Winter Tire Thread (was: GAME DAY: Ottawa Senators @ New Jersey Devils - 7:00pm ET - TUE. Feb. 1, 2011)

wprager wrote:5 points out of last with a game in hand (in the reverse sense, of course). We now have the same number of wins as the Devils. Just 3 points ahead of the Islanders, whom we face on Saturday. I doubt it'll be a top-three battle game as the Isles are in a similar position to us -- facing a strong opponent (Pittsburgh) in the second of back-to-back games. There's a chance, of course, Crosby has resumed light workouts but it's not likely he'll play tonight.

By the way, Cap'n, you're well enough to post, I guess you're well-enough to GDT. Especially since you're probably WFH today, right?

I wish I could work from home. No, I made the drive in and got to see an SUV in the ditch on the East bound Queensway near the palladium auto park. I'm driving a little Elantra with all season tires and thinking I should have just stayed home.

We got a second car just before Christmas and got a nice deal from Myers for winter tires. That's what my wife is driving, but I still wish she would have listened to me. My boss e-mailed the dep't yesterday to say that he was WFH and recommended to others to do the same. I e-mailed her right after that, saying she should plan to WFH. She didn't even bring her laptop with her -- without it she can't even sign on to check her e-mail. Stubborn goat

wprager wrote:We got a second car just before Christmas and got a nice deal from Myers for winter tires. That's what my wife is driving, but I still wish she would have listened to me. My boss e-mailed the dep't yesterday to say that he was WFH and recommended to others to do the same. I e-mailed her right after that, saying she should plan to WFH. She didn't even bring her laptop with her -- without it she can't even sign on to check her e-mail. Stubborn goat

The Elantra is our second car, which we got in October, from Myer Hyundai actually. We got a good deal on the car but I didn't think about winter tires since we've never had a car with them.

SDH89 wrote:Is it just me, or has Phillips over the course of his career scored on his own net or have the puck bounce off of him, at an alarming rate?

Really nice game for Lehner. Nice to see someone make the trip to Jersey. I'm really starting to believe that we truly are the worst team in this league.

Oh well, the end is near

SCF Game 5 - it began there.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

wprager wrote:We got a second car just before Christmas and got a nice deal from Myers for winter tires. That's what my wife is driving, but I still wish she would have listened to me. My boss e-mailed the dep't yesterday to say that he was WFH and recommended to others to do the same. I e-mailed her right after that, saying she should plan to WFH. She didn't even bring her laptop with her -- without it she can't even sign on to check her e-mail. Stubborn goat

The Elantra is our second car, which we got in October, from Myer Hyundai actually. We got a good deal on the car but I didn't think about winter tires since we've never had a car with them.

This is the first time for snow tires for me as well. The van has all-seasons on it and does pretty well. I had a loaner when the van went it for servicing, same car as my wife's, and that was the snow storm back the second week of January. I was driving it back and it was pretty bad -- no snow tires. Then I got in my van and it was fine. Higher clearance, wider distance between wheels. Makes a difference I guess.

In Quebec they've made it a law in the last few years. Everyone has to have snow tires. I'd love to see stats from insurance companies that show an improvement. Maybe they would encourage people to put them on for a drop in rates.

wprager wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

wprager wrote:We got a second car just before Christmas and got a nice deal from Myers for winter tires. That's what my wife is driving, but I still wish she would have listened to me. My boss e-mailed the dep't yesterday to say that he was WFH and recommended to others to do the same. I e-mailed her right after that, saying she should plan to WFH. She didn't even bring her laptop with her -- without it she can't even sign on to check her e-mail. Stubborn goat

The Elantra is our second car, which we got in October, from Myer Hyundai actually. We got a good deal on the car but I didn't think about winter tires since we've never had a car with them.

This is the first time for snow tires for me as well. The van has all-seasons on it and does pretty well. I had a loaner when the van went it for servicing, same car as my wife's, and that was the snow storm back the second week of January. I was driving it back and it was pretty bad -- no snow tires. Then I got in my van and it was fine. Higher clearance, wider distance between wheels. Makes a difference I guess.

In Quebec they've made it a law in the last few years. Everyone has to have snow tires. I'd love to see stats from insurance companies that show an improvement. Maybe they would encourage people to put them on for a drop in rates.

The Elantra is a standard which helps for control. If I feel I'm sliding at all I can gear down and it helps with traction. The Malibu has traction control and ABS so that improves things on that car and we also have free tires (all-season) for life so I can't bring myself to by winter tires when I get the other ones for free.

It would be a great idea to introduce insurance rate discounts for winter tires because they can't really make it a law in Ontario with parts of the province not really needing them at all.

The difference using snow tires, especially on lighter vehicles, is tremendous. I consider it a safety concern, and I just won’t have a vehicle without them, especially with a wife and a two year-old.

I understand that they are expensive, but I’d rather have a healthy family and be $1,000 poorer.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

wprager wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

wprager wrote:We got a second car just before Christmas and got a nice deal from Myers for winter tires. That's what my wife is driving, but I still wish she would have listened to me. My boss e-mailed the dep't yesterday to say that he was WFH and recommended to others to do the same. I e-mailed her right after that, saying she should plan to WFH. She didn't even bring her laptop with her -- without it she can't even sign on to check her e-mail. Stubborn goat

The Elantra is our second car, which we got in October, from Myer Hyundai actually. We got a good deal on the car but I didn't think about winter tires since we've never had a car with them.

This is the first time for snow tires for me as well. The van has all-seasons on it and does pretty well. I had a loaner when the van went it for servicing, same car as my wife's, and that was the snow storm back the second week of January. I was driving it back and it was pretty bad -- no snow tires. Then I got in my van and it was fine. Higher clearance, wider distance between wheels. Makes a difference I guess.

