All season tires on the snow?

I've been reading a bunch of posts concerning snow tires, and wanted to find out if anyone out there has experience driving on snow with the factory all-seasons.

I live in Vancouver, Canada. We don't get much snow here, maybe only one small dump a year, the rest of the time it's rain. Every year we contemplate buying snow tires, but I honestly can't see the justification in the city, because of the lack of snow. Snow tires are great on snow, but they really suck on pavement, and wear down too fast and cost too much to be really worth it.

I've had some limited experience with my 02 Impreza wagon on what little snow we get in the city - a couple of days of wet snow, nothing packed down. What experience I've had has been good - the AWD, ABS, and general weight of the car help tremendously. I've never felt out of control or worried about how the car would do.

What I'm curious about - has anyone out there had any experience in packed snow/dry snow, or snow at highway speeds, with the all-seasons? We've been out to Whistler a few times in the winter, but have so far managed to avoid snow on the road. This luck cannot last forever though, and I'd like to hear from people that have driven in the snow with the factory installed all seasons. How do they handle, and is it worth getting snow tires because of the occasional trip into the hills?

Thanks, Aaron

Reply to
Beefcake
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The all-season Potenzas by Bridgestone are awful on the snow.

June

I live in Vancouver, Canada. We don't get much snow here, maybe only = one small dump a year, the rest of the time it's rain. Every year we contemplate buying snow tires, but I honestly can't see the = justification in the city, because of the lack of snow. Snow tires are great on snow, = but they really suck on pavement, and wear down too fast and cost too much = to be really worth it.

I've had some limited experience with my 02 Impreza wagon on what little snow we get in the city - a couple of days of wet snow, nothing packed = down. What experience I've had has been good - the AWD, ABS, and general = weight of the car help tremendously. I've never felt out of control or worried = about how the car would do.

What I'm curious about - has anyone out there had any experience in = packed snow/dry snow, or snow at highway speeds, with the all-seasons? We've = been out to Whistler a few times in the winter, but have so far managed to = avoid snow on the road. This luck cannot last forever though, and I'd like to hear from people that have driven in the snow with the factory installed = all seasons. How do they handle, and is it worth getting snow tires because = of the occasional trip into the hills?

Thanks, Aaron

Reply to
Diva

I wouldn't bother.

My 95 Legacy has spent its life in Ottawa (snow from mid-December to March, typically) and never had snow tires on it.

If you are worried about getting stuck, AWD with all seasons is still better than 2WD and winter tires. Stopping is another issue, however, snow tires will definately help. That does not sound like that enough reason for you - if you do hit a nasty snow squall just drive slower. Test your brakes (when it is safe to do so) occationally just to get a feel for how much stopping traction you really have.

-- Dominic Richens | snipped-for-privacy@alumni.uottawa.ca "If you're not *outraged*, you're not paying attention!"

Reply to
Dominic Richens

I drive an '02 Impreza in the Vancouver area. I've done a few trips up to ski hills, and driven to Vernon through conditions that caused the Coquihalla to be closed.

I found that the all-seasons + AWD were about equivalent to my old car's front wheel drive and high quality snows. The stock all seasons ARE lousy, and I'm looking forward to replacing them. The biggest drawback I've found was in braking. Snows make a huge difference here in deep snow. But if you drive appropriately for traction, the all- seasons are more than adequate for winter in Vancouver with occasional Whistler trips. Once treadlife starts to expire, think about a new pair for winter though. All seasons that are worn are lousy in snow.

For previous cars I always bought steel rims and snows for winter, and summer tires for summer. I'm considering just going all-season with my Subaru though.

Reply to
Cam Penner

i'll second that. the oem subaru tires suck, of course all oem tires suck, that's where the car companies can cut costs without anyone noticing. i have goodyear eagle hp's on my 99 legacy and it does great in the snow.

mike

Reply to
Mike Deskevich

I think it depends on what you are used to. I live in the Philadelphia area, but go cross-country skiing in New York when there isn't enough snow around here. We usually get enough snow over the winter to be annoying but not useful (for "play"). So, for driving, almost no one with FWD or AWD bothers with snow tires at all. My previous car was a '99 Camry with the usual all-weather tires. It was okay on the main roads, but terrible on hills. We sometimes couldn't even get up our shoveled-out driveway without throwing down some cat litter for traction. Going to the XC centers was an adventure. OTOH, I know I can drive in the snow with FWD and crappy tires, so I should do extremely well with AWD and crappy tires. Plus, these tires (Potenzas) aren't nearly as crappy as the Camry tires (Michelin MXV4). At least they appear to have better tread. I'll find out once we get some snow.

Here's an analogy- It's kind of like the folks in the west who like to ski. They have great powder and wonderful conditions. We ski on what is essentially ice, so for us, skiing in powder is a snap. The westerners would be falling on their butts in the east, as they are not used to skiing on ice. SO, the folks who complain about the crappy tires live in very snowy places and really need and are used to the capabilities of the snow tires. Put them on lesser tires, and they'd be all over the place. Hope that made sense.

Reply to
Alan

Unless you are an avid skier and journey to Whistler on a regular basis, I wouldn't bother.

Ron

Reply to
Rockin Ronnie

I have a 2000 OBS wagon and am in Toronto, and am not impressed with winter driving on the all-seasons. Like you, I'm driving in fairly temperate city conditions (but not as warm as vcr), but with a fair amount of snow on the highways outside the city, especially in cottage/ski country.

