Re: Winter tires for snow?

[roland_moreno@domain.elided]

I agree fully with "skinniest tires you can find".  During my first winter
in Anchorage, AK with another car (85 VW Scirocco), I which had  175/70/14
all season tires to a 155/80/14 Firestone Winterfire with 288 studs per
tire.  Even after the studs were worn down to nothing, the tires were
incredible.  The tires were abomidable on dry roads, but in any snow or ice
condition, they were confidence inspiring.   During a trip from Boston to
Virginia Beach, I got caught in the storm of 1993 after 2am and what looked
like a previously plowed exit ramp was not.  I was in  2 feet deep snow and
scared for my life to get out and shovel a path for fear of someone hitting
me, so I coaxed the tires to claw to and fro until I had enough momentum to
go in reverse and  crunch down on new snow to get back on I-95.  Now, in
Wisconsin, I have on another car (96 VW GTI) in original stock size (didn't
go with the skinniest principle) Blizzak ws-15 which are incredibly better
than M+S tires and are fine on ice and some snow, much more comfortable,
but tend to load up more quickly and spin when trying to get going from a
dead stop in snow deeper than half a foot.  My brother has Nokia
Hakkapellita's in stock diameter but of skinnier width with much, much
better control on roads than I have with the Blizzaks I'd rather have those
buzzy, narly heavily lugged studded tires, but they are illegal now.  So
with this meta-analysis of products and conditions not directly related to
your car, a coarse conclusion would be to get the skinniest tires in stock
diameter (I have the weblink to the wheel/tire calculator to help if you'd
like) of a heavily lugged tread design for geographical locations where
there is more snow than not, less ice and dry roads, or the Blizzaks for
winter driving on roads where there is a mixture of snow, ice and dry
conditions.   I hope this helps even a little.

Roy
85 Alfa Romeo Graduate to be winterized  with a tyvek cover and wooden
blocks
96 VW GTI  waiting for a solid week of snow before donning the Blizzaks

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