general winter/snow tire talk

General discussion about our beloved Tercel 4WD cars
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dlb
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general winter/snow tire talk

Post by dlb »

I've never cared about brand of tires before, I've just used whatever is cheap but in good condition. That's always worked fine...until now. Now I've got a set of generic Motomaster brand winter tires with lots of tread, only used for a few seasons, but on level ground on packed snow, if I try to crawl forward I slide sideways 2 feet. And it's not slippery or icy out, this is just light, fluffy, packed snow. (this is in my 2wd corolla wagon, but still, it's unacceptable) This is the second season I've used the tires and I don't remember them being this bad but I also can't remember how much snow we had last year. None of my neighbours are sliding around like me so I don't think it's any crazy conditions, I think it's the tires.

So this got me wondering, what makes some snow tires good and others bad? Is it time for me to finally grow up and actually invest more than $150 in a set of winter tires?

If I do need to go tire shopping, I've noticed Splatterdog is keen on General Altimax Arctic 12's but those appear to be studded and we don't get enough snow here for that, the studs just trash our already terrible roads further. Can anyone here recommend some winter/snow tires that are not studded?
atoyta
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Re: general winter/snow tire talk

Post by atoyta »

I would say Blizzak but I have a suspicion they don't make them for that car
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dlb
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Re: general winter/snow tire talk

Post by dlb »

atoyta wrote: Thu Dec 30, 2021 7:06 pm I would say Blizzak but I have a suspicion they don't make them for that car
I should mention, I run 185/65r14's on my Corolla.
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dlb
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Re: general winter/snow tire talk

Post by dlb »

Further details: I spoke with a neighbour who has a Prius. I noticed today that his Prius was not home so I asked him tonight how it handled getting around the neighbourhood. Just fine, he said. What about the big steep hill that hasn't been plowed and is just packed snow, I asked. No problems, he said.

Meanwhile, I can't even make it up the first 10 feet of that same hill.

I found that I can get up my driveway in reverse easily though so that's good, but it also got me thinking -- my tires are rotational, could I have put them on backward? I would feel dumb then but that would at least be a free, easy solution. But no, they are on correctly. Dang.

My neighbour said they have Blizzaks on his Prius so I think I will look for some next week.
Jarf
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Re: general winter/snow tire talk

Post by Jarf »

Start with decoding the DOT stamping.

Tires are generally considered to have a life span of 5 yrs, as they age they get harder and drier.
Hard tires not only have a much lower friction coefficient but they are also much stiffer, so less able to conform to the road surface.
I would guess that your skins are just way past their BBD.

Blizzaks are awesome, at least for the first season or 2.
The traction enhancer they add to the rubber compound is only in the top 50% of the tread, so once half worn, theres a big change in traction.

I needed new snows last year, out of desperation got some at the Tire, on sale.
When I saw the dates codes, I insisted they remove and refund my money, they were over 6 yrs old!
While I have always had a strong prejudice against Firestones, I went that way on the recommendation of the tire shop and have not been disappointed.
Wife runs Michelin X-ice (Venza AWD) and can't say enough good things about them.

Most name brands are going to provide a decent option, but at the end of the day its all about when they were born.
Also be mindful of tires that are on sale, especially really BIG sales, as the discount is directly related to their date of birth.
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splatterdog
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Re: general winter/snow tire talk

Post by splatterdog »

Arctic 12's come with empty stud holes unless ordered with studs. Other winter tires can have the holes there too. Almost all the 12's are made in Germany but are priced competitively. I've sold them to many and everyone loves them. I'm one of my best customers!

If money is no object, get Blizzaks.. But, I also feel that "ice" tires sacrifice some deep snow performance with the less open tread patterns. I like to blaze trails across lakes..
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dlb
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Re: general winter/snow tire talk

Post by dlb »

Ok, maybe I'll ask at Canadian Tire about Arctic 12's re: studs because I did notice they were a bit cheaper than Blizzaks.

Good question re: DOT stamp, Jarf. I just checked the date and it's 2617, so roughly July of 2017, so the tires are pretty much at the end of their lives. I will be sure to look at the production dates of whatever I end up buying, thanks for the tip there. I shouldn't be surprised at your story of "new" 6 yr old tires but I've come to expect that level of quality and service from Canadian Tire. We've had similar (but not quite so lousy) experiences buying tires there in the past.
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LowBuckCanuck
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Re: general winter/snow tire talk

Post by LowBuckCanuck »

I was a big fan of my 14" hankook ipike tires from crappy tire. They were about $50 each and performed admirably in the snow on my tercel, save for a sidewall bulge. No doubt from being a wannabe Colin McCrae. Also ran a 16" set on a 2005 matrix with no issues. Pretty decent inexpensive tires.
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marlinh
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Re: general winter/snow tire talk

Post by marlinh »

dlb, it's because it's not a Tercel!
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dlb
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Re: general winter/snow tire talk

Post by dlb »

marlinh wrote: Mon Jan 17, 2022 4:34 pm dlb, it's because it's not a Tercel!
lol, I can't believe it took this long for someone to say that!

I had a very limited selection of snow tires to choose from but they did have Arctic 12's so that's what I got. And what do you know, I was able to drive home without toboganning all over our neighbourhood roads, and even got up our driveway going FRONTWARD! So they pass the test so far but I look forward to lots more snow this year to test them out further.

Btw Marlene, I'm on the hunt for another t4. I decided several months ago. Preferably an 83/84 but I'll take what I can get at this point. It's shocking how rarely I see them for sale now.
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