In Quebec they've made it a law in the last few years. Everyone has to have snow tires. I'd love to see stats from insurance companies that show an improvement. Maybe they would encourage people to put them on for a drop in rates.

The Elantra is a standard which helps for control. If I feel I'm sliding at all I can gear down and it helps with traction. The Malibu has traction control and ABS so that improves things on that car and we also have free tires (all-season) for life so I can't bring myself to by winter tires when I get the other ones for free.

It would be a great idea to introduce insurance rate discounts for winter tires because they can't really make it a law in Ontario with parts of the province not really needing them at all.

Some companies do offer that; Belair Direct is one.

tim1_2 wrote:The difference using snow tires, especially on lighter vehicles, is tremendous. I consider it a safety concern, and I just won’t have a vehicle without them, especially with a wife and a two year-old.

I understand that they are expensive, but I’d rather have a healthy family and be $1,000 poorer.

The cost isn't that much, though, when you consider that your regular tires will last longer -- it's not like you are driving with 8 tires. As long as you keep your car 4 years you will have to change your tires at least once. Driving on them only 6-7 months of the year they will last almost twice as long.

The other cost is the rims. In my case I used the existing rims. The dealer installed steels by mistake, and that cost me a bit of time (had to come back again). He tried to convince me, saying how I'd save on balancing the tires, but you probably should balance your tires anyway (he agreed). Is it the tire or the rim that affects balance more?

tim1_2 wrote:The difference using snow tires, especially on lighter vehicles, is tremendous. I consider it a safety concern, and I just won’t have a vehicle without them, especially with a wife and a two year-old.

I understand that they are expensive, but I’d rather have a healthy family and be $1,000 poorer.

I guess I've just been extremely lucky then since in 20 years of driving I've never had winter tires on any of my vehicles which include:
Nissan Micra, Ford Escort, Honda Civic, Honda Accord, Oldsmobile Intrigue, Chevy Malibu and Hyundai Elantra. I understand the reasoning behind getting winter tires and it does improve your stopping distance etc... BTW I have a wife and a 2 year old and a 6 month old. I resent the implication.

I was a winter tire skeptic for a long time as well and then my All Season's started to wear down and were slipping a lot in the winter. I had a set of winter ice tires put on my truck and damn, what a difference it made. I was very impressed. A skeptic no longer.

Still, the key is to not drive like a fool and take your time.

Unless your 4x4'ing it in snow drifts, safely away from anyone... heh heh.

shabbs wrote:I was a winter tire skeptic for a long time as well and then my All Season's started to wear down and were slipping a lot in the winter. I had a set of winter ice tires put on my truck and damn, what a difference it made. I was very impressed. A skeptic no longer.

Still, the key is to not drive like a fool and take your time.

Unless your 4x4'ing it in snow drifts, safely away from anyone... heh heh.

I have no doubt that having winter tires makes a huge difference but I don't think you can say that it's a necessity IMO. If you drive safely and according to your abilities, the conditions and the vehicle's capabilities then it should be fine.

I go through this every winter it seems with the free tires only being put on the car when the old ones are at 3 32nds (Not sure what that means). Funny thing is the company actually advises customers to change them when they're at 4 32nds LOL.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:If you drive safely and according to your abilities, the conditions and the vehicle's capabilities then it should be fine.

That's assuming everyone else is behaving on the road. Where you'll see the benefit is if someone cuts you off in icy conditions and you have to swerve suddenly... the winter tire could make a difference in being able to do that, or going into a 360-degree spin. Also, your stopping distance is improved with the added traction so there is benefit there. A requirement? I don't think so. Does it help? For sure. So, it's a matter of what your priorities are and if you want to spend the extra $$$ for winter tires.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I go through this every winter it seems with the free tires only being put on the car when the old ones are at 3 32nds (Not sure what that means). Funny thing is the company actually advises customers to change them when they're at 4 32nds LOL.

3/32nds refers to the tread depth, ie: 3/32nd's of an inch. There should be wear bars on your tires in the tread grooves. If your tread is at the same level as the wear bar, get new tires ASAP. The tread bar is usual 2/32nd's of an inch. I got nearly 100,000km out of my last set of all-season's, which is pretty good.

shabbs wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I go through this every winter it seems with the free tires only being put on the car when the old ones are at 3 32nds (Not sure what that means). Funny thing is the company actually advises customers to change them when they're at 4 32nds LOL.

3/32nds refers to the tread depth, ie: 3/32nd's of an inch. There should be wear bars on your tires in the tread grooves. If your tread is at the same level as the wear bar, get new tires ASAP. The tread bar is usual 2/32nd's of an inch. I got nearly 100,000km out of my last set of all-season's, which is pretty good.

We're going to the Garage Saturday to get new tires put on. One set (don't remember front or back) were 3 and the other were 4.

I had two sets of winter tires on my cars but I traded them in in the spring and decided to keep the 4 seasons for the first year. Not sure that was a great decision as I find the 4-seasons to be a little un-reliable.

In the past, I have gone to Messena, NY (just across the bridge from Cornwall) to get my tires. There's a guy that puts them in in his garage and it's between 1/2 and 1/3 of the Canadian price (same tire, brand new).

I think in the US, some states have it as a law that the min tread depth is 3/32nd's of an inch. Each manufacturer may have it's own setting, and of course, the earlier you change your tire, the more money for them!

Welcome to GMTires, where it's all tires, all the time.

I'm sooooo glad I don't leave the house on Wednesdays.