Thinking of Putting On Your Winter Tires?

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

Thinking of Putting On Your Winter Tires?

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

"You're not going anywhere!" Love it!

timbuk · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

that student saver is a classic! loved it carl

rebelrouser · Poncho Master!

Of all the years (40+) I've been driving- SE BC and in Alberta- I have never had winter tires on any (20+) of my vehicles. I learnt how to drive like a Canadian.......plus my father drove highway patrol for the RCMP in the '70's so he taught me. It doesn't matter what tires you have, it's the nut behind the wheel that either makes the mistake or knows how to react to avoid said mishap. Can't blame it on the equipment- it's always the operator.

poncho62 · Poncho Master!

Sorry, but I have to disagree......I used to be of the same attitude until I got some snows.....Sure, I could get around well enough, but snow tires you can feel the difference in grip...The low profile tires they put on todays cars are just not flexible enough for snow and ice grip. Plus the rubber compounds in todays snow tires are much more suited to ice and snow than they used to be when you just have deep logs on the tread.

73SC · A Poncho Legend!

I called my new car Dealer to make an appointment for snow tires and wheels, I've had the car a month now and figured I better get them. The dealer has a package on the web for $2,999. The service rep talked me out of spending $3,000 +, he told me categorically I don't need snow tires on my new G80. He said the all weather tire (not All-Season) + AWD + Snow Mode (which he explained and how to engage) really made spending $3,000 on tires a waste of money. When was he last time a Service advisor told you to keep $3,000 ?

Having said all that I did put on the Blizzaks on the V8 Lucerne Saturday.

-- Edited by 73SC on Monday 16th of November 2020 01:55:31 PM

65 SD L79 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

i bought a set of Blizzacks off Kijiji from a retire guy. They had one season on them $300 for the 4. I got a set of take off rims from a new 2020 Caddy the same as on the wifes for $400 usd off ebay. $60 mount and balanced. they ride perfect

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

Tough to beat those Blizzaks.

65 SD L79 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

4SPEED427 wrote:
Tough to beat those Blizzaks.

for trucks i really like the Yokohama ice guards . got a set of them for my buddys truck with 6 bolt rims , just has to bolt them on, Kijiji $500

mike667 · Poncho Master!

Just got Continental VikingContact 7s put on. Was debating between the Blizzaks and the Continentals. Decided to go for the Continentals

-- Edited by mike667 on Monday 16th of November 2020 04:30:04 PM

oshawacliff · Poncho Master!

When Bridgstone introduced the Blizzack they donated a set to each of the 10 store managers of Green + Ross The day I installed mine we had a monster storm with high winds drifting the snow. I hit the 401 and let the Olds Intrigue loose. Ended up well over the speed limit and the car was rock steady, lane changes were a breeze.

Totally convinced on the product and proceeded to sell a pile of these over many years. Sure did get a grip on winter.

-- Edited by oshawacliff on Tuesday 17th of November 2020 12:45:09 AM

Howmac · Guru

I run Bridgestone Blizzack winters on my FJ ,and Nokian Hakkapeliitta winters on my 4Runner AWD and love them both of them . Both of them are directional tires and there is a noticeable difference vs all season tires

-- Edited by Howmac on Monday 16th of November 2020 05:13:23 PM

cdnpont · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

If you've ever run winters, then it would be pretty hard to go back to all season. Much more sure footed and confident in most conditions.

CDN2PLS2 · Uber Guru

Grew up in Quebec and have always had winter tires,when I was 16 ran 4 recap winters on the big Impalas.If the cars lasted the winter great! We did not drive easy.

Magician40 · Poncho Master!

I run Hankooks on two cars and love them, but you have to run the same size front and back.
Brian

Mike Ward MB · Addicted!

Last year I found a set of winter tires on steel rims on Kijiji for my Charger. Dont know what brand they are.

Never had winter tires before and never had any trouble getting around. I only bought them because the factory wheels wouldnt hold air in the cold any more. I had them refinished and they will not see winter again.

73SC · A Poncho Legend!

70 SS ACADIAN wrote:
i bought a set of Blizzacks off Kijiji from a retire guy. They had one season on them $300 for the 4. I got a set of take off rims from a new 2020 Caddy the same as on the wifes for $400 usd off ebay. $60 mount and balanced. they ride perfect

The Buick is adorned with 18" Cadillac rims from my DTS, Lucerne and DTS = Same car. I was surprised that the Buick centres were much smaller and did not fit the Cadillac rims. My Blizzaks are DOT 2015 so getting near end of life even though they have tons of tread. I don't want to say the Blizzaks burden the car, afterall its got close to 300 HP, but very noticeable on dry pavement that the grip is far greater.

By the way, Toronto Police stopped using snow tires over 30 years ago and neither do City Cabs, if you live and drive in the big City you can mange around the 5 or 6 days a year that the roads are barely passable. The traffic volume on City main arteries and expressways is so great that snow usually melts away within an hour of falling. If you live in the suburbs like Markham, Aurora, Oshawa, Pickering, Woodbridge, Vaughan, Burlington and Oakville and commute to Toronto you'd be foolish not to have snow tires as there is a distinct line where snow accumulates and covers roads to the north mostly.

-- Edited by 73SC on Tuesday 17th of November 2020 10:52:36 AM

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

I'm getting my studded winter tires put on any day now.

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

Got mine on today. It sounds like we are having another one of those mild winters where we get lots of rain and ice. The studs are pretty much a must anymore.

MC · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

All I'll say about it is that winter tires are the best tool for the job, and having experienced all they can do I'll never have a car without them in the wintertime.

Modern cars have software and sensors that help them get moving better in the snow, and will even assist in stability by applying individual brakes as needed, but they can't do anything about the frictional forces between tire and road surface - only tires can improve that.

Whatever you do, be safe out there! smile

Gillis · Addicted!

Anyone want tires and rims go to 4tires.ca I just bought 4- 19inch rims and Michelin X ice tires for my wifes new SUV. $1600 and change, mounted, balanced, and delivered to my door. Tire shop wanted $300 per tire, $120 per rim, and $50 per tire to mount and balance them, then tax on top of it all. Saved about $500-ish, but I have to install them myself....oh darn!

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

Canadian Poncho wrote:
It sounds like we are having another one of those mild winters where we get lots of rain and ice. The studs are pretty much a must anymore.

Yep. We had a few pellets today.

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

Gillis wrote:
$50 per tire to mount and balance them

Wow, the dealership I retired from is too cheap then, I think they are still at $25 per tire.

gparis7 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

There may be places in Canada where you don't need show tires but Newfoundland and Labrador is not one of them. I have them on my truck already, and I'll be installing my wife's and daughter's tires tomorrow.

DonSSDD · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

Ive run 4 snows on all my vehicles since the 80s when I went to fwd, before that, on rears only with rwd. World of difference in stability at highway speeds and good snows enable you to drive faster more safely than those people with no snows.

Always run on separate rims so I can change them myself. Also figure my tire budget is not much different as Im wearing out snow tires in the winter and all seasons in the summer. I also run as small a rim size as possible with the right height rubber and as narrow as possible on snows, the smaller width cuts through slushy roads better, less tendency to hydroplane imho. My car has 18s but I run 16s for snows, smallest rim that will fit over the front calipers.