Why is All Wheel Drive better on snowy and slushy roads?

[FIREd]

Do a lot of people have a set of winter tires? .

I have a set of winter tires mounted on wheels and I swap them myself. I do a lot of driving on snowy and icy mountain roads. Where I live, not having them can become a legal liability in case of an accident in wintery condition.

 

[RunningBum]

One feature I love is X-Drive on my Subaru. My biggest fear is losing control on a downhill. My street has a 20% grade for about 100 yards, with about a 120 degree (not sharp) turn at the bottom. X-Drive works at 18 mph or less. It holds the speed and does the braking as needed without losing control, much better than I can do on my own. I'll usually set it at about 5-10 mph. But I think it'd be hard to engage if I were going 25 on any road and felt myself going into a slide.

 

[ls99]

Suburban. two wheel drive with locking diff. I swap all four for Winter tires.
Pickup, 4wd kevlar all seasons.
Car, AWD rarely drive it in snow.

 

[Ian S]

My old 1986 Audi quattro had electrically lockable differentials center and rear. With snows on all four wheels it was great in snow until it got too deep.

 

[Chuckanut]

Here in greater Portlandia, there is almost never enough snow to justify snow tires, indeed snow tires are worse for traction in wet and dry conditions and wear fast.
<snip>
we bought a set of snow tires and rims and I dutifully install them before planned mountain excursions. PITA

Portlandia! I assume the snow tires are made from natural organic rubber plants grown in an sustainable way, making sure the native people are amply compensated for their work and use of their traditional lands. Right?

 

[travelover]

Portlandia! I assume the snow tires are made from natural organic rubber plants grown in an sustainable way, making sure the native people are amply compensated for their work and use of their traditional lands. Right?

Absolutely and when the tires are worn out, we compost them.

 

[Gumby]

Absolutely and when the tires are worn out, we compost them.

They also can be used to make a nice walking path Recycled tires used for new walking path at Old Faithful | Yellowstone Gate

 

[Music Lover]

Do a lot of people have a set of winter tires? I've thought about getting a set, mounted on wheels, so I could swap them myself. We don't have too much winter here, but we can, and when we do driving in the mountains it can be difficult. In the past 10 years I recall a 30" snow and at least two 20" snow storms, plus plenty of lower totals, sometimes mixed with ice. But the majority of the time it's clear and I could easily be driving in 50 degree weather between snows, and I read that snow tires don't last long on warmer roads. The plows do tend to clear the roads pretty quickly after storms but that can leave a layer of packed snow/ice occasionally.

I checked Tirerack and it would cost me about $1100 to get Micheline x-ice tires mounted. Those seem to be the best combination for me, rarely driving in deep snow and often driving on clear roads. Trying to decide whether it's worth it. I guess I would pay at least that much for AWD if that were a choice on my car--it's on all Foresters.

I guess their worth depends on where you live. I have winter tires but we have winter for 5 months.

I have Michelin X-Ice...they are highly rated on ice and cold pavement. That's the most important feature for me...no one is going anywhere fast in snow and I'd rather have traction on a cold and/or icy roads. I consider the cost of steel rims the only additional investment because when I'm using the winter tires the summer tires are not wearing. I also have an impact wrench and floor jack so swapping them only takes 30 - 40 minutes.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

If it weren't for skiing, I would stay home. But I can't miss a powder day! I try to stay home otherwise, but I have been caught a few times. It's the combination of steep hills and ice that gives me the most worry. I've got Michelin Premier A/S tires now, but they are only ok on ice.

The cost is also reduced by putting less wear on my other tires. I think I'm going to do it.

For ice, Blizzaks have been the traditional champ. For an all-weather tire that can handle snow, check out Nokian's WRG4.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I guess their worth depends on where you live. I have winter tires but we have winter for 5 months.

I have Michelin X-Ice...they are highly rated on ice and cold pavement. That's the most important feature for me...no one is going anywhere fast in snow and I'd rather have traction on a cold and/or icy roads. I consider the cost of steel rims the only additional investment because when I'm using the winter tires the summer tires are not wearing. I also have an impact wrench and floor jack so swapping them only takes 30 - 40 minutes.

Good point on cold pavement. A lot of performance-oriented tires lose gripping power when the temp is under 40 degrees.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Portlandia! I assume the snow tires are made from natural organic rubber plants grown in an sustainable way, making sure the native people are amply compensated for their work and use of their traditional lands. Right?

A NATURAL RECIPE: WINTER TREAD COMPOUND MADE WITH CANOLA OIL

...That's with Finnish canola oil.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

My old 1986 Audi quattro had electrically lockable differentials center and rear. With snows on all four wheels it was great in snow until it got too deep.

I loved my old Audi, but there's a photo of it with the dictionary definition for "money pit." IIRC, the differential switch was vacuum controlled.

