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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Maintenance and Repair / February 2008Next winter Im buying Blizzak snow tires!!
Have a 2000 Mazda Protege ES Normally run all season tires al year round here in north Missouri. But this winter has been so crappy that next year I'm buying dedicated snow tires such as Blizzaks!! I need that extra braking power. Would like to hear form others who are doing same thing and can tell me if the "snow tire shuffle" is worth it every year? On Feb 26, 9:37 am, m...@privacy.net wrote: > Have a 2000 Mazda Protege ES > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > and can tell me if the "snow tire shuffle" is worth it > every year? Yes. Of course I drive a Porsche 944, so it's utterly worthless on ice without snow tires. YMMV. I'm running Dunlop Winter Sport M3s as Tire Rack had them at a deep discount last year (don't drive the car that much, they should be good for a couple winters.) I picked up some used and ugly rims so I can swap them myself. nate > I picked up >some used and ugly rims so I can swap them myself. Is buying some doff rims something your would strongly advise doing? Or just having the tires swapped to current rims and back each year ok? >> I picked up >> some used and ugly rims so I can swap them myself. > > Is buying some doff rims something your would strongly > advise doing? Or just having the tires swapped to > current rims and back each year ok? I live in Canada where winter tires are needed and worked in garages for a number of years and the best is to have spare rims and tires. The tires suffer some amount of damage every time they get removed, do it enough times and they leak or need tubes. The shops around here offer sales on rims when it's winter tire season usually. Mike 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 'New' frame in the works for '08. Some Canadian Bush Trip and Build Photos: http://mikeromainjeeptrips.shutterfl >I live in Canada where winter tires are needed and worked in garages for >a number of years and the best is to have spare rims and tires. The [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >The shops around here offer sales on rims when it's winter tire season >usually. OK thanks Sounds like I better plan on a set of rims as well Done deal..... have put a note in my online calendar to start looking/buying next October. Or...should I look in the summer when rims might be cheaper, etc? >>I live in Canada where winter tires are needed and worked in garages for >>a number of years and the best is to have spare rims and tires. The [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > start looking/buying next October. Or...should I look > in the summer when rims might be cheaper, etc? I would recommend used OEM wheels. Aftermarket ones may have the wrong offsets, which can shorten wheel bearing life. Visit (or call around to) local wrecking yards. Summer or winter, used steel wheels are the same price, but may become less plentiful as fall approaches and people prepare for winter. Spring may be a good time to buy: Lots of wheels left over from winter collisions, but nobody's buying winter tires then.  SignatureTegger On Feb 26, 3:21 pm, m...@privacy.net wrote: > > I picked up > >some used and ugly rims so I can swap them myself. > > Is buying some doff rims something your would strongly > advise doing? Or just having the tires swapped to > current rims and back each year ok? Depends on your local costs. Around here a single tire mounted and balanced is $25 or more, so that's $200 a year just to swap - I think I probably did pay about $50 apiece for the rims, so in two years they pay for themselves. plus if you have chrome or aluminum rims, road salt eats 'em up. nate >> I picked up >>some used and ugly rims so I can swap them myself. > > Is buying some doff rims something your would strongly > advise doing? Or just having the tires swapped to > current rims and back each year ok? You can buy the snow tires already mounted and balanced on inexpensive new steel rims from places like the tire rack. My dad did this and it's worked out fine. >> I picked up >>some used and ugly rims so I can swap them myself. > >Is buying some doff rims something your would strongly >advise doing? Or just having the tires swapped to >current rims and back each year ok? Well, you have to pay money to have someone else swap them, and you can't store them inflated if you take them off the rims. If you keep them on a second set of cheap rims, you can change them yourself. I could not imagine living up north and NOT using snow tires in the winter. It's suicidal. --scott Signature"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." Where I live, snow tires are almost unheard of around here.It almost never snows around here.I do know about that snow and ice though.I lived in Martinsville,Indiana in 1947, Bozeman,Montana in 1956, Salina,Kansas (but that was in the hot dry Kansas summer time) in 1957, and when I was in the Army, Scott Air Force Base,Illinois in 1963. cuhulin On Feb 26, 3:21 pm, m...@privacy.net wrote: > > I picked up > >some used and ugly rims so I can swap them myself. > > Is buying some doff rims something your would strongly > advise doing? Or just having the tires swapped to > current rims and back each year ok? oh yeah, get an extra set of rims for the snows. junkyard. i got lucky and got an extra set of alloys at the junkyard. > Have a 2000 Mazda Protege ES > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > and can tell me if the "snow tire shuffle" is worth it > every year? I'm in the chicago area and have gone from all seasons to swaping. I had upgraded my front brakes years ago and just used two original rims for the rear snow tires and bought two more rims that clear the front calipers for the front. Way better than all seasons. using pirelli winter sports... got the wheels and tires from tire-rack. On Feb 26, 11:03 am, tetraethylleadREMOVET...@yahoo.com (Brent P) wrote: > In article <qr88s35vg48mkrgo2dnnvqodoopnt2e...@4ax.com>, m...