Do you have a set of winter tires?

A lesson a lot of people seem to ignore. However, with the AWD, even with an AT stopping is a lot better than 2WD...

Just wondering if you still find it necessary despite the AWD.

I've just been running the all seasons. I live in Nebraska. We do get snow, freezing rain, etc. but not as much as other places.

Even with AWD, you really have 2 wheels (one in front and one in back) powering with open diffs. And 3 wheel drive with a rear limited slip diff.

And of course, AWD/4WD might help you get going better, but it doesn't help you stop.

I just get one set of tires to use in all weather conditions. I don't get [near] baldy tires. The tread is needed for grip when driving in snow (not ice) and to channel out water when driving in rain. I don't put on fat (wide) tires due to the plowing effect in snow. Skinnier tires handle better in deep snow. I just go with all-weather tires and keep the overall profile the same as for the standard tire & wheel to eliminate any problems with tire travel. Of course, these tires are used for a wide range of driving conditions on roads and not at the extremes of pushing the SUV to its off-roading limits.

You may need knobby snow tires if you are continually driving on unplowed unpaved roads or making your own roads. You didn't specify WHICH Subaru model you are asking about. Some have more ground clearance than others hence are more util for off-roading. Outbacks have 8.4-8.1" ground clearance, Foresters have 7.5", and the Legacy only has 5.9". More ground clearance is a boon to off-road adventurers but a bane to roadgoers (due to exaggerated "dancing" due to more roll, dive, and squat in cornering or avoidance manuevers).

Few SUV owners actually beat their beast to test just how nasty an off-road experience they can survive before calling the nearest farmer to yank their vehicle out of the muck. Even rarer are roadgoers that actually test their vehicles and practive regularly to get used to when understeer turns into oversteer, making skid turns or deliberate spinouts of repeatable rotation, when to crank the wheel into the skid and just the moment when to crank it back, and so on. Their "practice" is their everyday driving to and from work, not performance practicing to push the handling for emergency manuevers or racing.

If it's your intention to actually go hard off-roading then you need to get tires that are appropriate for the terrain where you intend to play. You never mentioned HOW you will be using the vehicle for the majority of its use and when, if ever, you will be pushing it beyond your everyday roadgoing use. For example, snow on roads is a different situation than snow on unpaved and uneven roads, like forest logging paths.

Something people here in Nebraska seem to forget every year. We have plenty of vehicles in ditches after the first slick stuff hits the roads every winter. You'd think Nebraska was in the heart of Dixie the way people drive at first.

AWD and ABS can give a false sense of security where you're not as careful as you should be. We have that here in south central PA too. I just have all season tires, but granted, snow tires would be better. I had Blizzaks for a while, but they wear out too quickly especially if you leave them on year round. Now I have Goodyear Triple Treds and have been happy with them. :)

Yes, for both vehicles. I have them installed now and will remove them in April. Stopping and turning are important to me.

Since I live in a place now where winter weather is not too horrible for too long I don't have and probably won't ever have winter tires on my Subaru. But, when I lived in Anchorage, Alaska and only had a FWD VW, I only had studded winter tires mounted for one season, finding that they just didn't help as much as really careful gentle driving did. That and the tendency of the tires to toss their studs at the least provocation guaranteed a short life for them.

Yes, but you don't have hills. Big difference!

I take it that you now live in the Pacific NW as I do. I managed the prior two winters with my Honda Accord without snow tires but this time I put them on the front drive wheels. They do help in packed snow but are not much help during slick conditions, unfortunately. In such instances I wish I had them studded, but I've had similar studed tire exprerience to yours in the past. Those studs just don't last very long. I am considering buying a Legacy or Impreza and that's why I am asking my questions here.

No, I don't live in the Pacific NW. My present location is in Eastern Tennessee but in the merely hilly portion -- not up in the 'mountains'. Snow here tends to fall, lay for a day or so, and then melt in pretty quickly. Bad icing is not a common occurrence. I grew up and learned to drive in the NE where winter conditions tended to be bad and was taught 'gentle' winter driving. To paraphrase the old-time automotive writer Tom McCahill "drive as though there are raw eggs between your feet and the pedals". This advice has served me well and I can say that not once between

1980-1997 in Alaska did I arrive late to work because of the weather. Whether getting to work is a good thing or bad is left as an exercise for the reader...

I suspect that if I was living in a location with really bad road icing conditions I'd invest in a set of the flat band-type tire 'chains' which are are quick to apply and remove when needed but would stick with good all-season tires. Studs are definitely out with me unless I take up frozen-lake racing in my dotage.

BTW, when I drove out of Alaska in late 1997 I was in a 1991 Mazda Miata with high-performance Dunlop tires, not a 4WD or AWD, although having one might have been useful at least once when the early blizzard blew through Yukon Territory. There _are_ limits beyond which good driving practices will not move you and a long steep hill covered with shiny ice is one of them.

My opinion is yes. It's too easy to get going with AWD. Stopping (and turning) is the problem. I just put the cheapest set I can find, as the Subaru doesn't need any help to get going. I just put Goodyear Nordic tires on mine last week. (2010 Outback).

And don't skimp, put em on all 4 wheels. You'll find yourself going around in circles with only two.

No Need for overpriced winter tires on a subie!

Depends where you are and where you want to go. But of course "overpriced" tires are not required, summer or winter, on any vehicle.

That's why the winter tires on my PT are 15" instead of 16, and on the Mystique they are 14 instead of 15. Higher profile tires are always available for lower price than low profile tirea of larger rim size and same rolling diameter.

I agree. Unless you live in an extremely bad area and need the little extra traction from special tires, I would not waste my money.

If the wear is a concern the fake winter tires are marketed as "Performance winter" and might be a good choice for neitherlands between the snow and sunbelt, wearing a little better than ice tires or snow tires.

Perf winters are probably a good choice for the skigoing kaulifornia bottom dwellers also (the locals in sierras are probably run winter tires unless they are stick with pickups/suvs for which i don't believe you can always get winter tires)

To stop questions like that subaru could just ditch the symmetrical awd layout and switch to the 325xi setup. rwd normally, awd after 2 seconds of wheelspin. Something like that.

But my guess is more three letter electronic crutches are on the way instead.

Is that how Honda CR-V does it?

I have put snow tires on my FWD Pontiac G5, but none on my Sube. However, snows make a huge difference on the Pontiac. Whereas I would be tiptoeing around just the corners of my street, I can take them pretty much at summer speeds.

The AWD on the Sube gives me some of the same advantages, but I think I would be able to stop a lot quicker if I did have snows on them too. Might even be able to corner a bit faster.

Yousuf Khan