The Winter's Coming Winter Tires Thread

[DownInFlames]

I didn't see any vehicle spin out today more than 4x4s. Either these guys overestimate their driving ability or don't realize that having $2000 worth of rubber won't help if it's the wrong type of rubber.

The only vehicles I saw flipped on the highway were trucks too. Higher centre of gravity say hi.

[Hans Landa]

I went up to Saskatchewan River Crossiing today, then on the way home detoured down Spray Lakes to Kananaskis Lakes and back up Hwy 40 to Hwy 1 and home again. Roads were consistently garbage everywhere. Hwy 1 west of Hwy 40 had a mirror finish and was a skating rink.

The only truck I saw in the ditch all day was a Parks Canada truck (far down a bank stuck in the trees just west of Banff).
Worst crash was on Hwy 1 between the Morley exit and Hwy 22. A Matrix and a Mazda3 collided somehow. Lots of cars in the ditches here and there. The biggest speed demon I saw was a guy in a Subaru on the Icefields Parkway. That road was just a fresh blanket of snow at 7am... I was driving at the limit between 90-100 and the little old Impreza went by me like I was stopped.... then he hit the brakes and turned in to the Num Tee Jah Lodge parking lot. I guess he had to take a s*** real bad.

Good times.

[FurnaceFace]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

Yes winters are slightly more expensive and you have the cost of a second set of wheels. Easily less than a $500 one time cost.

$500? I assume you're talking per wheel?

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by FurnaceFace

$500? I assume you're talking per wheel?

If you don't need new rims, thats doable. I paid $560 for a whole set of 16" Federal Himalayas. About $1000 if we include alloys.

[gottabekd]

You don't need winter tires for 95% of the winter in Calgary.

But days like today falls into the 5%.

[Titan]

I just put my first set of winters on and today was the first test. They are unbelievable compared to the all-seasons I had before. Not even remotely close and I can see the only problem being that they engender over confidence. But that is what the 4x4 is for.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by photon

Everyone who's posting in this thread who has winter tires isn't dead, that's evidence enough for me!

I have Michelin LTX M/S tires (not winter tires) on my Ford Escape and had no problems getting around

[Ozy_Flame]

Just got my transfer case replaced on my car, and the AWD, DSC and ABS are all working again on my BMW 3 Series.

After getting all that back, and having relatively new all seasons, it handled like a champ on the roads tonight. Great handling, awesome acceleration, and little to no slippage. You don't realize how much those matter until you drive with those features!

[Eagle Eye]

Well after my first season on winter tires, there really is a massive difference between all-seasons and winters.

I was one of those who said that I never had problems in the winter before, but there is no comparison

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by fotze

Plus $200/year switching back and forth, plus storage, plus the pain in the ass of making appointments.

I like them, but I don't think it is that marginal cost, especially when you can delay the spend 5ish years in the all season scenario.

Honestly, the best way to do it is to do it yourself (or make a friend do it for you!). I'm far from a handy, DIY car maintenance sort of guy, but a one-time investment in a jack and a torque wrench has saved me loads of time. I just watch the forecast and pop out to the garage when things start to get sketchy. This year it probably only took me 45 minutes for each car, which is still probably slow compared to others. The cost of the jack and torque wrench is negligible compared to the time spent waiting around, making appointments, arranging rides to and from the appointments, etc. My only recurring cost is new tires every few years.

I realize that this doesn't really help for those who live in apartments or doesn't have a place for storage, so I can understand the frustration there.

[Top Shelf]

4x4 and Blizzak DM-V1's = tank mode, love it!

[woob]

Put the winters on my girlfriend's car and she's booting around without any issues. I haven't had time to get mine on yet but thankfully my all season's are pretty new, so they're ok. I do miss my winter's though. Lock in the AWD on my Mazda + winter tires = great fun! Though, I still miss my Cherokee for the big ol' snow days.

[Jackpot_Smooth]

Originally Posted by Top Shelf

4x4 and Blizzak DM-V1's = tank mode, love it!

(4x4 + Studded hankooks)*me being awesome = pretty much invincible

[fundmark19]

Question. I went to put 16 inch rims on my 2006 Rav 4 steelies with winters. The rims came off a rav 4 and seem to fit ok. My problem is my stock lug nuts are far to short and won't tighten far enough down to secure the rim. Is this normal? On my other cars the lugnuts work fine for both winter and summer rims. Does anyone know what size of lugnut I would need to buy to fix this

Thanks

[macker]

Originally Posted by fotze

Plus $200/year switching back and forth, plus storage, plus the pain in the ass of making appointments.

I like them, but I don't think it is that marginal cost, especially when you can delay the spend 5ish years in the all season scenario.

I don't think it is that much? I paid $60 yesterday with some deal as it is regular $120. This is a mainstream shop to. There are likely lots of garage guys that would do it for $40-$50 or a case of beer. I just prefer to take it to tire guys but it is not that much. If it saves an accident it is worth it. If it gets me around the city quicker it saves me time and money. Pays off after first storm. Also gets me to where I want to ski.

[Jackpot_Smooth]

Originally Posted by fundmark19

Question. I went to put 16 inch rims on my 2006 Rav 4 steelies with winters. The rims came off a rav 4 and seem to fit ok. My problem is my stock lug nuts are far to short and won't tighten far enough down to secure the rim. Is this normal? On my other cars the lugnuts work fine for both winter and summer rims. Does anyone know what size of lugnut I would need to buy to fix this

Thanks

Sounds like you'll need open lugs. Just go to any toyota (or any automotive store) and get some open ended lugs. They should be able to look up the size/specs/thread pitch you'll need.

[fundmark19]

Originally Posted by Jackpot_Smooth

Sounds like you'll need open lugs. Just go to any toyota (or any automotive store) and get some open ended lugs. They should be able to look up the size/specs/thread pitch you'll need.

Great! That is what I was hoping for. After a bad rim experience with my mazda 3 I always get nervous putting new winter rims on for the first time

[Wormius]

I need a new set of winters. Question - any pros or cons of siping vs studding tires? Also storing tires outside if they're in bags?

[YYC in LAX]

Switched my tires at home in the garage yesterday after work. It's about a 30 minute process. I'm not a car guy at all, but changing tires at home is actually easier and more efficient than taking the car in. Saving money is always nice too.

I've bought new Hankook i-Pikes last year and they have been great. No close calls, no getting stuck so I guess they're doing their job.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by FurnaceFace

$500? I assume you're talking per wheel?

I just ran a search on tirerack.com for wheels for the most common sounding car I could think of, a 2008 Toyota Camry.

There are one and a half pages of wheels that are less than $90 for 16" wheels and less than $110 for 17" wheels, so as you can see, 4 wheels for $500 is easy.

For my fiancees car we got a second set of the factory BMW wheels with summer tires on them for $500 used. Now she has the same wheels for both winters and summers, and it wasn't exactly a huge outlay of $.