Snow Tires: Worth it or overkill?

[mrCharlie]

Hello again everyone, it's been a while...

 

Recently moved from my 99 LGT up to a 05 WRX Wagon, shortly after moving from Ohio to Rhode Island.

 

I've run snow tires in the past back when I used to have BMWs, which turned them from undrivable in the snow to pretty decent. When I got the GT, it was good enough to get by with all seasons in the winter (at least as far as not getting stuck). Ohio snow tended to not be too terribly deep or too terribly frequent, though the part of Ohio I was in tended not to clear the roads very effictively.

 

Now, I'm commuting from Pawtucket, RI to Worcester, MA, which is about 35 miles, mostly on a divided state highway. As a former Ohioian, the amount of snow we get in this area (especially Worcester) is a bit intimidating, though I've been told the roads get taken care of up here.

 

So, my question- should I invest in a set of snow tires for the WRX, or is it an overkill? The car came with Continental performance all seasons of some sort, which rate 7.6 on Tire Rack for snow traction, and I have a set of chains if things get too bad. Anyone familiar enough with this area too confirm the roads are actually taken care of? And should I expect this car to be similar to my old GT when it comes to winter driving?

 

Thanks for the advice!

[Petersubaru]

wait for snow and then test drive the car by slamming the breaks on the snow...if you feel that the "abs" is Not doing the job...then you need snow tires..my daughters 2002 lincoln Ls can stop in half the distance on snowy roads and can climb the hills with 2wdr and leave me sitting in the blizzard with the all wheel dr and michelin hydroedge tires ...I forgot to mention, try this stopping going down hill and be prepared...

Edited October 6, 2009 by Petersubaru

[daehttub2000]

Congrats on your WRX. Prepare to fund your traffic violations fund.

 

You've got two factors working against you with your WRX in the snow. IMHO, you need to go the Tire Rack route with skinnier winter tires on another set of rims unless you drive primarily on well cleared city roads.

 

1) Big footprint - low ground pressure/traction. My WRX has the all season high performance Dunlops but the WRX "floats" on the snow and ice and directional control is fun but challenging...

 

2) Yes, if you're in snow country, snow tires really make a difference over all seasons if you drive on bad roads (back country access roads for Nordic/Alpine/Telemark skiing, etc.).

 

I drive my Legacy during the winter and the skinny 14 inch wheels really grip the snow (Blizzaks). My WRX is garaged in the winter. It's a lot of fun going sideways in the winter but it can be scary too...

[ericem]

With a AWD car it is probably MORE important to run 4 snow tires during winter months since there isn't much you can do if you slide out, like if you gun it you will slide more, or hit the brakes, well if you hit the brakes the abs could guide the vehicle back straight. Regardless, AWD and Winter tires makes for a awesome fun winter!!

[idosubaru]

snow tires are amazing, definitely worth it. there is hardly a more significant safety improvement you can make. i would say from Maryland north they are definitely worth it.

[torxxx]

snow tires are a must with AWD not to mention a turbo. It makes these soobs almost handle like they are on dry pavement. Keep in mind I'm in Alaska so we have 6 months of snow/ice driving. I'm able to drive around safely at full speed limits (or a bit past ) year round running mud/snow studded tires.

 

I am NOT a fan of blizzaks. I do not believe in "studless" winter tires. Nothing compares to havin spikes out when you are sliding into an intersection or a stop sign, or the back of another car. I can definatly notice a difference between studded and non studded tires. studs also help keep you tracking straight on icy roads. we had some nasty freezing rain last year and the ppl with blizzaks were sliding completely sideways off of flat roads. the ppl with studs were tracking straight on the same road, in similar cars.

 

Just my 2 pennies.. with 15 years of ice/snow driving in Alaska all in Subarus!

[Twitch de la Brat]

2) Yes, if you're in snow country, snow tires really make a difference over all seasons if you drive on bad roads (back country access roads for Nordic/Alpine/Telemark skiing, etc.).

 

I drive my Legacy during the winter and the skinny 14 inch wheels really grip the snow (Blizzaks). My WRX is garaged in the winter. It's a lot of fun going sideways in the winter but it can be scary too...

 

Oh yes, Snow tires are worth every penny (if you get good ones)

I only have cheapo snows that came with my cars, so I have yet to buy a

new set, but they are a huge improvement over summer slicks and even

all-seasons.

 

And who says you need 200whp+ to go sideways? :-p

 

Twitch

[forester2002s]

I used to think that All-season tires were OK, until I got stuck on a hill packed with wet hard-packed snow/ice.

 

My new (last year) snow tires are awesome, and make a huge difference to traction and braking.

 

Below about 5C (40F), the rubber compound on all-seasons gets rock-hard!

Do the fingernail-test, and you'll see how much softer the rubber on snow tires is.

[Scoobywagon]

Snow tires are worth EVERY penny. Where I live, I have found that I don't need studs. However, there are some areas of the country where studs could be very important. I suspect that you live in one of them. I have at least 2 sets of wheels for every vehicle I own. One set has summer tires (either all season or high performance, depending on the vehicle), while the other set has winter tires. I find that a taller, skinnier tire is the way to go for snow. I run Blizzaks, but in areas where you can reasonably expect ice buildup on the road, studs are the shizznit.

[bheinen74]

a Subaru on Snows in snow, is the best you can get. no worries except for the camaro drivers and mustangs, I usually pull over into the ditch when i see one of them anywhere near.

