Wintertires

[Sixer]

I just put on the winter tires on my vehicle as well. It was just in time for the heavy snowfall yesterday. On my way home from MP I can’t believe there were some people still going over 100 KM/H under this kind of weather condition. At the same time there was a driver tried to cut off a tractor-trailer so he/she can exit from the express to the collector. Next thing I saw it spilled out of control and fell into a ditch.

I couldn’t stop and see what happened, as I am also having trouble to maintain my vehicle on the highway. This guy behind me was following so close. And my low traction indicator light kept coming on. There were a few times I can’t even see his headlight. Any mistakes here, it would definitely cause a chain reaction. Coming out of the ram to the exit I saw another car trapped in a small ditch. The driver and the passenger were an elderly couple. Me and a few other drivers stopped and help. I took out my shovel and tried to clear the area to give the tires more traction. A tow truck guy came by and wanted to charge this misfortunate couple $ 250 to tow it out of the ditch. We told his guy to F* off for this kind of highway robbery. With our effort the elderly couple were able to get back on the road. We consider this a pay back to others that helped us out on the road in the past winter.

Near my house I saw one more car idling on the road. The driver told me that her car has run out of anti-freeze. I carried an anti-freeze container with me from my house and filled up her windshield fluids. It was quite an adventure last night.

 

[Mudd Stuffin]

Blizzaks?????

I hope they have improved their technology. I bought some 4 years ago for the year we had s--t-loads of snow and Mel called in the army. The only benefit they provided was that I would not ruin my good rims. The Blizzaks on my rear-wheel drive car did no better than the all-season performance Goodyears I had for the regular weather. I had gone down a size from 16's to 15's and got the 10mm thinner size. No difference.
Needless to say, when I go looking for some snows this year, Blizzaks will not see my cash.

 

[T bagger]

Mudstuffin,

You're entitled to your own opinion and I guess you were only stating what your experience was but the overwhelming majority of consumers are over-the-top in their praise for Blizzaks. Just read professional and consumer reviews at tiretrend.com and tirerack.com - the two largest sites re: tires - both of which are highly recommended sites by Car and Driver, Motortrend, etc.

There could be other explanations. Poor installation, under-inflation, etc.

 

[punter]

I know a lot has been said on this topic already, and I've read it all, but I would like a bit more info since I really wanna get some winter tires installed this week!

Ok, I understood that having narrower winter tires would allow them to 'cut' through the snow better since the surface contact area is smaller, right?

When I take my car to Canadian Tire, will they automatically go down one size - since it seems to be common practice - or will I have to tell them?

When I get the steel, winter rims, should they be the same size as my old rims? I ask this becuse, u know the way manufacturers, on some models, allow u to upgrade from 15" to 16" or 17" alloy wheels. If I have the 17" alloys, would it really matter if I got the 15" or 16" winter rims with the appropriate winter tires, since the larger the tire size, the more expensive.

As u can tell by my post, I don't know much about cars, except how to drive too fast. I'm one of those guys who never gets his dirty, and always takes it into the shop to let a specialist take care of it. Thanks for your responses.

 

[Meesh]

Generally, yes, narrower is better. You should also consider that you want a tire with a similar circumference so that your speedometer is not affected.

Can't say enough about the Blizzaks...on the Miata, they transform the car from undriveable in winter into a decent handler.

 

[Toad-O-Line]

Another Winter Vehicle Accessory

Near the end of last winter I purchased a pair of Teflon Windsheild Wiper Blades from Canadian Tire.

I have been really unimpressed with them. They leave a smear across the windshield while using them.

Can anyone recommend a good quality set of wiper blades?

TIA

 

[T bagger]

The Blizzaks will certainly do the trick but for the same level of glueyness but much better responsiveness, comfort and handling (especially if you have a high performance car) stick to the premier European winter tires like the Hakkapellita by Nokina, Michelin Alpin, Pirelli Ice Sport or the Toyos - they're designed to be used in treacherous icy conditions intermixed with dry stretches at high speeds on European autobahns. They're also more than sufficient in deep snow. The sidewalls are generally firmer than North American winter tires (hence better high speed performance), have more sipes per square inch and are better engineered. If you're plugged in to the European rally circuit you'll understand !!!

 

[Girth]

Not sure if they import, but in the states I have used TireRack twice and the prices are great. Website is awesome:

http://www.tirerack.com/index.jsp

 

[Meesh]

The Blizzaks will certainly do the trick but for the same level of glueyness but much better responsiveness, comfort and handling (especially if you have a high performance car) stick to the premier European winter tires like the Hakkapellita by Nokina, Michelin Alpin, Pirelli Ice Sport or the Toyos - they're designed to be used in treacherous icy conditions intermixed with dry stretches at high speeds on European autobahns. They're also more than sufficient in deep snow. The sidewalls are generally firmer than North American winter tires (hence better high speed performance), have more sipes per square inch and are better engineered. If you're plugged in to the European rally circuit you'll understand !!!

The Blizzak LM-22 fits in well with the tires mentioned. It is designed for high performance cars...gives very good dry performance and works exceptionally well on ice, and in snow, although not great in deep snow. That's the winter tire of choice on my sports car.