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How y'all doing in the snow?

6K views 98 replies 55 participants last post by  johnso56 
#1 ·
With the price of road salt, and with the state of municipal finances these days, it seems like "they" aren't salting like they used to. I've had two white knuckle commutes to work so far this year because they just did not salt the roads.

Today was the worst. The roads were just glare ice. I went to pass, and all I got was wheelspin.

I've never felt the need to get snow/ice tires since I moved to Chicago. If this is the future... I'm taking a trip to the Tire Rack in South Bend!
 
#4 ·

I completely agree with you on this. I'm in Toronto and we get it pretty bad sometimes. I noticed this year the snow removal guys didn't even shovel the snow on my street when we got our first snow storm. They have only come around once for 3 snow falls. It wasn't that bad but previous years they are usually clean the streets on every snow fall.

I guess it's for budgetary reasons and I totally understand given the current economic situation.

For tires, I strongly recommend getting good all seasons or winters.

I recently purchased the BF Goodrich T/A traction 215/55R/16 (all seasons) for $103 a piece at Canadian tire which were on sale.

Compared to the stock p6's, they are much better in the wet, snow and ice but my mileage is horrible now.
 
#5 ·
AKS said:

I completely agree with you on this. I'm in Toronto and we get it pretty bad sometimes. I noticed this year the snow removal guys didn't even shovel the snow on my street when we got our first snow storm. They have only come around once for 3 snow falls. It wasn't that bad but previous years they are usually clean the streets on every snow fall.

I guess it's for budgetary reasons and I totally understand given the current economic situation.

For tires, I strongly recommend getting good all seasons or winters.

I recently purchased the BF Goodrich T/A traction 215/55R/16 (all seasons) for $103 a piece at Canadian tire which were on sale.

Compared to the stock p6's, they are much better in the wet, snow and ice but my mileage is horrible now.
Your not alone. You should see here. People started asking where thes "snow removal crews" were and they responded - "they were stuck in traffic just like you were" :lol:

I'm glad it rained today for us here with high of 9 degrees celcius. Cleared up a lot of the snow and the roads/sidewalks.
 
#6 ·
Vector-SS said:
Your not alone. You should see here. People started asking where thes "snow removal crews" were and they responded - "they were stuck in traffic just like you were" :lol:

I'm glad it rained today for us here with high of 9 degrees celcius. Cleared up a lot of the snow and the roads/sidewalks.
Melt all the snow away!!!!

Yeah, I saw the news a couple of days ago. MTL got it pretty bad, but you guys are used to that kind of weather. I have a friend in Ottawa and he complains that it snows so much over there (he's from T.O).

Last year was prob one of the worst for us in years. Last time it snowed like that was when I was like 5 back in the 80's lol.
 
#9 ·
If you have a winter climate at all, ANY winter tire will perform better than all (no) season tires.
Winter tires today perform very close to a/s. Blizzaks or Michelin X-Ice are my recommendations.
The Nokian, Kuhmo, Yoko winters are all good too.
 
#10 ·
Central Michigan here and my one hour commute in the early morning has been awful. Our county is out of salt apparently and their are severe budget cuts. I have new sumitomos on and they are great in the snow but ice is ice so....I will say I am very glad I put new tires on phew...:confused:
 
#13 ·
What are you talking about, the road condition is perfect, nothing can happen with safe road like in Quebec...

Picture talk by themself....... ;oops:






-Cover bumper
-Passenger fog light
-Passager plastic fender (false fender??)
-A/c rad
-Radiator
-Intercooler
-Fog light wiring is over


The only best side of this is that I will replace my OEM intercooler for a real one...
 
#15 ·
MooF said:
If you have a winter climate at all, ANY winter tire will perform better than all (no) season tires.
Winter tires today perform very close to a/s. Blizzaks or Michelin X-Ice are my recommendations.
The Nokian, Kuhmo, Yoko winters are all good too.
Agree. I have all season tires... atrocious in the snow, even with one inch on the road. Luckily, I can carpool with a co-worker with an SUV and snow tires, or work at home.
 
