This is the thread where I say things and maybe other people say things too

[sandydandy]

Yeah, it's all about the region (and budgets) - not only at the state/city level, but also the household. Like, I don't know anybody I can think of that owns actual snow tires. I for one, would love to have them but because our winters are so variable it would be ridiculous and too expensive to actually buy them - Most years we don't have more than a dozen or so days with appreciable snow on the ground (Let alone the streets), and we often get big warm stretches that'd cut tread life down to about nothing unless you wanted to be swapping them on/off like 5 times per winter.

Yeah I'm not 100% sold on snow tires if you live in or near a city. If you're out in a snow belt then yeah. Here winter weather lasts 3-4 months, and we probably only see 12-15 days where you would need the extra grip of snow tires. But the roads are cleared pretty much almost immediately, so you really don't need them. Yes they are expensive, which is why I've avoided them. I'm good with all seasons on both my cars (both are AWD). Back when I was driving the old Accord I had trouble getting stuck in the snow, which was annoying.

Winter of 2013/14 was the only one in recent memory that was super aggravating. So many heavy snow days, it just wouldn't end. 7-foot high mountains of snow piled up at the ends of driveways. That was a brutal winter.

If Canada has a heat wave, Canadians and your infrastructure probably won’t handle that very well either!

We get extreme heat in the summer too, infrastructure has no problem handling it. People are another story. Extreme heat is more uncomfortable than extreme cold. Nigel likes to point out that you can always warm up when it's cold, but can't always cool down when it's really hot. I agree.

"Insane" is based on your perspective. A hole in the ground in Vancouver, BC is like $500K.

Trudeau! Average price for a house in Toronto is about $1M. Seriously ridiculous. I'd love to move two hours west to the Kitchener-Waterloo area. Get a nice Mazda Miata and drive around the windy backroads with the roof down. That's my retirement dream.

[dodint]

Winter tires are a no brainer to me. I am driving the same miles, just spreading it across two sets of tires. Each set will last longer in proportion to their use. And both sets are better optimized for their respective seasons. The winter compound provides better traction on cold/dry than an all-season tire, you don't need ice/snow to see benefit from unstudded winter tires.

[Cam]

Yeah, winter tires are like an insurance policy. When you need them, they are noticeably better than all season tires. Mount them on some cheap, steel wheels and swap them out at the start of winter, or the first snow day.

[Yw-slayer]

"Insane" is based on your perspective. A hole in the ground in Vancouver, BC is like $500K.

A car park lot here can cost between usd250k-900k.

[dodint]

Yeah, winter tires are like an insurance policy. When you need them, they are noticeably better than all season tires. Mount them on some cheap, steel wheels and swap them out at the start of winter, or the first snow day.

That's exactly what I did. I went to the pull-it yard and spent about $50 on a set of old wheels, and $3 more on a full set of these old-timey hub caps. Painted the wheels bright white:



I love it. Kind of reminds of an ice cream truck or something. Completely changes the look of it from summer to winter:

[George]

I went to the pull-it yard and spent about $50 on a set of old wheels

I dig your setup.

But, I beat you by ten bucks on the wheels!

Well, not if you count the center caps I ordered online. They were more than $3.

Saved screenshot just for forum boasting purposes:

[sandydandy]

Yeah, winter tires are like an insurance policy. When you need them, they are noticeably better than all season tires. Mount them on some cheap, steel wheels and swap them out at the start of winter, or the first snow day.

But that's the thing, when you need them they're useful. Most of the time in the winter you don't need them, except for a few days here and there when there's extraordinarily heavy snow. That's just my opinion based on my experience.

Anyway, not laughing today at America's winter situation seeing what's going on in Texas. That's terrible.

[dodint]

Nice, those remind me of the old E36 BMW wheels.

[Godson]

Yeah, it's all about the region (and budgets) - not only at the state/city level, but also the household. Like, I don't know anybody I can think of that owns actual snow tires. I for one, would love to have them but because our winters are so variable it would be ridiculous and too expensive to actually buy them - Most years we don't have more than a dozen or so days with appreciable snow on the ground (Let alone the streets), and we often get big warm stretches that'd cut tread life down to about nothing unless you wanted to be swapping them on/off like 5 times per winter.

I had snow tires up until I sold the 996.

So.... Nearly 5 years ago.

I have had the f150 ever since, and now that I have summer wheels, I'll be buying winter tires to put on the factory wheels.


I'm excited.

[Rare White Ape]

That's exactly what I did. I went to the pull-it yard and spent about $50 on a set of old wheels, and $3 more on a full set of these old-timey hub caps. Painted the wheels bright white:

Needs some black garbage bag plastic to block out the windows and a hand painted FRee cAnDy sign on the side to complete the look.