Snow Tires or Not?
[ December 2nd, 2008 ] By: Charles Smith Posted in » Questions
Around this time of year I always debate whether or not I should get snow tires for my car. I know Mark has a set and puts them on (and refuses to take them off until practically the summer), but I’m always wondering whether it is worth the money.
On one hand snow tires offer a perception of safety in the snow (I’m told it snows a lot here in Rochester but I do not agree with that statement). On the other, I’ve gotten along just fine without snow tires (All seasons) and had a ton of fun doing it.
I do not need them for accelerating (AWD helps a lot in that regard) but I could benefit a ton in terms of Braking and steering. So should I stick with my all seasons (that worked wonderfully last winter) and experience with them or should I invest a few hundred dollars for snow tires (and probably wheels as snow tires for my wheels are a bit pricy)? What do you do?
December 2nd, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I’d have to vote for sticking with the all-seasons. While snow tires probably show notable benefit in the snow, I am sure that there are some drawbacks in non-snowy conditions. I think that a well-rounded tire (no pun intended) is better for everday driving, but I have almost no experience with this :-).
Cheers!
December 2nd, 2008 at 9:00 pm
IMHO, if you have all seasons, it’s likely not worth it. If you were to run soft, sticky summer tires in warmer months then it would make sense to have a nicely siped, water grooved (possibly studded) dedicated set of snow tires for the months when the weather is nasty.
I’m running high speed rated all-seasons for my DD duty and for performance driving and plan to get a set of steel rim-mounted snow tires (I like the Cooper Weathermaster) for RallyX.
December 3rd, 2008 at 12:39 am
Mmm hmm. I’ll probably stick with the all seasons (as they have been good to me in the past).
Maybe Mark and I will trade wheels/tires for a day :P
December 3rd, 2008 at 9:57 am
Keep in mind that the snow tires I have are a design that is biased towards good handling in dry conditions at the sacrifice of the normal amount of traction that snow tires give in frozen conditions, which is part of why I left my tires on for so long last year. I do think that you could really benefit from a dedicated set of summer and winter tires, but the monetary cost makes it not worth it.
December 5th, 2008 at 12:13 am
I think money toward a racecar is more important than the snow tires for my street car (at this point). Unless of course the racecar shared wheels and tires with my street car.. HRMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Interesting possibilities.
December 6th, 2008 at 2:47 am
Chains…. use them?
January 14th, 2009 at 11:34 am
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