Yes You Need Snow Tires

[2000yroldskier]

Snow tires with studs. I like to stop. When I need to stop.

 

[Cork]

I run 18" studded hakkapeliitta's on steel rims, and they are seriously the BOMB!!
For all you that don't live in an area that you feel you need snowtires, I'll give you a honk

 

[Milo Maltbie]

Back in the 80a and 90s I had jobs all over the Adirondacks, Catskills and Central NY. If I missed a meeting that gave some asshole an excuse to push me past all my deadlines. I always used snow tires.

Now I don't need to be anywhere, There are fewer snow days and snow removal is way better than it was 30 years ago. I still use snow tires only because I want first chair on powder days. The last time I remember that made a critical difference was at least 15 years ago.

mm

 

[Jackalope 069]

For safety and performance during the winter, Im a big believer in dedicated snow tires. I run Bridgestone Blizzaks on dedicated rims on my ski truck during the winter. Their soft rubber compound grips on ice, and the lack of studs eliminates all of the performance issues associated with running studs on wet, snowless roads all winter. They have two issues. One is that though generally they're smooth and quiet, they are somewhat speed limited, as they start to get squirrely around 80mph. The other issue is they wear quickly on warm spring roads, so its important to get them off once the weather warms up. I bought the rims at a salvage yard for less than half the cost of new ones . Ive run soft rubber snows from other manufacturers with less than stellar results, so now I just stick with the Blizzaks.

 

[Harvey]

dedicated rims

My mechanic just talked me out of dedicated rims. I asked about cheap steel rims for snows and he asked:

"Are those low tire pressure warnings going to drive you crazy?"

How old is your car? Does it have tire pressure sensors? Do your new rims have the sensors?

 

[rebel1916]

My mechanic just talked me out of dedicated rims. I asked about cheap steel rims for snows and he asked:

"Are those low tire pressure warnings going to drive you crazy?"

How old is your car? Does it have tire pressure sensors? Do your new rims have the sensors?

It is annoying for the first few days. Then it is just status quo

 

[Peter Minde]

I've had snow tires on dedicated rims for 30 years. Way back when, I had a few sidewall blowouts when I tried to swap tires off and on rims.

 

[tirolski]

It is annoying for the first few days. Then it is just status quo

Whatabout duct tape & an old fashioned hand held pressure gauge to boot.

 

[x10003q]

We left the snows on the ski vehicle for the last 2 years. We drive it so little in the off season that it is just not worth it to swap the tires out. The other set is just rotting away in the garage.

We had Bridgestone Blizzaks for 4 years. They were great in the snow but loud and wobbly at highway speeds - which is about 95% of our ride to Vermont. Last fall we replaced the Blizzacks with Dunlop SP Winter Sports. These were much quieter and way more stable at highway speeds vs the Blizzacks and still had plenty of bite in the snow.

 

[TheGreatAbyss]

My admittedly limited understanding is that the Blizzaks are great if you are always driving on snow and ice, but there are other more well rounded winter tire options.

Remounting tires twice a year seems like a nightmare IMHO. Just swapping the wheels is enough of a PITA.