My neighbour at Whistler decided to use his Summers in the Winter on his new Cayenne ...............his first drive down the hill to the highway in moderate snow conditions had him doing 360's with the brakes applied , luckily all he did was ruin 1 wheel before stop against a curb .................he now has UHP AS tires .
If there's hills and mountains I wouldn't think twice. Snow tires ftw.And back and forth I go. If my son had not moved up onto the side of the Wasatch Front, necessitating a "hill climb", I'd not even worry about this; but just try a winter to see if I could get through a fairly average or mild one (like we've been having for quite a few years now). But the image of me twirling down the slope from his house in my Stinger won't leave my mind: I have a vivid imagination, which has caused me to be spared many pratfalls and pitfalls. It won't be any big deal to stack my summers under the deck, under a tarp. And winter driving won't be scary. I'm moving that way more and more. Keep up the chatter all you all!
Thanks for the list of scenarios that am also so very familiar with. I've been driving on snow for most of my life, and all of my driving "career". Amen to all of that!If you've driven in snowy winters before, you know the feeling when you come up on a stop sign and unexpectedly find that the temperature and conditions (and previous drivers) have polished the lead-up roadway into a sheet of ice that you couldn't see because of light snow cover - and you are sliding toward active cross traffic and hoping the car is going to stop in time. Or found the car not tracking the front wheels through a turn, but continuing on it's previous trajectory - even with no brakes applied. Or had to try and stop quickly for a car that slid through a stop sign in front of you, or a car that has spun and turned sideways - or even something (or someone!) else that unexpectedly darted out in front of you.
A careful driver in the snow can minimize but never eliminate situations that require better tire performance. And yes, I've driven through my share of winters on tires that work 'OK - most of the time' in snow and ice, that do not perform well in the above situations. And yes, I've been lucky a number of times.
Here's the results of a Continental tire test of braking on snow. For those not familiar with metric measurements, 40 km/hr is only about 25 miles per hour. The winter tires stopped in 54 feet, the summer tires took 112 feet (over twice the distance). And that's driving on snow - not ice - and presumably not with high performance summer tires like the PS4. Some food for thought ...
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Definitely will be getting Winter Tires when the time comes. I also was trying to "get by" thru the last couple of months using the summers because of the hassle of purchasing new tires, installing and then again reinstalling Summers, three months later uninstalling. Its exhausting just typing it.If you've driven in snowy winters before, you know the feeling when you come up on a stop sign and unexpectedly find that the temperature and conditions (and previous drivers) have polished the lead-up roadway into a sheet of ice that you couldn't see because of light snow cover - and you are sliding toward active cross traffic and hoping the car is going to stop in time. Or found the car not tracking the front wheels through a turn, but continuing on it's previous trajectory - even with no brakes applied. Or had to try and stop quickly for a car that slid through a stop sign in front of you, or a car that has spun and turned sideways - or even something (or someone!) else that unexpectedly darted out in front of you.
A careful driver in the snow can minimize but never eliminate situations that require better tire performance. And yes, I've driven through my share of winters on tires that work 'OK - most of the time' in snow and ice, that do not perform well in the above situations. And yes, I've been lucky a number of times.
Here's the results of a Continental tire test of braking on snow. For those not familiar with metric measurements, 40 km/hr is only about 25 miles per hour. The winter tires stopped in 54 feet, the summer tires took 112 feet (over twice the distance). And that's driving on snow - not ice - and presumably not with high performance summer tires like the PS4. Some food for thought ...
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While I shudder at the thought ....
Not sure if your are referring to swapping tires on rims, or swapping wheel/tire sets. While it's an additional expense, that's why I bought a set of winter rims - I definitely did not want a twice yearly hassle of install/reinstall, rebalancing, etc. including waiting for an appointment during rush season, transporting the loose tires back and forth, and the risk of rim damage.Definitely will be getting Winter Tires when the time comes. I also was trying to "get by" thru the last couple of months using the summers because of the hassle of purchasing new tires, installing and then again reinstalling Summers, three months later uninstalling. Its exhausting just typing it.
Very good suggestion. I think I'll run with your idea. Thank brother.Not sure if your are referring to swapping tires on rims, or swapping wheel/tire sets. While it's an additional expense, that's why I bought a set of winter rims - I definitely did not want a twice yearly hassle of install/reinstall, rebalancing, etc. including waiting for an appointment during rush season, transporting the loose tires back and forth, and the risk of rim damage.
If you have space to keep them in in your garage, a spare winter wheel/tire set makes for a pretty quick swap that you can do at home, at your convenience. It's also a good opportunity to have a good look at your brakes and maybe do a little cleanup in that area while you're at it. I found a wall mounted tire rack that keeps the 'off season' tires up and out of the way, and uses space that was otherwise unoccupied - it was cheap and easy to install.
Consider the Fastco FC04 - that's the rim that many of the Canadian dealers supply in their winter tire package, and (IMHO) they look really nice on the car. You can save considerable money putting the package together yourself - see the following link for details.
I change my own, so it's just getting a couple hours to do it.