#16 ·
Snowed where I live recently. So i figured time to experiment and get a real feel for the car. Drifting, controlled fishtailing, the good ol' initiation.

Upon having e-braked around a nice bend, it became very apparent the car is so light in the rear end. I mean really light (felt like my f-250's rear end).

That and I've never driven a FWD in the snow before. So it was a blast.
 
#17 ·
for a first time saab owner things are all good. i could only get a set of himalayan -WS60 mainly because of Quebecs new laws but so far so good.
One thing i learnt is to watch out for big chunks of ice build ups from the wheel well on the road! anything bigger then 6 inches WATCH OUT

this is my first turbo car, any things i should be aware of?
 
#18 ·
Well I can't comment on this winter, because I temporarily live in D.C.

But the past 2 winters I lived in Connecticut, and I've NEVER had a problem in rain, sleet, ice, and snow in my 2003 9-3 Vector. And to top it off, I have never had snow tires. I've used Pirelli PZeros year round.

Next summer I'll switch to quieter tires that don't wear as fast.
 
#19 ·
sausajes said:
for a first time saab owner things are all good. i could only get a set of himalayan -WS60 mainly because of Quebecs new laws but so far so good.
One thing i learnt is to watch out for big chunks of ice build ups from the wheel well on the road! anything bigger then 6 inches WATCH OUT

this is my first turbo car, any things i should be aware of?

It's exactly what I hit....

A big ****ing one probably coming from a truck...

I was driving at 120 km/h and it's was -25 outside... My cover bumper just explose!!!
 
#20 ·


This past summer I traded in my 2003 Linear for a 2006 Aero. The linear was one of the best cars I've ever driven in the snow (sans AWD cars/suv's). However, the Aero has been embarrassingly terrible. Both cars have/had all season tires on it... but what a difference it makes between brands! I'm sure the aero tires are also wider... but I'm assuming most of it has to do with tread pattern. Both sets were also about midrange in their tread life.

I can't express how disappointed I've been with the handling this winter so far.
 
#21 ·
coldwake81 said:
This past summer I traded in my 2003 Linear for a 2006 Aero. The linear was one of the best cars I've ever driven in the snow (sans AWD cars/suv's). However, the Aero has been embarrassingly terrible. Both cars have/had all season tires on it... but what a difference it makes between brands! I'm sure the aero tires are also wider... but I'm assuming most of it has to do with tread pattern. Both sets were also about midrange in their tread life.

I can't express how disappointed I've been with the handling this winter so far.
I believe the 03 linears had 15" so your looking at +2" on your aero now. Yea that would be a switch for sure if your not used to it. I dunno though I swapped my 16" to 17s on my linear and I couldn't be happier.
 
#22 ·
Interceptor said:
I believe the 03 linears had 15" so your looking at +2" on your aero now. Yea that would be a switch for sure if your not used to it. I dunno though I swapped my 16" to 17s on my linear and I couldn't be happier.
Are you talking about diameter? or width? Sounds like you're talking diameter which in that case doesn't have as much effect since you need to match the height of the tire. Linears have 16" standard and 17" optional (sport package).
In any case the Aero tire width along with the fact it's a V6 may be also factor in..and all depends on the tire.
No debate, a/s is no good in a REAL snowstorm.
 
#23 ·
My linear had the launch package, so I only went up 1". However, like already said, it's the width that matters. I know that they are wider... which plays into it. But it shows the difference from one all season tire to the next. I actually really liked my last all seasons very much. They handled extremely well in heavy snow!

If only I could find out what they were... Here in Milwaukee they generally do a good job of cleaning the roads so winter tires would be excessive and unnecessary. So far this year we've had about 17 inches of snowfall (plus another 5 coming today) and with my old car I would have been perfectly happy.
 
#24 ·
I just got my blizzaks ws60's on steelies from tire rack last week. I love it so far..especially with all the snow we've been getting here in WI. I was slipping and slidding with my continentals. spring comes...i'm getting the Bridgestone Potenza RE960 Pole Position that everyone seems to rave about since i need new all seasons anyway.
 
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