AWD Doesn't Matter - Your Tires Do (Denver: transfer, purchase)

[N610DL]

Originally Posted by Tim Tim Tim

I dont blame you, just figured i'd show you some support lol.

Im really a supporter of government not being involved in the day to day lives of people but if a requirement was made to require snow tires during the winter, I would support that.

Rah rah. I hate vague posts where people just side with each other and give one line responses "just because." Smarten up.

[honestabe123]

I would think if one were to criticize winter tires, they would say that in Denver, we get such fluctuations that they are mostly not needed. I would guess that winter tires would perform slightly worse in steering, braking, acceleration and high-speeds on warm dry roads (like today with high temps). Maybe even perform worse in wet/non-slushy roads. However, I would think that despite winter tires being (minimally?) worse in those conditions, the times we get true cold/ice/snow we experience here makes up for that.

Which sort of leads me to a question. When should you pull them off in Denver? I was thinking winter tires from mid-October to mid-May. Is that appropriate? Not sure if that is really stretching it. Is it reasonable to go Oct 1 to June 1?

[Bitey]

Originally Posted by Regajohn

World's largest spoiler !! ;-)


https://www.instagram.com/p/BPOQs5uA7Zz/?hl=en

Ricing With Ice

[pikabike]

Originally Posted by honestabe123

I will say that this thread inspired me some to pull the trigger on buying snow tires.

I had the fun time last year of putting cables on the tires of my sedan to get through the tunnel from Dillon (code 15). Although the z-chains were pretty easy to take on and off, half of the drive up was pretty dry road and higher speeds. Turns out I recently realized my tires were Mud + Snow rated so I technically could have gotten away with it. But as usual on i70 you see the morons with bald tires spinning out and losing traction getting up a major highway at 5 mph.

This year I had to drive through that surprise snowstorm in Denver in December and then also drove up i70 to the mountains the next day. I drove a AWD SUV with good all season tread this time and it was so nice to not be worried about grip going up a hill. Although I rarely drive in snow, I realized when I had to, how nice it would be to be as safe as possible and that quality tires were likely the surest way to do that. I had just put top of the line all-season tires on one of my other cars and realized - damn they are pretty expensive. My SUV doesn't get driven much - but is the go-to car in snow. Probably has about 1/8 inch tread left which likely means fine in snow now but replace next winter. Anyhow, I checked tire rack and saw snow tires that fit for $72. Obviously not Blizzaks, but looked solid. Steel rims sold out though and alloy wheels with TPMS seemed way too pricey. So bought and just had independent tire shop put them on my car for like $50. Sure that, sucks to pay that to swap each season, but like I said the rims and tpms were expensive and the payback won't be for several years (plus I'd likely pay a shop like $15 each season to mount wheels anyhow or buy jack/torque wrench and DIY). Maybe I'll look to buy steel rims again in Fall when back in stock. So my snow tires were less than half the cost of the top-of-line all season tires for the other car. I think I can also get much more life out of SUVs all-season tires than I would otherwise. I feel like I would replace them earlier than usual because of required tread depth for snow. When it is time to replace them, I will likely skip top of line and get decent summer/all-seasons that are more economical.

So how do the snow tires drive? I haven't really driven them in snow yet. Its gonna be like 60 degrees this week and probably won't snow again this season since I'm now prepared. Steering seems softer and cornering mushier. Again, these are not blizzaks or x-ice. Gas mileage seems like it went down a little. I drove i70 yesterday which was dry as a bone. Took loveland pass and there was some snow on the road. Couldn't tell much from that, but did see 2wd car spun out at side of road and someone trying to tow rope him out. Not sure how that happened as all-seasons tires would've been fine on loveland pass yesterday am.

