Snowflakey
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2005
Studded snow tires is the only way I roll
They make all the difference in the world. I have a dedicated set of wheels and tires for the car we use in Winter. It's a FWD MINI Cooper and I drive circles around all the SUVs and Crossovers on All Seasons.
I have ALL WEATHER tires on my car. They are different than all season and carry the mountain with the snowflake and meet the requirements for driving on the highway in winter. https://www.kaltire.com/en/tires/no...5=tire_rim_diameter&prefn6=tire_width&start=1
Nordman are made by Nokian. not sure about the name either but the definately handle the snow and ice better than the all season tires I used to have. We don't get lots of snow here but frequently have frost and ice on the roads and I live in a hilly area.Those seem to be the same as the asymmetric Nokian WR 3 series. Not sure what's up with the name though.
Nordman are made by Nokian. not sure about the name either but the definately handle the snow and ice better than the all season tires I used to have. We don't get lots of snow here but frequently have frost and ice on the roads and I live in a hilly area.
Same. I have a FWD MINI Cooper S that I put on Pirelli run flat snow tires on last year. I avoid driving in the snow when I can help it (relatively easy because I WFH) but the few times I’ve gotten caught at the beginning of a storm before the sanders and plows come through, I’ve felt safer and more in control.
I live in the suburbs in New England and know many people who have snow tires.
Ugh...run flats. They serve a purpose, I suppose, but from a driving perspective they're terrible.
For one trip? Just this year? No, I would not go to the expense of buying a set of winter tires just for 1 trip. Assuming it's a new vehicle you bought in March, and has decent all weathers, you should be OK. If it's a blizzard, nothing is going to help much and you are safer waiting it out rather than being on the roads.
We use winter tires, put them on a couple of weeks ago and they'll stay on until sometime in March. I don't rotate, though I think the garage typically marks which tire comes off which location, and when they put them back on the tires will "rotate" then. Winter tires will usually last about 4 years or so; same with my summer tires. New all weathers are usually decent enough for a winter up here, maybe 2, but definitely not after that.
OP - enjoy your ski vacation!
I've always had snow tires on my vehicles - then I bought a new car with summer slicks on it last march in the biggest snow storm of the season and white knuckled it for an hour driving home and got super stuck on a side road. I still need to buy snows for it but haven't yet. Growing up in a rural area outside of the city driving an hour each way the only time I didn't make it out with my snow tires on was when the snow plow with the sanding trailer jackknifed and blocked the only road in/out of our neighborhood...
Five years of North Dakota winters and never put snow tires on. Just all season. We were lucky if the city plowed the street.
Never have had snow tires and I live in Minnesota. Never found them necessary. Nor do we have 4 wheel drive vehicles. If you drive sensibly, you can get through winter just fine. We have a pair of Prius. Never gotten stuck. My husband has never failed to get to work, and he works 25 miles away in the middle of the night, often before roads have been adequately cleared. The expense and hassle of storing a whole other set of tires simply is not worth it.
We have high quality all season tires on all our vehicles. That's sufficient.
It might be worth it to get chains. Maybe even two pairs. Not sure what the laws are in your area, but if you’re absolutely stuck somewhere there’s little chance of getting in trouble for it.
If I still lived there I probably would. Living in Calgary now with much milder temps, Chinooks, and much, much less snow makes chains make less sense.