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Old 11-28-2010, 08:46 PM
 
Location: Missoula!
36 posts, read 121,251 times
Reputation: 33

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Hey all,

So I live up a pretty snowy road and have a little civic. I decided to take the dumb way out and bought bottom-of-the-line tires for my car this summer. Such a bad idea; I'm slipping and sliding all over the place when there's snow on the road. Do you think I should get snow tires? Or will all-terrian suffice? OR... how about just keeping a bag of kitty litter in the front seat and the trunk empty (it's a front wheel drive)?

if the tires, where to get them and how much do they cost??

thanks a bunch!
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Old 11-28-2010, 11:26 PM
 
Location: State of General Disarray
836 posts, read 1,487,071 times
Reputation: 1383
Snow tires? Meh... if you're pretty much staying in town I wouldn't worry about it. Just slow down and don't drive stupid. I drive a lil Toyota and it's not the most stable in the snow, but I don't have any real problems. It's a lightweight vehicle with narrow little tires, so I doubt snow tires would help much. But if you have to drive up in the hills, or are planning a road trip, or if it would just make you feel safer, maybe they'd be worth your while.

No idea as to cost; I'd call around to the different tire places and see if they have any deals.
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Old 11-29-2010, 11:02 PM
 
Location: Spots Wyoming
18,700 posts, read 41,882,843 times
Reputation: 2147483647
I run all terrains on my truck, year round. They will dig in when necessary but are good to run on dry pavement, rain, ice, snow, etc.

Not sure where to get tires in your neck of the woods.
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Old 11-30-2010, 09:25 AM
 
Location: West Yellowstone, MT
239 posts, read 684,919 times
Reputation: 129
Quote:
Originally Posted by meridavi View Post
Hey all,

So I live up a pretty snowy road and have a little civic. I decided to take the dumb way out and bought bottom-of-the-line tires for my car this summer. Such a bad idea; I'm slipping and sliding all over the place when there's snow on the road. Do you think I should get snow tires? Or will all-terrian suffice? OR... how about just keeping a bag of kitty litter in the front seat and the trunk empty (it's a front wheel drive)?

if the tires, where to get them and how much do they cost??

thanks a bunch!
Check www.tirerack.com for all the info you may need. You can get a good idea of price before walking into a tire store. When I lived in Missoula, I always went to the Goodyear dealer on the south end of town. They were very fair.
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Old 12-03-2010, 08:56 AM
 
Location: Brendansport, Sagitta IV
8,083 posts, read 15,079,526 times
Reputation: 3724
I went from regular to all-terrain a couple decades ago, and I'd never go back, no matter WHAT I drive. The difference is amazing. My truck went from just doin' okay to very surefooted under all conditions.

AT tires are usually significantly cheaper at Costco -- Couple years ago I paid about $270 for a set of four 15" Bridgestones (much stiffer tire than the Michelins they also carry, and the stiffer the tire the better it holds the road) and the best I could do anywhere else was over $400. Right now (tire prices having since skyrocketed) the diff is like $600 vs $900 for a set. Sometimes the little local dealers will beat Costco on cheap tires, but not on the good ones.

I'd add that I noticed right away, these Bridgestones are better on wet pavement and better with a load than comparable-class Winstons. I expect they'd be better in snow too, if we had any here.
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Old 12-03-2010, 01:32 PM
 
Location: In The Outland
6,023 posts, read 13,991,638 times
Reputation: 3535
I run mud tires on my old 85 Toy. I have never used cables or chains and run mud tires without studs. I also try not to chew them away on pavement in the summer so we mostly just use the Toy when we are tooling about the hills or whatnot.
Here is a pic from the shotgun seat view of the Toyota doing winter driving during a so called storm. The other lane looks like a road because the plow just passed us. The lane we are in need another swipe so we just guide by the other lane that we can see.
I don't like it when it gets so bad that you have to creep from one reflector post to the next or pull over. The worst thing to do is to be stopped in the lane as you will get plowed off the road along with the snow as some of those plow drivers drive by scent not sight.

When you are in business, have doc appointments etc., sometimes you just can't avoid driving in bad weather. We don't let the weather get in the way of our lives. I enjoy being scared half to death at times because it feels so good when you know you are out of the woods so to speak.
I think it's an adrenalin or serotonin thing.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_9a8nDInPVGE/TPk9yWjVRCI/AAAAAAAAICY/8QFSHB6cdes/s512/294%20pics%20091-1.jpg (broken link)
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Old 12-03-2010, 04:27 PM
 
Location: Brendansport, Sagitta IV
8,083 posts, read 15,079,526 times
Reputation: 3724
Quote:
Originally Posted by rickers View Post
The worst thing to do is to be stopped in the lane as you will get plowed off the road along with the snow as some of those plow drivers drive by scent not sight.
Haha! Yeah, really -- I've seen the plow trucks go ripping along at 60mph in whiteout conditions. Best place to be of course is right behind 'em!! You sure don't want to be in front of 'em!!

I think it makes a difference if you originally learned to drive in such conditions, tho... then you drive just like those snowplows and think nothing of it.
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Old 12-03-2010, 05:36 PM
 
Location: Back at home in western Washington!
1,490 posts, read 4,736,150 times
Reputation: 3244
We have 2 sets of tires for the car (studded snow tires and summer tires). We swap back and forth when the weather changes in Spring and Fall. We get 4 years of use out of each set of tires. We just bought new snow ones this year ($382 at the local Walmart). This works for us... haven't found anywhere that we haven't been able to drive yet .
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Old 12-03-2010, 07:22 PM
 
Location: In The Outland
6,023 posts, read 13,991,638 times
Reputation: 3535
When the snow gets over 10 or 12 inches deep that is about my Toyota's limit. We like to try to go to mountain top lookouts in December before the snow really piles up but this year it piled up pretty fast way up there.
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Old 12-03-2010, 07:39 PM
 
Location: Brendansport, Sagitta IV
8,083 posts, read 15,079,526 times
Reputation: 3724
Instead of swapping snow and regular tires every year, I bought a 6th rim and just left the snow tires on their rims all the time. A snow tire got to be the spare during the summer, and a regular tire got to be the spare during winter. $20 for an extra rim was a lot cheaper than mounting and balancing snow tires every fall and regular tires every spring.... just swap the back wheels and the job was done.
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