Summer tires in the winter

JerWA

I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do. The snow we got in November was brutal, car is a death trap. Stock tires, 80% worn. I was actually making the road worse for other drivers because my nice, wide, mostly bald tires leave the road compacted and glass smooth behind me. Every gear was eek up to ~2,000 rpm, shift, slip and slide for a few seconds, repeat. 12 miles took me 90 minutes. At least I waited for all the traffic to be gone first, and tried to stay out of other peoples way.

Have a big hill before my house, didn't even try it the first night. After 2 days of partial melt, lots of sand, and plowing I tried it and spun the car down the hill (thankfully didn't hit anyone/thing, again partly because I waited for there to be no traffic).

Now I'm in a catch 22. Can't afford new tires yet, can't afford not to work. I read that chains, even "S" clearance, may not fit, and none of the alternatives (snobootz/autosocks) fit 295/35-19. Was trying to find the thread talking about alternative tire sizes for the sport wheels in the hopes that maybe one of our optional bigger sizes will have matching bootz/socks. Bleh.

"It never snows in Seattle!" they say.

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2009 370Z Base/Sport A7 — Black — [ Stillen G3 CAI • ARK GRIP • NISMO S-Tune Body Kit • +Tune +Nav +Sub +Tint • DWS 255/35R19 Front, 285/35R19 Rear]

ChrisSlicks

If snow is really that rare in Seattle then a set of all seasons may be a more economical choice. Not as good as snow tires in the snow but will be considerably better than Summer tires. The downside is they won't have the ultimate traction of a Summer tire in the Summer, but they will wear better.

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Hotchkis ARB | Stillen CAI | Art Pipes | Berk CBE | Stillen AP Racing Brakes | AE Performance Oil Cooler | BC Racing ER Coilovers | Doran Control Arms

m4a1mustang

You can also get one of the performance winter tires which will give you pretty good dry pavement traction along with light snow traction that is still well above the best of the all-seasons. Something like the Michelin Alpin.

The problem with tires is that they are always a compromise, so if you can afford it it's best to have a winter set and a summer set if you live in a climate where you expect to do some snow driving.

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- Steve

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