Snow Tires Overkill For Midwest?

[schlit]

Just wanted to get some opinions about using a dedicated set of winter tires for the Forester primarily for interstate travel in the midwest and east this winter. I wont be venturing north of Nebraska, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, but assume I will be encountering some snow.

 

There doesn't seem to be many options for performance winter tires, so I'd probably be forced to use studless tires like Blizzak WS-60's.

 

 

I guess my question is how poorly do studless winter tires do at high speeds on dry interstate? Will I be kicking myself?

[Chip]

Dedicated snow tires are the way to go. Here in eastern Canada,(Quebec), it's actually illegal to use anything but snow tires in the winter.....all seasons are not allowed. http://www.saaq.gouv.qc.ca/publications/prevention/infosaaq/infosaaq_21a.pdf

 

I don't know how much snow you get but as soon as there's more than 1/4 inch on the ground, your all seasons have already been rendered ineffective. Same thing goes for ice.

Alot of people will tell you that they've done just fine with all seasons....that's because they've never driven with good dedicated snow tires or have never had to do any emergency maneuvers.

Today's snow tires are much better on dry roads than in the past. The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

 

That being said...I'm a big fan fan of the Blizzaks...I've used them on all my Subarus. I'm sure however that there are many other excellent choices...Nokiam, Michelin..etc. Stick with a good brand name and you'll be ok.

 

The only added cost is the cost of having them changed each year...while your snow tires are on your car, your summer tires aren't wearing down.

[zyewdall]

If you have studs, the high speed performance can suffer, but if they aren't studded, I don't notice alot of difference on the highway -- a little less mpg perhaps, and you wear out the snow tires prematurely, but well worth the better performance in the snow -- if you've always driven all season tires in the snow, you don't realize how much of a difference it is, but once you get snow tires, you won't go back to driving all season's in the snow.

 

Z

[idosubaru]

snow tires are not overkill - definitely a great thing to have in Ohio and PA. i've seen some serious snow in those states.

 

if you're doing any mountain driving then you definitely want them.

 

i've never noticed a problem performance wise and i do a lot of highway driving.

[schlit]

Thanks for the opinions.

 

I do find it surprising, though, that you would not see any performance loss at highway speeds. I was expecting to hear that it's soft but stable at high speeds or something like that... I know the forester isn't a sports car, but really is there no loss in handling?

[zyewdall]

Depends on how you drive on the highway I guess. I'm going by experience with a 97 impreza (which is probably comparable to the forester) and lots of 80's subarus (which all lose performance at highways speeds, no matter what tires you have on them). I had a 1990 Legacy that actually seemed to be worse with all seasons than snow tires, but the all seasons were 75 series tires intead of 70 series like the snow tires, so the higher tire may have outweighed the difference in tire.

[Suzam]

Not just snow, but ice and slush are issues too. Once your off the interstates the primary and secondary road conditions are usually worse. Blizzak or Michelin X-Ice snows that handle icy conditions as weel would be the way to go.

[forester2002s]

And not just snow, ice and slush either.

The softer rubber in snow tires has a higher coefficient-of-friction than all-seasons (especially at low-temperatures).

That means a shorter braking distance on dry pavement too.

 

As for handling, I do notice a deterioration in handling with my snow-tires fitted.

I find that at freeway speeds, the car doesn't track as well when fitted with snows. Instead of the usual rock-steady straight-line handling, the car will drift a little to the left and right. It's not much, my wife doesn't notice it.

Maybe I need a front-end alignment, but I'm not sure because the handling is fine with the all-seasons.

[valvestem]

I live in Maine, we have just a bit of snow in the winter, (100" plus, last two years), and have been driving 4WD (Scout, Cherokee, Liberty) or AWD since 1975 with either summer tires (no All-Season Radials back then), or All-Season Radials on the Subies or a 1992 Toyota AWD wagon. The ONLY time I had an issue was back in about 1994 when during a storm, I had one of those 'Gee, I wonder if my car can go through that?' moments. The scenario was during a snowstorm and I was in the Toyota Corolla AWD wagon, and tried to drive onto an unplowed road with about 12" snow on it. The Toyota went about 100 feet, snow packed up underneath and the car stopped, it was sitting oon top of the snow. The wheels were spinning slowly but I was going nowhere. I just simply put it in reverse, and backed out the same ruts in the snow that I had made going in. That's my experience, so I have never used snow tires in the winter. My wife's 03 Outback gets her to work at the hospital in the next town with no problems. I travelled to work myself to the next town, for the evening shift for over 21 years, and would drive home at 2 in the morning during a blizzard and enjoy it, because I was the only one on the road and moving along with no problems. All because of 4WD or AWD, with All-Season radials, or summer tires.

[hankosolder2]

I have noticed what I would consider to be a significant deterioration in high speed handling and low speed cornering on a number of different cars I have equipped with snows. (An old BMW 535i and two Accords- I've never run snows on any of our Subarus. Tires were the old Blizzak WS-50s on the BMW and Accord #1 and Firestone Winterforces on Accord #2.)