All in all, I have wondered about the usefulness of snow tires in Denver when I really don't drive much in snow (can work at home a lot). I70 is what I drive a lot and it is dry much of the time or plowed well quickly. But after seeing all the proof and videos in this thread, and finding a good price, I pulled the trigger. I feel like I've greatly increased my safety when those nasty conditions ultimately arise (as well as prolonged the life of the other tires). For me however, the cost wasn't much more and seemed to make financial and safety sense. I can now also scoff at those idiots with bald tires on I70 and blame them for all its problems.

If the steering/cornering felt mushy and mpg declined, check your tire pressures. Maybe they are too low. Check them when all four wheels are in the shade and cold (after car has sat for at least a few hours out of the sun). Temperature changes give you different psi readings, higher when warm and lower when cold. You might be surprised at how much of a difference it makes.

[Tim Tim Tim]

Originally Posted by N610DL

Rah rah. I hate vague posts where people just side with each other and give one line responses "just because." Smarten up.

are YOU honestly here telling someone to smarten up? I don't need anything more than a 1 line response. Everything that needed to be said was done so and you still don't get it.

[himain]

Originally Posted by honestabe123

I would think if one were to criticize winter tires, they would say that in Denver, we get such fluctuations that they are mostly not needed. I would guess that winter tires would perform slightly worse in steering, braking, acceleration and high-speeds on warm dry roads (like today with high temps). Maybe even perform worse in wet/non-slushy roads. However, I would think that despite winter tires being (minimally?) worse in those conditions, the times we get true cold/ice/snow we experience here makes up for that.

Which sort of leads me to a question. When should you pull them off in Denver? I was thinking winter tires from mid-October to mid-May. Is that appropriate? Not sure if that is really stretching it. Is it reasonable to go Oct 1 to June 1?

Usually April/May people start pulling them off. You do not want them on hot pavement. They will wear very fast.

[Careerist]

Can anyone tell me the upside to AWD? I've never had an AWD vehicle, always FWD, and never have had issues during the winters even without winter tires (especially in Denver where it's fairly mild).

My lease is up next year and I actually really like my Mazda 3 GT and would consider buying it outright after the lease is up. SO and I were thinking about downsizing to one car, and I was looking at small SUVs with AWD like the Mazda CX-5. But I'm wondering is it really necessary?

Any thoughts on what the major upsides would be to AWD?

Thanks!

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by Careerist

Can anyone tell me the upside to AWD? I've never had an AWD vehicle, always FWD, and never have had issues during the winters even without winter tires (especially in Denver where it's fairly mild).

My lease is up next year and I actually really like my Mazda 3 GT and would consider buying it outright after the lease is up. SO and I were thinking about downsizing to one car, and I was looking at small SUVs with AWD like the Mazda CX-5. But I'm wondering is it really necessary?

Any thoughts on what the major upsides would be to AWD?

Thanks!

It's nice, but not necessary, especially if you have good tires.

The upside is much more traction when you step in the gas. I drive AWD vehicles, and in combination with Winter tires, my traction light almost never comes on, even in snowy conditions.

AWD, doesn't help you stop. The second you take your foot off the gas, any advantage you get from AWD goes away. It also decreases gas mileage when you are driving all 4 wheels.

[Careerist]

Originally Posted by SkyDog77

It's nice, but not necessary, especially if you have good tires.

The upside is much more traction when you step in the gas. I drive AWD vehicles, and in combination with Winter tires, my traction light almost never comes on, even in snowy conditions.

AWD, doesn't help you stop. The second you take your foot off the gas, any advantage you get from AWD goes away. It also decreases gas mileage when you are driving all 4 wheels.

Alright, thanks. The CX-5 uses the same 2.5L SkyActiv engine technology as I currently have in my Mazda 3. The downside with the CX-5 AWD is losing some fuel economy, and probably a little bit of power since it's a heavier vehicle. But that is the one we're leaning towards once my lease is up.

[TCHP]

Also the possibility of added maintenance/repair costs since you have added two extra differentials and a whole new circuit of cabling and sensors.