Winter tires ?
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Has anybody driven a car with winter tires ? Are they any better then all-season? Will it do any good replacing just 2 front tires? I just have a dilemma since last winter in Toronto was REALLY bad. I have almost new all-season tires and the driving last winter was simply a nightmare.:doh: So anybody has an experience with winter tires?
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Has anybody driven a car with winter tires ? Are they any better then all-season? Will it do any good replacing just 2 front tires? I just have a dilemma since last winter in Toronto was REALLY bad. I have almost new all-season tires and the driving last winter was simply a nightmare.:doh: So anybody has an experience with winter tires?
Toronto is really bad for so many reasons let alone snow, but I digress! ;P Yes they do make a difference. I used to live in Ottawa and in much snowier and colder places than that and you need all four, not just on the front drive wheels because you will get wicked oversteer on corners otherwise. If you're car is front wheel drive and you put only snow tires on the front your rear of the car will tend to break out at the rear and slide around when you go around corners. Rear wheel drive with snowies on the back and allseasons on the front is the same problem but in reverse, wicked understeer, you turn the wheel but it keeps going straight anyway. Either way you don't want it to happen to you. Go to a proper tire shop like Kal Tire (not a department store or Canadian Tire, a shop that specializes in tires only) and ask them, don't ask here because you will get a lot of suspect answers, like from people that live south of the 49th parallel that have no clue what a Canadian winter can be like. A reputable tire store can be trusted to give you good advice on this type of thing and they are worth it yes. It's a safety issue and a just plain being able to get where you're going issue as well. Note that you won't stop much better but that's just basic physics practice your thresh-hold breaking and that's not an issue, what you will get is the ability to turn and get going. Don't get studded tires, they are strictly useful in situations where you will never see pavement all winter because it's under snow otherwise they wear out very quickly on pavement. If Toronto is like most any other urban area they are probably illegal as well most of the year and dangerous on bare pavement (think how little grip there is with steel on pavement versus nice sticky rubber on pavement).
"Hello, hello, what's all this shouting, we'll have no trouble here! This is a Local Shop for Local People, there's nothing for you here!" -Edward Tattsyrup
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Has anybody driven a car with winter tires ? Are they any better then all-season? Will it do any good replacing just 2 front tires? I just have a dilemma since last winter in Toronto was REALLY bad. I have almost new all-season tires and the driving last winter was simply a nightmare.:doh: So anybody has an experience with winter tires?
As others have said: winter tires are a lot better. A friend of mine just bought a set of Michelin X-Ice[^] tires. Apparently they have a much greater tread life than other snow and ice tires but still maintain excellent snow/ice grip. In other words, they'll last longer. In terms of overall performance they look like the way to go. Cheers, Drew.
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Being Canadian, I can tell you that all-season tires are pure crap for winter. Of course, you'll have to put money upfront for winter tires, but your all-seasons will wear half as fast. So in the end, it's not really more expensive and much safer! I have Toyo GO2+ on my Honda Civic and they're great! Give them a try.
Being an Australian living in Canada I can tell you that all-season tyres in winter are so much fun it should be outlawed. WEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! :D cheers Chris Maunder
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Has anybody driven a car with winter tires ? Are they any better then all-season? Will it do any good replacing just 2 front tires? I just have a dilemma since last winter in Toronto was REALLY bad. I have almost new all-season tires and the driving last winter was simply a nightmare.:doh: So anybody has an experience with winter tires?
Have you thought about taking off the tyres and replacing the car with an all-wheel-drive? I drive all-seasons all year round in Toronto and don't have any trouble. Well, any trouble that isn't deliberately induced ;) cheers, Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP
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Have you thought about taking off the tyres and replacing the car with an all-wheel-drive? I drive all-seasons all year round in Toronto and don't have any trouble. Well, any trouble that isn't deliberately induced ;) cheers, Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP
Chris Maunder wrote:
Have you thought about taking off the tyres and replacing the car with an all-wheel-drive?
Dude! :omg: I hate to be the first to tell you this, but even all-wheel-drive vehicles work better with tires... :rolleyes:
Ave Shog9, CP-addicti te salutant! - K(arl), The Soapbox
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Chris Maunder wrote:
Have you thought about taking off the tyres and replacing the car with an all-wheel-drive?
Dude! :omg: I hate to be the first to tell you this, but even all-wheel-drive vehicles work better with tires... :rolleyes:
Ave Shog9, CP-addicti te salutant! - K(arl), The Soapbox
C'mere...a little closer...closer......closer....WHAP! cheers, Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP
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Has anybody driven a car with winter tires ? Are they any better then all-season? Will it do any good replacing just 2 front tires? I just have a dilemma since last winter in Toronto was REALLY bad. I have almost new all-season tires and the driving last winter was simply a nightmare.:doh: So anybody has an experience with winter tires?
Well, they're definitely better than summer only tires in winter.
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Has anybody driven a car with winter tires ? Are they any better then all-season? Will it do any good replacing just 2 front tires? I just have a dilemma since last winter in Toronto was REALLY bad. I have almost new all-season tires and the driving last winter was simply a nightmare.:doh: So anybody has an experience with winter tires?
I'm using winter tires, and because I'm living in Montreal, Quebec, it is really a must in winter. BTW, I heard on the radio the other day that summer tires are loosing their grip between 0 and 5 deg C (where the hell is the degree character on an american keyboard ?) Usually, I'm switching my tires in winter as soon as the temperature goes below 0deg at night (approx beginning of november)
Stephane
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Have you thought about taking off the tyres and replacing the car with an all-wheel-drive? I drive all-seasons all year round in Toronto and don't have any trouble. Well, any trouble that isn't deliberately induced ;) cheers, Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP
Chris Maunder wrote:
Have you thought about taking off the tyres and replacing the car with an all-wheel-drive?
Beyond the slapped comment above.... All wheel drive tends to give people more confidence to get themselves in worse trouble. The best thing is someone experienced in winter driving behind the wheel (in this city, you can count the number of people who qualify on one hand and still leave enough fingers to make a statement about the other drivers), then comes the tires and all wheel drive. But I find people tend to do really, really stupid things when given all wheel drive.... They seem to magically think that the vehicle can go anywhere, do anything, and they need take no precautions for weather driving. In otherwords, they go insane. :) _________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb)
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Has anybody driven a car with winter tires ? Are they any better then all-season? Will it do any good replacing just 2 front tires? I just have a dilemma since last winter in Toronto was REALLY bad. I have almost new all-season tires and the driving last winter was simply a nightmare.:doh: So anybody has an experience with winter tires?
I live in Ohio so the winter here isn't nearly as long or as snow filled as any of the other Canadian guys. In Ohio, instead of snow storms we generally get ice storms (freezing rain, sleet, etc). Most of the time, after we get a snow the top layer mets a little and freezes over. So it is mostly ice. I dont' care what kind of tire you have, manuevering a car over ice is precarious at best. Brett A. Whittington Application Developer