they shouldn’t be used all year. the tread compound is very soft and “squishy,” and they’ll wear out fast if used in warm weather.
Do the tires go on clearance in spring? Like I said I was considering selling the town car. I may end up buying a slightly used ford fusion or mitsubishi galant. I figure a set of snow tires would be worth it for one of those cars since I would plan on keeping it for 10 years or so.
I know a lot of tire shops have sales like ‘buy 3 get 1 free’. Do snow tires go on clearance in spring with even better deals like buy 2 get 2 free, or do they offer the same deals as all season tires?
The snow tires I’m looking at run about $100-130 a tire and that includes makes like the bridgetone Blizzak, michelin X-ice, firestone winterforce, etc. I’m assuming those are good brands.
(bolded for emphasis) Kitty litter usually contains clay, and gets quite slippery when wet. Its use as a traction agent is generally discouraged by those in the know.
Having said that, I’d use it if I had nothing else, as until it gets wet, it should provide additional traction. But if you don’t get out in the first or second try, you’ve just greased the path.
Of course if it’s below zero (F), go for it. 
I also didn’t know that there were non-studded snow tires. To me, snow tire = studded tire. Now I know better!
Snow tires should be removed in the summer, they are made from a softer rubber compound to grip icy road better and therefore, wear faster. Also, due to the thread pattern, they are noisier and run hotter on the road in the summer.
There are some so-called all-season tires, but they are not considered as good.
But some are good enough - there are some models designed for better snow/ice performance, but not up to the level of real snow tires. I’ve found that I can put good all seasons on my Outback and drive in snow all winter without trouble. My older FWD cars really needed snows.
This.
I made the mistake one year of driving my car through winter on “three season” aka “summer” tires. Utterly, completely useless. As in, “stuck in one inch of packed snow on level ground” useless. Most all-season tires are miles better in snow. Proper winter tires are miles better than that.
‘Snow’ tires is a bit of a misnomer. What most people are referring to here are winter tires.
Winter tires have the soft compound, and a tread that is usually optimized for traction on ice rather than snow. Very tight lugs with many razer thin slits is the norm. Tires for snow (and mud) are marked M+S and have big, spaced lugs. They come in both winter and all season varieties. Most 4x4 truck tires typically are the all-season M+S variety.
Winter tires come in stud ready models and can have studs installed by the tire shop at time of purchase. The studs are small and not very aggressive, and I really doubt they do much damage to dry road surface. They do have less traction on a dry road surface than a non studded tire and sound like you are driving on gravel. You definitely want to change them out when the weather swings.
I went from a 4x4 F150 with all season M+S tires last year to a rear wheel drive Chev and had to make the switch to studded winter tires. The all season tires on the 4x4 only required a little more care in braking but winter tires were an absolute necessity on the Chev. The studs help but I think the major improvement really is the softer compound.
Weight in the rear helps… until you have to stop. Mass x Velocity = Momentum. More weight makes normal driving more manageable, but… you know… the death thing…
Right. So never, ever allow any passengers in your car. They’ll kill you in an accident.
As mentioned non studded snow tires do not damage the road and will greatly improve traction. If you mount them on the same rims you will have a twice yearly mounting and balancing expense when you change over. Your best bet could be to browse Craigs list or your local want ads for a set of snow tires already on rims that will fit your car, assuming you have storage space for a set of tires mounted on rims.
There are also snow cables, basically a lighter duty version of tire chains. And there is a product called ‘spray on tire chains’, I am skeptical but it is something you could research.
A quick search found this –
Alternatively, carry a set of tractionaids in the trunk. Very useful when sand isn’t available, and cheaper in the long run!
Part of the answer also lies in where you live. In the Western US, they tend to let the snow form a base on the road and they more or less grade it to keep it even. In the Northeast, the snowfall is not as deep but it seems to snow more often. They like to scrape the roads clean, so traction on ice is a greater problem than snow.
When I was in Western Massachusetts, I tried the traction devices that mnemosyne linked to. They worked great until you had to stop the car to pick them up. Then you were stuck again. On hills, they would just shoot out from under the wheels, threatening pedestrians and motorists alike.
Skinny supermodels only would be a good compromise.
If you’ll tolerate a question from a southerner…
What are the logistics involved when changing from Winter to Summer tires? Do you have a full set of wheels too? Or do you just head down to Discount Tire (or wherever) and have them dismount/remount all four tires twice a year? I can see how this would be done if you had a pickup or large SUV, but how do you do this when you’re driving a small car? I’ve never tried, but I don’t think all four wheels would fit in the wife’s Camry.
Thanks for fighting my ignorance.
I just have 'em mounted and balanced on the same wheels. I tried hunting down a set of cheap steel wheels for the winter tires, but there’s very little that’ll fit my car with the proper offset/backspacing and brake clearance.
Putting the snow tires on cheap rims is the best option. The expense of A twice yearly mounting and balancing can add up. If you have a popular model there is a good chance of finding a cheap set of used rims. Most people can easily swap wheels at home too. An added bonus is if you have nice rims they are saved from salt exposure and the higher likely hood of hitting potholes in the winter.
If you go with the mounting on the same rims route you can throw an old blanket in the back seat of most cars and fit two or more tires there. Throw one or two in the trunk and you are all set. I am in mass and I would say less than ten percent of people use dedicated snow tires.
Edited to add. Narrower tires also perform better in the snow. A second set of rims can allow you to use narrower tires.
This is true. Personally though, I just leave them on all year since we have snow for a good 6 months.
(bolding mine)
This.
I’ve seen small sports cars (RWD and FWD) and other cars get through in bad snow & ice conditions while 4WD Jeeps and SUVs and other cars had skidded out of control. Clearly, having a basic undertanding of what inertia is and how it applies to winter driving (even driving in the rain) helps.
Y’know, I’ve never even imagined that that was an option. On this side of the pond, winter tires come mounted on rims. Always. So, if you’re equipped with a set of winter tires (which you absolutely should), you’ve got 8 wheels. 9 if you’re driving an old-fashioned car with a spare.
If you’re living in a small, modern city apartment and park your car in the street outside, storage of the extra set might be a challenge…
ETA: And driving on dedicated winter tires in the summer is definitely a bad idea. Not only because of the quicker wear, but the soft rubber used in studless winter tires give shitty traction in half-decent summer temperatures.