out in a ditch. Any tow truck driver will tell you that SUV's are their biggest customer in the winter.

To the OP: a FWD car with good winter tires will work if you are trying to keep the cost of a car to a minimum.

[John.Bishop14]

Originally Posted by Charles

How do the Bridgestone Blizzaks or Michelin Ice tires compare to Winterforce tires, anyone know?

Do studded tires make that much difference in ice fog or frozen rain, that is, when the ice is really thin like a glaze? I experienced this a couple of times. It seems like there would be nothing to "dig" into using studs. It seems studs would only work if the snow or ice was at least a quarter inch thick but I don't know, I have never driven with studded tires.

Studded tires are for ice. You can't drive them around when it's dry, so you have to put them on when it's icy. Chains are no more trouble to install and cost a lot less.

[ryanek9freak]

I'm prepared to NEVER EVER get stuck. My CJ is lifted 6 inches with 35 inch tires, and a 9000lb warn winch. I also carry shovels, a pick axe, chains, straps, an emergency kit, etc. You can never be too careful out there. I can't tell you how man times i've had to rescue some dumb tourist in their CR-V that thinks they can make it over a 12000 ft pass in september. If I didn't have my jeep, i'd at LEAST drive a Subaru.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by John.Bishop14

Studded tires are for ice. You can't drive them around when it's dry, so you have to put them on when it's icy. Chains are no more trouble to install and cost a lot less.

I know, but my question relates specifically to the glazed road conditions (freezing rain or ice fog), those where the layer of ice is so thin a stud wouldn't have anything to dig into. The reason I am asking is because I drove through Falcon several weeks ago about 530 AM and the road was so slick I would slide by barely touching my brakes at like 10-15 mph. I turned around an went home. Would studs have helped? I can't see how they would have.

With studded tires, would anyone do anything other than put them on for a whole season and take them off in spring? I can't imagine people would change out tires on a daily basis depending on that day's ice conditions.

[Bideshi]

You can't drive studded tires on dry roads. It tears up the road and wears the studs down in no time. They are only for ice. If you want to leave them on get aggressive tread non-studded winter tires. They will wear fast and hum like a buzz saw but they won't tear up the pavement when it's dry.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Bideshi

You can't drive studded tires on dry roads. It tears up the road and wears the studs down in no time. They are only for ice. If you want to leave them on get aggressive tread non-studded winter tires. They will wear fast and hum like a buzz saw but they won't tear up the pavement when it's dry.

So ice is on the roads maybe three hours a week on average on the front range. I guess that means studs don't last too long in Colorado.

[Bideshi]

Colorado State Patrol (broken link)

Colorado says it's OK with them to run studded tires year round (see link), so if you don't mind the hum and wear go for it!

[ryanek9freak]

you'd wear them down to nothing really fast though on dry pavement. Honestly, I think they're a waste. If you're that hard up, go for tire chains

[haselton]

Unless you live in the mountains or travel up there frequently, it won't matter what kind of car you have as long as it has decent tires on it.
winter tires might be necessary if you have a rwd car, otherwise you will be fine with a good allseason tire. Its not like cos gets that much snow anyway...

[ryanek9freak]

no no no, there's no such thing as "an all season tire" It's a comprimise tire. If you want snow traction, you need a dedicated snow tire. Trust me, i've been selling tires for over 10 years, i've seen it all.