that is a good idea. I'll do some runs in the snow for sure.

 

It's all about the tires...and not just in snow either...rain and dry.


Guys will spend THOUSANDS of dollars on suspension, HP and braking mods and then run cheap tires. It's like buying a blu-ray player and then watching it on a standard-def TV.

As much as I love Manual trans, i needed the AWD where I live. I've done plenty of winters with RWD cars and snow tires and there still are situations where your heart skips a beat here and there. I did last winter with the AWD and all-seasons and had a MUCH easier time than i ever did with RWD and snows.

I still get my fill of driving a manual trans as my "weekend" car is a stick...but for a DD commuter car I don't mind the 5AT. COmes in handy on those cold snowy mornings when it's snowing out and i'm commuting to work sipping my hot chocolate

 

Get bald tires, turn VDC to the OFF and try to keep the engine in a HIGH RPM.

 

Nokian WR G2's are the best winter tire I've ever had. It's the only one I'll drive on here in northern Michigan. This is my 3rd car with them, and all of my sisters have them too (FWD cars). I've never been stuck in the snow, even when driving through 12"-15" of the white stuff.
http://www.nokiantires.com/tyre?id=1...me=Nokian+WRG2
Blizzaks will wear out in maybe 2-3 winters, I expect my Nokians to last at least 4 or 5.

 

Hehe, I know you! You taught all the Californicans that moved up to the Northwest how to drive! Icy roads? Check. Red light turned Green? Check. Next step? FLOOR IT !!!

 

Like he said. But also try doing it when its raining because that way you can learn to expect the unexpected because the car doesn't really have traction at all just like in snow and while your practising, make sure though that it's safe but purposely make the car spin out of control for you to learn to regain control of it. And also carry a small shovel and some salt in your trunk because you will occasionally need to dig yourself out of a parking spot.

 

The Blizazk's forte is ice. I have them on the wife's '05 max. I have Mastercraft Glacer Grip II made by Cooper on my '97 max. This tire is better in snow than the Blizzak. I don't know what I'm going to do this winter for tires on the 35x. I might go cheap and leave the A/S tires on and just drive the max in bad weather. But that kind of defeats the purpose of buying the G.

 

The only complaints I have about my Blizzaks is they dont peform as good as they did new. I guess thats normal since theres less rubber to dig into the snow. I have about 15K miles on them going into my 3rd winter.

 

blizzaks ftw

 

With blizzaks, once the small wavy tread pattern has been worn away, the tire is considered unusable as a winter tire.

So basically you can still have 1/2" of tread and the tire is junk.

 

are there any other tires to consider?

 

That's the case with all dedicated winter tires. The biggest reason winter tires are effective is their tread compound doesn't get rock hard in the cold weather like an all-season or summer tire would. But, this tread compound wears out faster too. Dedicated winter tires only have this softer compound on the outer half of the tread, so half way through, they're just poor quality all-seasons subject to getting rock hard in the cold weather.

Yes, the Nokian WR. It's technically an all-season, but it's the only all-season tire that qualifies for the severe use symbol (mountain and snowflake, not M+S) that you see on dedicated winter tires. Besides being an all-season tire that performs fairly well on dry pavement, it also has one other huge advantage over dedicated winter tires. The tread compound is the same for the entire tread depth, so you get the benefits of cold weather performance for the life of the tire, not just for half it's life. I expect to get at least 25-30K miles out of them, which translates to about 4-5 full winters of use (Nov-Apr), not 2 or 3.

This is the 3rd car I've had them on (used set on a Ford Contour, new set on a Mazda CX-7, and the set on my G). All 4 of my siblings have them on their cars too, and swear by them just as I do. I will not put another tire on my car for winter driving. They are unstoppable, so much so that I lost the ability to tell work I couldn't make it in due to snow because there were 2 days last year where I was the only one who did make it in, and I live the farthest away.

You can't find them online, but their site http://www.nokiantires.com/tyre?id=1...me=Nokian+WRG2 has a dealer locator. Go talk to a dealer and see what they think of them.

 

I went with Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 - But definately get cheap wheels for winter

 

^^

+1

I have the same set up on 18" s (saving my Rays 19") and the Alpin tires. I am in Spokane, WA (you may or may not have heard of the record snow fall last winter) And, poor girl, my G drove all but 2 weeks of the season (2' of snow = No G) Those Alpins were ROCK solid. Left the VDC on and just drove like a sane person and they never spun up, slipped, or lost traction. Love these tires, they def saved my butt a few times when I needed to avoid some of our less snow-savvy drivers up here.

 

The Blizzaks are great snow tires - But the Michelins just have a better all around feel - They are also rated as a high performance and in Colorado it is not unusual to have a month of dry roads between blizzards