@privacy.net wrote: > > Have a 2000 Mazda Protege ES [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > using pirelli winter sports... got the wheels and tires from tire-rack. Hi, Westchester County, NY, 1999 Honda Civic. I got some Bridgestone Blizzack WS-50's about three years ago now. Live on a hill and could never make it up. Used to havce to walk up to my house and leave the car ant the bottom of the hill. Max gradient 1:14. After installing the Blizzacks I can make it up the hill through 6-inches of snow. Bought from Tire Rack and had them mounted on a set of rims by tire rack. When they arrived I just pop them on. Great for snow. Pretty good for ice. Somewhat squidgy for fast handeling, but you don't buy snow tires for zooming around anyways. Yes. I recommend them. Best, Mike. >After installing the Blizzacks I can make it up the hill through >6-inches of snow. Wow How is the breaking power on snow and ice? Much improved? > Have a 2000 Mazda Protege ES > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > and can tell me if the "snow tire shuffle" is worth it > every year? Southern Ontario, Canada. The very heart of the rust/snow belt. Have 4 snows for each car mounted on dedicated wheels. No idea what brand. Cheapest I could find. Snow tires are indispensable around here. However, have not noticed any real difference in performance on snowy roads from brand to brand. Make 'em skinny, give 'em big lugs, and they all seem to work about the same. Now, ICE tires, those are different... SignatureTegger >Make 'em >skinny, give 'em big lugs, and they all seem to work about the same. So skinny is the bog factor in snow, huh? >Now, ICE tires, those are different... What do tires need for ice conditions? Snow ties MAY not make good ice tires?! That true? >>Make 'em >>skinny, give 'em big lugs, and they all seem to work about the same. > > So skinny is the bog factor in snow, huh? Skinny concentrates the car's weight, making the tires bite better. I have personally found that skinny counts for more than any other factor in snow. Skinny also makes the car's handling more like a '49 Ford's, so you can't go haring around dry corners like you would on your summer tires. >>Now, ICE tires, those are different... > > What do tires need for ice conditions? Snow ties MAY > not make good ice tires?! That true? Going by what my mechanic told me (he's an ice racer)... Ice tires have a different (softer) tread compound, and a different surface texture, these specifically formulated to have better adhesion on ice. Tire makers can combine ice-type tread rubber with snow-type lugs to get a good (if short-lived) all-round winter tire. Snow tires are OK on ice, but not as good as genuine ice tires. The rationale behind ice tires is that ice is far more likely to be encountered than snow during the course of a winter, and is thus the greater threat. Genuine ice tires are pretty expensive compared to plain snow tires. My take on ice tires is that ordinary caution, fear and paranoia will protect you far better than fancy tires designed to allow you to take a few more risks without killing yourself. SignatureTegger > My take on ice tires is that ordinary caution, fear and paranoia will > protect you far better than fancy tires designed to allow you to take a few > more risks without killing yourself. me too. whereas snow tires might change your traction from say, 10% to 50% in slush (where dry pavement is 100%) and maybe to 70-80% in dry clumpy snow, ice tires will change your traction from 1% to 3% on ice. that stil rounds off to 0.0. (all percentages from my guesstimate) There are studded tires (little metal studs in the tires) available too.For icey roads.And tire chains and similar devices.Those tire chains make a slap slap noise. cuhulin cuhulin@webtv.net wrote in news:575-47C5BBFD-86@storefull- 3251.bay.webtv.net: > There are studded tires (little metal studs in the tires) available > too.For icey roads.And tire chains and similar devices.Those tire chains > make a slap slap noise. Studded tires are not legal everywhere. They are not legal in the Canadian province of Ontario, where I live. Apparently there is a move afoot to legalize the new-fangled modern design studs which don't tear up the road, but that hasn't gone anywhere yet. As for chains, don't you have to take them off once you hit dry pavement? That would be pretty inconvenient. SignatureTegger > cuhu...@webtv.net wrote innews:575-47C5BBFD-86@storefull- > 3251.bay.webtv.net: [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > -- > Tegger back in the when, i rented a garage, the landlord wouldn't plow the driveway, i didn't want to pay for it, so i just got a set of chains, installed them in the garage, ground my way out to the street, disconnected them. this plan worked for a while, until I discovered that when the snow was high enough, the car would get good and stuck, and the chains would break. I remember back in the 1950s, one time my dad and I were going to visit somebody out in the country.His pickup truck (1954 Ford) wouldn't make it up that muddy hill road, he put some tire chains on the rear wheels of his truck, no problem, the truck went right on up that muddy road.I was about 15 years old at the time.I was amazed. cuhulin ................................................... Nienty nine miles of muddy roadddd,,,,, .................................................. On Feb 26, 9:37 am, m...@privacy.net wrote: > Have a 2000 Mazda Protege ES > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > and can tell me if the "snow tire shuffle" is worth it > every year? yeah. i have a civc; first winter tried to get by with the all seasons, that was a snowy winter, but it taught me a lesson. i had always kept a set of snows before, but i figured maybe FWD was magic. it ain't. i ran blizzaks for a few years; i thought they were a bit squiggly in the dry, though. Consumer reports started to rate the michelin snows higher than the blizzaks, so i gave them a try, and they are not squiggly in the dry. i can't say for sure how they compare to the blizzaks in the snow because there's too much variation between storms, but they're certainly good enough that i haven't gone back. they're not as good in the wet as the bridgestone allseasons.
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