Looking for a set of winter tires for the car, but don't want to shell out the money for them if I don't really have to.

Has anyone had any experience with All-Seasons that have been siped and studded for use in the winter season? I'm wondering if it will be a better alternative to the winter tires bang for buck wise.

 

hey steve!

if you can afford the winter tires, those will be your best bet and they can probably be studded if need be. all seasons are just that, a compromise tire that will get you around in the winter, just barely. considering where you are, studded winter tires or winter tires w/chains are the route to go.

lee

 

Thanks mate!

 

Agree.

If you can find a copy, there was a great article on the new generation of winter tires in Road and Track not long ago, and there was also a good article on tire compounds (Summer, Winter, All Season etc.) Had nothing to do with trucks, but it sure did illustrate how much traction Winter Tires can give! We've run them for years and I doubt I'll ever consider studs again.

They are actually pretty cost-effective too. Get a 2nd set of rims so you don't have to pay to remount and balance twice a year (why would ANYone do that?) and never EVER run them except in winter. They'll last for many seasons.

 

In many states, it is illegal to run studed tires all year round (and why would you want to?). So you are still looking at having two sets of tires, one for winter and one for the rest of the year. Since, as others have already pointed out, All Season tires are a compromise between a winter tire and a summer tire, it makes more sense to me to get a serious set of winter tires (like REVO's), and use something else for summer.

 

I assume you mean the Blizzak Revo 1. The "normal" Revos so raved about on this site are not "serious" winter tires, they are just another all season.

 

I live and work in the Lake Tahoe area which is covered in snow and ice all winter.

Through personal experiance, I have found that studless snow tires are far superior to studs even when driving a RWD 4 banger. Getting your tires siped is usually just as good.

^^^
Great advice. It saves many headaches.

 

No, I meant the Bridgestone Dueler A/T REVO's. I would not call them "just another all season" tire. They are acually an all-terrain tire, but in my experience, they are the best winter tire I have ever used. I would not argue that there isn't a 'better' pure winter tire out there (I haven't had the luxury of testing every tire on the market), but for general AT and winter use, I think most people would not be disappointed with them.

 

I don't disagree. Didn't actually mean to put the Revo down. (But they can call it an AT if they want - they are not nearly aggressive enough to be an All Terrain tread pattern in my book.) But what I meant is the compound is an all season compound, it is not a true winter tire. The difference is really amazing.

 

The Nittos have tested well in snow and ice braking was pretty decent but alas,I've yet to see the white stuff around here in Denver so I wouldn't know. :cry:

I'm hoping snow by Thanksgiving.

 

Is the compound in a true winter tire harder or softer? Mud tires are softer, but I didn't know if there was some magic about snow where you'd want a harder compound.

 

There is some magic. It's softer, but that's Not all there is to it. It won't harden when it gets really cold (the soft rock crawling tires will.) and it has nearly microscopic elements in it that provide grip on ice, not just the siping although that certainly helps grip too. Different brands and models have different technology to the compounds, but it IS special. One tire for instance may have sawdust in it. (Really!) Another might have microporous tubules that channel away the micron-thin water layer that pressure forms on ice and causes the tire to lose grip, another might have silicon (sand) in it, and many have combinations of things. That plus the special rubber plus the tread pattern designed to grip but not squirm (and lose traction) and mega-siping etc make true winter tires unique.

 

if you try to save on getting by on all seasons...you'll end up spending on your accident deductible and extraction expenses.

spend the money...winter tires...non studded.

-B

 

I also live and work in Lake Tahoe.I work at The Ridge Tahoe on top of Kingsbury.I use bfg all terrains on my 91 and my blazer and m/t's on my 87.The m/t's are great for Lake Tahoes unplowed back roads but the a/t's are great on the ice and freshly plowed stuff.Where in Tahoe are you located?

 

I used to work graveyard and kingsbury was never plowed when I was going up it. I ran a crazy set of winter duelers that my Mom used the prior winter. They worked better on the ice than fresh snow. But I found that Mud tires work awesome in fresh snow.