 

[W2R]

The last time I drove on snow or ice, was in 1976. I guess that was 44 years ago, six years short of a half century. That's another way of coping with the problem!

We don't have snow or ice here often enough for me to ever want to drive on it. Even if I learned how, the other drivers here are awful at driving on that stuff too.

 

[RunningBum]

Tire Rack is quick. Michelin X-Ice Xi3s arrived this afternoon. If they'd have come earlier I'd have gone out in the 4" of snow we got in a hurry. I'll bet there at least a few covered spots on my way into town tomorrow.

First directional tires I think I've had. And of course I put the first one on the wrong side before I noticed.

Tire changing tip, if you're like me and don't have quite the same strength anymore and struggle with loosening lug nuts: use an extender on the lug wrench. I have fairly long metal tubes with my hammock stand. I slide them on the end of the wrench and it only takes a little pull. Physics, I thank you.

 

[Walt34]

Do a lot of people have a set of winter tires?

I suspect a lot depends on where one lives and the snowfall levels there. We don't bother because it is so rare that snow tires would be needed. Here, two feet of snow is a rare and catastrophic event. My cousins in Buffalo call that light flurries.

Being retired now, it would not be a huge sacrifice to make do with one car and just stay home when there's snow on the roads. But we have the 4WD pickup and it does fine with just the M&S tires in up to two and a half feet, which is the deepest I've done with it. And that was when I was going to work (for overtime!) otherwise I wouldn't have bothered.

 

[RunningBum]

The reason I asked is because a lot of people said that good snow tires are more important than AWD. I wondered how many people really acted on that though. I've heard this as well, and I found out the hard way what happens when you try to stretch all season tires one more winter.

Big snows are fairly rare here too, but the roads around me are steep so I decided it would be good insurance.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

We have an AWD vehicle and have a set of Blizzaks we slap on around mid-late November and keep on until around late Mar / early April. We seem to get an odd snowfall in April once in a while. With a floor jack, it takes us just under an hour to do the swap.

Good point on cold pavement. A lot of performance-oriented tires lose gripping power when the temp is under 40 degrees.

+1. I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned more in the thread. Tires have an optimal temperature range to operate in. Too cold and the tires lose pliability and stopping distance. Too warm and the tires become to soft and wear faster with worse fuel economy.

We don't get a lot of snow at sea level along the coast but Vancouver does get to at least 0C/32F in the evenings and it's wet out regularly so a tire with good stopping distance is important for us. The city also tend to shutdown during snowfall because the city doesn't have a tonne of snow clearing gear. It's nice having the confidence of going out for a drive in the city during the during a heavy snow with minimal traffic.

AWD can help prevent getting stuck but I also value the confidence of the extra grip while accelerating from a stop like waiting for a gap when turning left or merging into traffic after hanging a right from a stop sign.

Tire changing tip, if you're like me and don't have quite the same strength anymore and struggle with loosening lug nuts: use an extender on the lug wrench. I have fairly long metal tubes with my hammock stand. I slide them on the end of the wrench and it only takes a little pull. Physics, I thank you.

+1! On my old car, I snapped a studs/bolt off on two separate occasions when trying to force off the lug nuts with just the lug wrench. On our current car, I put anti-seize on the studs and also use a long metal tube for an ad-hoc breaker bar. So much easier.

 

[Telly]

Tire changing tip, if you're like me and don't have quite the same strength anymore and struggle with loosening lug nuts: use an extender on the lug wrench. I have fairly long metal tubes with my hammock stand. I slide them on the end of the wrench and it only takes a little pull. Physics, I thank you.

You said "tubes", plural, are you using a cross bar wrench where you can pull up one side while pushing down the other? I/we have put a cross bar wrench in every car or truck we owned. Went to bigger ones on the trucks. The lug "wrench" that comes with a vehicle are pretty crappy for real use.

 

[Music Lover]

Tire changing tip, if you're like me and don't have quite the same strength anymore and struggle with loosening lug nuts: use an extender on the lug wrench. I have fairly long metal tubes with my hammock stand. I slide them on the end of the wrench and it only takes a little pull. Physics, I thank you.

I still have the strength and removed lug nuts by hand for years but then got an electric impact wrench...mostly for time saving as I swap summer to winter tires twice a year on 6 or 7 vehicles for friends and family. Now it takes 30 seconds to remove and tighten the nuts and I now wonder why I waited so long.

The electric wrench and a quick floor jack cuts tire changing time down to 20-25 minutes.

 

[RunningBum]

You said "tubes", plural, are you using a cross bar wrench where you can pull up one side while pushing down the other? I/we have put a cross bar wrench in every car or truck we owned. Went to bigger ones on the trucks. The lug "wrench" that comes with a vehicle are pretty crappy for real use.

I meant singular tube. The hammock has multiple, but I only use one. I put one in each car, but they are really long. Will look at those cross bar wrenches. I see one that folds up for easier storage.