The first time I drove my wagon in a fresh dump of snow, I went out of control making a left-turn at low speed on a city street. My previous car was front-wheel drive with snows, and I simply and stupidly failed to adjust for the difference. I did kind of assume that AWD would approximate 2WD with snows - not so. Over the course of that winter, I decided that the AWD with factory tires was fine for straight-line driving and packed-snow, and crawling over and through snow banks and ice at low-speeds, but remained cautious about making turns, and driving in fresh snow. Over the past few years, I've noticed similar comments from other owners on this newsgroup.

I think it comes down to peace of mind and whether you want to spend the money. In my case, I miss the feeling of control I had with my winter tires on my previous car, and have ordered snows after three winters of doing without. The drive to Whistler is kind of infamous for getting nasty during a storm, and if you happen to be on the road when stuff happens, you may find that those one or two heavy snowfalls you encounter make it worthwhile having the snows.

I'm not an expert on tires, but I've done some searching over the past week or so, and there are some opinions out there that some of the lower-cost brands/models of winter tires may be average performers in snow (but still much better than all-seasons), but they're ok to drive in more temperate conditions as well, without wearing out so much. You may be able to find a "compromise" winter tire.

I'm trying out the Kumho KW11s, which are pretty cheap. People seem to love them or hate them. We'll see.

Cheers, dave.

Reply to
dn

I live in Calgary and I had the re92 for 4 years and 77000km on them. People are right, those tires aren't great in snow, but it's all depands on how you drive. If you use some common sense, you should get by with your all season alright.

I am on my second set of all season (dunlop af sport 2), I find them are much better the RE92 in rain. In the snow I can't really tell the difference.

The problem with snow tires is that they dont perform quite well when it's dry, and since Vancouver doesnt exactly snow that often, I wouldnt bother with snow tires.

"Beefcake" ¦b¶l¥ó news:spByb.534857$pl3.162532@pd7tw3no ¤¤¼¶¼g...

Reply to
foxmon
77k on RE92s huh!? That's pretty amazing. Mine are at the wear bars at 30k. Anyways, I wouldn't bother with the snow tires. My RE92's were great in heay snow, city, highway, and ice. Braking is pretty poor at stoplights, so be careful as it will slide some. The second winter, the traction was much worse. I took it much more slowly. And I just replaced them with snow tires (Artic Alpins) this winter because we get snow from November through April here. As for highway driving, I don't think you'll have much trouble. It's been my experience that heavily traveled highways are the driest and clearest of them all in winter. It's the stoplights you have to worry about because the exhaust from cars stopped there will melt any snow there, which refreezes into ice. Just an opinion.

Reply to
Brady

sweet everyone, thanks for the comments - as expected, some good and some bad. I think I'm going to stick with the all seasons thru the winter (hard to really call it "winter", more like a fierce autumn). I would have to agree that as long as you drive for the conditions, you should never really have a problem with snow, and it's so infrequent here, I just can't justify the cost.

I'm personally happy with the bridgestone potenza factory tires - my last car was a Dodge Neon, and they came with Eagle GT factory, and then I switched to Dunlop D-series. The Potenzas beat both for driveability, road noise, and handling - I'd consider getting them again when they wear out.

Thanks, Aaron

Reply to
Beefcake

Not in Vancouver, definitely. But out here in Ottawa, well maybe you can make a case for them, but I'm still driving with all-seasons. There's nothing wrong with all-seasons per se, but it does depend on which ones you're talking about. The stock Bridgestones or Firestones, as others have noted, are horrible. However, if you go with slightly more aggressive all-seasons, you should be okay. I recommend the Nokian Hakkapellita WR series, they describe them as "all weather plus", meaning that they are snow tire treads with slightly harder compounds. We've already had a couple of good dumps out here in Ottawa, and these Nokians have done well so far. Snow tires are best for braking in the snow.

Yousuf Khan

Reply to
Yousuf Khan

As Yousuf said, check out the Nokian WR, they might be just the thing for your situation. I'm also from Ottawa (hey Ottawa guys, have a gander over here:

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but I ski a lot and prefer to drivetoo fast on snow, so I have winter tires (Ice tires as opposed to snowtires). I've been quite happy with the CT IceTracs, especially at $75 atire for 16". I figure that during the time I'm using the winter tires I'msaving the summers, so over the long term I'll come out about even. I can also run better summers, which would otherwise be no fun at all on cold pavement. Softer rubber is a good thing on cold pavement, wet or dry.

I'm afraid I can't identify with you then. I was thrilled to bits to wear mine out.

Andy.

Reply to
Andy Mason

I ment to type 3 years..not 4 years.. "foxmon" ¦b¶l¥ó news:gMVyb.231539$jy.182331@clgrps13 ¤¤¼¶¼g...

justification

Reply to
foxmon

On another Subaru site, a lot of people like the continental contiextremecontact. I have them but haven't had them on snow yet, but people say they are good. I can say they a very good for rain.

Reply to
Vince C

The Yokohama Geolander (OEMs) on my Forrester are excellent in New England snow. The AWD and good all-seasons are good enough for all but the worst conditions (or drivers). In your case, I'd stick with high-end all seasons. Note on the Yokohamas---excellent tires (my second set), but wear fast, about 32k.

Reply to
BKS

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