[edrach]

Best tires for the conditions are always best. I've always been a proponent of mounting snow tires on a spare set of rims and installing them before the snows start to fall. This is actually a less expensive option since the only extra cost involved is the spare set of rims. The extra miles you get out of your summer tires when the winter tires are on the car tend to even out the costs.

 

I personally favor studless snow tires since the Seattle area doesn't have snow on the ground three months of the year and studded tires are actually a disadvantage on dry or wet roadways; not to mention the extra wear on the roads.

 

But get a set of quality tires regardless of whether you go studded or studless. Hakkapollittas, Hankook iPikes, Michelin Alpins, Toyo Observes are among my personal preferences. You are not only protecting your car, you could be protecting your life.

[Durania]

Best bet would be just to find a set of steel wheels and throw a set of snow tires on there.

[nipper]

Get a set of snow tires. Even here on Long Island i see these things get stuck all the time because they have all season speed rated tires on them (that all season must be in San Diego).

 

nipper

[mrCharlie]

Thanks everyone for the input, that advice was pretty unanimous, and definitely helps make the decision easy.

 

Given that my commute is mostly highway, I'm leaning toward performance snow tires so I don't compromise the dry handling/safety too much. I'll keep the chains in the back just in case things get really bad. We put a set of Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3Ds on my wife's FWD Saturn Astra last year- pretty impressive even in 12" of snow, and better than the OE Hankooks in the dry. Probably will go with a set of these mounted on cheapie steels from the Tire Rack, probably in the OE size to maintain decent dry performance.

[obk25xt]

haakapalitas! ive had 2 sets and they're a little spendy but worth it, they are a performance tire, but they have studs! super soft but i'm goin on year 3 with them and they're still in pretty good shape. i do have to slightly change my driving style every year when i put them on.......... till i hit the snow! then its off with the traction control, crank the boost, put er' to the wood and kill the corners!

[obk25xt]

btw, chains are for the griswolds, with chains speeds are way limited, suby with studs and you dont have to stop, or get out, or lay on your side, in the snow, or worse yet......slush. and most importantly, i dunno how many cars i've seen with horrible damage from chains either coming off and eating fenders, or wrapping up around control arms and brakes and such. personally i am against chains just my opinion tho.... i'm entitled

[ScoobySchmitty]

 

1) Big footprint - low ground pressure/traction. My WRX has the all season high performance Dunlops but the WRX "floats" on the snow and ice and directional control is fun but challenging...

 

 

Definitely. I had an old Mk. II Golf that a previous owner installed much wider wheels and tires. They looked really good and had a really aggressive tread, but it was the worst car in the snow I ever owned. Several times almost got stranded going uphill because I had such a big footprint for the car's weight. Even my small 2wd pickup is better in the snow with a bit of weight in the back!

[Slacker]

Ahhh, you don't need snow tires on a WRX.

You just need a friend with a Jeep.

[zyewdall]

A coworker of mine has an '05 Saab Aero, which except for the headlights and the grill is essentially the same car as the WRX. He's running Hankook Icebear tires on there I believe, and says they are a world of diference better than the all seasons, which he described as distinctly squirmy and not fun to drive on the snowy highway. He said that he can notice they are not quite as much a performance tire as whatever he's running in the summer, but it's still better than something like the Ipike that I usually run on my cars in the winter (which doesn't really pretend to be a performance snow tire -- but on an '80s subaru, performance usually isn't in the equation anyway.

 

As for studs... for glazed ice, they sure are nice. I can lock up all four wheels and slide through one of the stop signs in town even with four wheel studs on really bad days though.... even they have their limits. They do perform rather poorly on dry roads, or on wet roads, and are quite noisy (my diesel truck has studded tires, which on dry pavement are actually slightly louder than the diesel engine), so it depends on whether you want to have reduced performance there, but have the studs when you get on the ice layers, or better performance in most conditions, but still slide around when you get on the clear ice.

[Flowmastered87GL]

if you can afford them, get them. I have bilzzaks on the baja and its downright difficult to spin all 4 tires anymore on snow now.

[cagranitz]

A set of 4 Blizzaks was my very first purchase after I bought our Outback Wagons.

 

Now in the winter, it's no longer a Subaru, but a Snobaru

[1-3-2-4]

I know everyone likes the bilzzaks but what about these?

 

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?&autoYear=1995&vehicleSearch=true&tireMake=Continental&partnum=87TR4EWC&tireModel=ExtremeWinterContact&autoMake=Subaru&autoModClar=&i1_Qty=4&i1_Qty=4&autoModel=Legacy+Wagon

[SubaruLove]

I think if you have the extra money to spend, you wouldn't regret it. I live in North Idaho and I don't have snow tires, but I did use some one year. It makes a difference as far as when you want to stop, but I never get stuck thanks to AWD! I like to have a little fun, so I prefer not to have them! Enjoy your subie this winter! I love when I see big trucks stuck in the snow and I can just mob past them.

[1-3-2-4]

That happened with me in a Forester and a Hummer H2.

 

And it was nice of the 3 snow plows to move over so I could run on the 5 inches of snow on the parkway

[CNY_Dave]

I know everyone likes the bilzzaks but what about these?

 

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?&autoYear=1995&vehicleSearch=true&tireMake=Continental&partnum=87TR4EWC&tireModel=ExtremeWinterContact&autoMake=Subaru&autoModClar=&i1_Qty=4&i1_Qty=4&autoModel=Legacy+Wagon

 

Looks pretty good...

 

 

 

Dave