# Did a 360 on ice this weekend **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 5, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-360-on-ice-this-weekend/709050 "2015-01-05T17:58:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-360-on-ice-this-weekend/709050/21 "2015-01-06T19:17:55Z")
You know what you guys need? Heated roads! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-360-on-ice-this-weekend/709050/22 "2015-01-06T19:23:34Z")
We do! Someone’s already on it: [Solar Freakin’ Roadways](http://www.solarroadways.com/intro.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-360-on-ice-this-weekend/709050/23 "2015-01-06T19:37:19Z")
Does this Jeep have part-time 4wd and if so where you in 4 high or 4 lock or whatever? ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-360-on-ice-this-weekend/709050/24 "2015-01-06T19:50:44Z")
> [@SpeedwayRyan](#): > > Some others have answered, but my answers: > > I bought a really cheap set of plain-Jane steel wheels for my winter tires. This means I never have to pay a tire shop to swap tires back and forth, and I can switch between summer and winter wheel/tire setups in my own garage at any time and very quickly (like, right before a surprise early snow is forecast). I’ve done it the other way, and I think the cost of a cheap set of wheels is worth it. > > They handle nicely on dry pavement as long as it’s cold-- they’re made to basically be the right hardness in cold weather. There are minor differences in noise and handling, but that’s expected in any two sets of different tires. When it warms up, you’ll want to switch back soon so as not to chew up the winter tires on warm pavement (some winter tires are way worse about this than others). > > As a side note, consider the long-term cost when making a decision…some people just think of the cost of winter tires as an “extra” – but when you’re using them, that’s a big chunk of the year you don’t put wear on your normal tires, so it takes longer to rack up the miles on them and they will last longer. In the long run, it’s not that big of a cost. I bought an extra set of plain wheels for the winter tires, too. To my mind, winter tires are absolutely essential safety equipment where I live (Toronto, travelling around S. Ontario). You can really feel the difference - so much better control. It seems to me foolish to worry about the minutae of car performance features but ignore the most important one - where the rubber meets the road. If that doesn’t work well, nothing else will. Yet I know many people who will not buy winter tires and insist that “all seasons” are just as good. ---
**Author:** ![SpeedwayRyan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@SpeedwayRyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpeedwayRyan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-360-on-ice-this-weekend/709050/25 "2015-01-06T20:25:50Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > It seems to me foolish to worry about the minutae of car performance features but ignore the most important one - where the rubber meets the road. If that doesn’t work well, nothing else will. Yet I know many people who will not buy winter tires and insist that “all seasons” are just as good. Agree 100%. So-called “all-seasons” are a compromise in good weather and an even bigger compromise in winter. Most people just don’t want to bother with it all, but anybody who has ever white-knuckled it on snow and ice should know that there’s a better way. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-360-on-ice-this-weekend/709050/26 "2015-01-06T20:27:25Z")
I went with aftermarket-refinished stock rims for my snow tires. Car looks stock in the winter, but the rims - recovered from wrecks, and refinished to OEM colors - cost about 1/2 the price of new OEM rims. If you do this, it’s important to have the tire shop measure these rims for runout before mounting snow tires; occasionally you get one that’s out of round. I store my tires/rims in my garage and swap them out myself. For the less mechanically inclined, there are service shops that will store whichever tires/rims you currently are not using, and change them out for you when you visit them in the spring/fall. If you commute on snowy roads regularly, and don’t have snow tires because you live somewhere that you can’t store or change tires, you might consider that option. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-360-on-ice-this-weekend/709050/27 "2015-01-06T22:50:13Z")
I just have one set of rims and I have the tires swapped. I must have waited too long in the spring, or put them on too soon this fall, because one pair which I have only had a couple of winters already needs to be replaced. The new pair I got after hitting a curb and ripping a hole in one a year ago is still OK. I go so slow in snow that all-seasons would probably be OK, but I figure in the off-chance that the snows would make a difference it’s better if I have them. I’ve only done a 180, safely off onto the shoulder, but I remember when I was a kid, the day of a funeral of a relative. My father was driving our Datsun B210 (yes, it’s small and light) and did a nice neat 360 approaching a light. No one was around and he ended up where he started – after I realized we were OK, I thought “Do it again!” ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-360-on-ice-this-weekend/709050/28 "2015-01-07T13:22:23Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > Does this Jeep have part-time 4wd and if so where you in 4 high or 4 lock or whatever? No, this was a Grand Cherokee with full-time, or all-wheel drive. I even had it on the “snow” setting! ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-360-on-ice-this-weekend/709050/29 "2015-01-07T13:24:07Z")
Thanks for all the snow tire info-- I’m definitely considering snow tires now, and if I do I’ll go for separate rims as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-360-on-ice-this-weekend/709050.md?page=1)