Do you use winter tires? (Waukesha: buying, luxury, living)

[cwells3030]

This is my first winter living somewhere with snow and I am anxious about driving in the winter. I have a 25 mile commute and a job that will require me to show up regardless of the weather conditions. I have seen a lot of debate over winter tires and was wondering how many in the area use them and if I should get them?

[43north87west]

No. At one time I did but it was because I had a high performance rear wheel drive car with summer tires that were totally unsuited to winter duty. You should be fine with good all season tires.

People will tell you that you need 4WD to get around, but that's very rare. It's very nice to have, but not necessary.

[pete6032]

Not if you are in the metro area. You only need a set of good all-season tires.

[Drover]

All-seasons are adequate for people who can wait a day or two to go to Wal-mart or who can call in from work after a major snowstorm. If you don't have that luxury, you need a set of winters.

It should be noted that winter tires are not just beneficial when there's snow or ice on the roads. They use a softer compound that maintains its pliability at lower temperatures better than all-seasons do. That means they provide improved grip not just in snow, but on dry pavement too when it's cold out. So you'll still benefit from them even on days when all-seasons might have been adequate enough to get you around.

For many, the biggest hang-up is the extra cost of having two sets of tires. But really, the only extra expense is a one-time investment in a second dedicated set of rims for your winter tires. That makes swapping tire sets from season to season much easier and you won't have to pay a shop with a tire-mounting machine to swap your tires twice a year. Many tire shops will include free rotations as part of the purchase price of new tires. I take advantage of this to get my summer/winter tire/wheel sets swapped out with the change of seasons at no extra charge.

The tires themselves aren't really an extra expense because you're spreading out tire wear between two sets of tires so you'll only have to replace each set roughly half as often as if you were running only one set. So while there is a higher initial outlay for two sets of tires, the actual cost of replacing tires evens out in the end.

[Rob702]

Originally Posted by Drover

All-seasons are adequate for people who can wait a day or two to go to Wal-mart or who can call in from work after a major snowstorm. If you don't have that luxury, you need a set of winters.

Second that. Get winter tires! In my opinion all-season tires are neither very good in summer nor in winter. They just suck.

[ranger17]

exactly what Drover said!

For years up there we relied on fwd with all seasons on one car but had an suv for the other. Majority of time the car was fine. But as noted in slick conditions, etc it was not. The wife's last car while we were still in WI was fwd but more performance based, so we ended up buying a set of good winter snow tires (all 4) to swap on and off. Best investment we made for the seasons.

Now if you have 4wd or awd then i'd say all season could be fine for near all conditions. But if rwd or fwd.... get a set of good winter tires and drive with some peace of mind.

[snofarmer]

If you wish to save a buck or 2 and not hassle with a 2nd set of tires and the yearly expense.
Have your all season tires sipped.
Any reputable(good) tire shop can do this for you.
What it does is create more edges on the tire that can grab the road.

many have no problems running all season tires year around.

As we don't know what type of vehicle you drive, if it is rear wheel drive you can add weight over the rear axle.

I wouldn't bother with winter tires unless you lived in Northern WI and by the Lake.

[cwells3030]

Originally Posted by pete6032

Not if you are in the metro area. You only need a set of good all-season tires.

I do not stay in the metro. 25 miles each way WFB to Waukesha.

[cwells3030]

Originally Posted by Drover

All-seasons are adequate for people who can wait a day or two to go to Wal-mart or who can call in from work after a major snowstorm. If you don't have that luxury, you need a set of winters.

It should be noted that winter tires are not just beneficial when there's snow or ice on the roads. They use a softer compound that maintains its pliability at lower temperatures better than all-seasons do. That means they provide improved grip not just in snow, but on dry pavement too when it's cold out. So you'll still benefit from them even on days when all-seasons might have been adequate enough to get you around.

For many, the biggest hang-up is the extra cost of having two sets of tires. But really, the only extra expense is a one-time investment in a second dedicated set of rims for your winter tires. That makes swapping tire sets from season to season much easier and you won't have to pay a shop with a tire-mounting machine to swap your tires twice a year. Many tire shops will include free rotations as part of the purchase price of new tires. I take advantage of this to get my summer/winter tire/wheel sets swapped out with the change of seasons at no extra charge.

The tires themselves aren't really an extra expense because you're spreading out tire wear between two sets of tires so you'll only have to replace each set roughly half as often as if you were running only one set. So while there is a higher initial outlay for two sets of tires, the actual cost of replacing tires evens out in the end.

Thank you for the detailed response.

I don't mind the extra expense. I tend to be a better safe than sorry kind of guy.

[cwells3030]

Originally Posted by ranger17

exactly what Drover said!

For years up there we relied on fwd with all seasons on one car but had an suv for the other. Majority of time the car was fine. But as noted in slick conditions, etc it was not. The wife's last car while we were still in WI was fwd but more performance based, so we ended up buying a set of good winter snow tires (all 4) to swap on and off. Best investment we made for the seasons.

Now if you have 4wd or awd then i'd say all season could be fine for near all conditions. But if rwd or fwd.... get a set of good winter tires and drive with some peace of mind.

I do bhave AWD but does that help with stopping and turning?