 

Yes, the tread compound of snow tires is soft (which makes for good grip) but the tread blocks are very deep and lack lateral support. It's especially noticeable in transitions (say, an abrupt high speed lane change) where you'll feel some definite sliding. With the Firestones, I notice some pretty dramatic "Tramlining" (the car jitters side to side as it follows grooves in the pavement) but this only happens on grooved pavement. (BTW, I am discussing the handling on DRY roads with the snow tires mounted... obviously, you're not going to be driving at as high speeds in poor weather conditions.)

 

I still love snow tires, but you have to be mindful and drive more conservatively with them mounted in dry weather. For your situation, I'd suggest perhaps a less "FULL ON" snow tire than the WS-60s... if you can find a winter touring type tire, I think you'll be happier with the highway performance. Tirerack.com probably has a good guide to the different models.

 

Nathan

[ronemus]

There are all-season tires that carry a M&S rating available, and they do very well in the snow. I had Pirelli P0 Nero M&S, but switched to Goodyear Eagle F1 All Seasons and much prefer them. About the only drawback is that any tire with an M&S rating will be much louder than a summer tire or standard all-season due to the open, aggressive tread pattern. I'm easily able to drive in 10" of fresh snow, which is pretty good considering that my groung clearance is less than 6".

[bgambino]

In my 20 years driving awd soobs, I have never had dedicated snows...and here in SE NY state we get our share of snow, ice and slush.

 

And it ain't flat here either

I have never had any issue (ok....wet ice going up my inclined driveway...she could not do that--but nothing could...it's like grease)

 

Because of the great performance, I always pride myself on never rushing out of work when it is a blizzard out---coworkers are all freaking out and leaving......hmmm, maybe it's not pride...that's called stupid...LOL

 

On the other hand, I am actively looking for some used steel rims so as to put dedicated snows on...I just want to be an animal ....I don't think it is necessary tho

[valvestem]

 

Because of the great performance, I always pride myself on never rushing out of work when it is a blizzard out---coworkers are all freaking out and leaving......hmmm, maybe it's not pride...that's called stupid...LOL

 

Sounds like a good attitude. Cooler heads prevail...with the help of a Subaru.

[schlit]

Thanks to those who've understood the climate I'll be driving in. I've decided to just make sure my allseasons have good tread on them and roll with it. It seems like the people who have them are farther north or backcountry and maybe have to rely on the snow grip more.

[1-3-2-4]

Dedicated snow tires are the way to go. Here in eastern Canada,(Quebec), it's actually illegal to use anything but snow tires in the winter.....all seasons are not allowed. http://www.saaq.gouv.qc.ca/publications/prevention/infosaaq/infosaaq_21a.pdf

 

I don't know how much snow you get but as soon as there's more than 1/4 inch on the ground, your all seasons have already been rendered ineffective. Same thing goes for ice.

Alot of people will tell you that they've done just fine with all seasons....that's because they've never driven with good dedicated snow tires or have never had to do any emergency maneuvers.

Today's snow tires are much better on dry roads than in the past. The advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

 

That being said...I'm a big fan fan of the Blizzaks...I've used them on all my Subarus. I'm sure however that there are many other excellent choices...Nokiam, Michelin..etc. Stick with a good brand name and you'll be ok.

 

The only added cost is the cost of having them changed each year...while your snow tires are on your car, your summer tires aren't wearing down.

 

 

I agree with everything you said.. I live here in the North east and a person on NASIOC said I don't need snows and tried to pretty much make it something bigger then what it needed to be.. I have to be at my job early in the morning as in 2-4 AM not only are some roads not cleared off a lot start to ice over after they have been cleared and my job's parking lot is not cleared until later in the morning.

 

So that makes me need snows

[michaelbteam]

What is ONE accident worth? Dedicated [sticky] snows like the Blizzak or Michelin X-Ice make hazardous winter conditions almost fun to drive in. We put this quality tire on a Tundra and two Subies every winter for my son and daughter. Cheaper tires of this type like the Arctic claw were incredibly noisy, so we stick with the Blizzak or X-Ice, whichever are the best value. Just got 225-60-16's, Blizzaks for a about $460 after rebates at Discount Tire.

Good tires are CHEAP insurance!

[schlit]

One accident during the 75% of the time I'm on dry crowded interstates with people flying at 85mph or during the 25% I'm slowed down due to winter weather?

[bheinen74]

my best advice for Iowa residents is to buy a set of snows, drive the backroads when its slick, and to stay off the interstate during times of snow. People buzz thru on the Interstate at 85-90 when its icy out there, I like to stay as far away from that road as possible. Its almost always shutdown due to accidents with even a inch or so of snow, mostly due to out of staters buzzing thru, still using the cruisie control on Ice and wrecking.

[biffbradford]

Hand painted. They go on tomorrow.

 

Edited December 8, 2009 by biffbradford

[98obster]

Thanks to those who've understood the climate I'll be driving in. I've decided to just make sure my allseasons have good tread on them and roll with it. It seems like the people who have them are farther north or backcountry and maybe have to rely on the snow grip more.

 

I believe the climate you are driving is about to take a turn for the worse, be safe in the next couple days.