Ice salt works well for traction, too, and unlike sand, it gets washed away. If worried about lawns and gardens, there is vegetation-safe ice melt. But I haven’t been stuck in snow since my last rear-wheel drive vehicle, and that was decades ago. Also, there is not as much snow as there used to be (or maybe in part it’s that I’m out of the snowbelt area now) and the streets, highways, sidewalks, and even my own driveway all get cleared very promptly.
I found a 20 pound sack of traction sand, and I’ve been using it for years. It lives in the garage.
Do you remember where you bought it? I don’t have a garage but 20lbs I could stash on my front porch fairly readily, which is where I’d be using it.
A local hardware store. And yes, it would fit on the porch. Mine is actually sitting in my living room, next to the fireplace, right now, because it somehow got damp, and I’m letting it dry a little. But then it will go back to the garage. I use it mostly on the front steps.
Weathertech mats are seriously worth the investment. Winter or summer.
When getting in the car and your boots are snow-covered, open the door, bang right foot against the exterior of the car to knock the snow off then place inside and sit down. Then, seated, bang the left foot against the exterior (just below the door) before bringing that foot inside. Close door, adjust self, add seatbelt, and you’re good to go. In a store parking lot, you can observe others doing just this routine to get the idea.
@Dangerosa, I think you must also live in the Twin Cities, like I do, but I frequently go haring off to other places in MN and WI in winter that are narrow, sometimes unplowed, sometimes dirt, which is why I recommend winter tires. Plus, my involvement in car racing (even on frozen lakes) has taught me the excellent value of snow tires. If you can afford them, and don’t just drive in urban areas, I highly recommend them.
Yep. I don’t even take 494 to work any more. Once in a great while I drive from Woodbury to South Minneapolis to see my mother in law. So no need for snow tires, and I don’t know any one (IRL) who would need them. Urban indoorsmen, most of us. Especially in Winter.
Well.
I shoveled snow off my driveway, for the 1st time in my life.
I have to say … not impressed with this “snow” nonsense at the moment.
Weirdly enough, it grows on you. Or it does when you live in a place where it’s rare enough for it to be a novelty and goes away fairly quickly. What annoys me here in Left Coast Portland is that we get enough snow for frozen pipes to happen but infrequently enough that nothing gets built to minimize it happening. I do get tired of dripping faucets during one of our infrequent week long freezing events. It’s worse when things freeze up though, had that happen once or twice and it sucks not having water where you expect it to be. My water lines are PEX so I’m not worried about them bursting but not being able to take a shower is a real PITA.
Can you get at them under the house to put some insulation around them? That’s really all you should need.
I hear people say that but my personal experience is very different. I wonder who these people are who are calling them similar. Maybe it’s people who don’t ever drive on ice? I noticed they didn’t include tires with studs in the cited test on ice.
Yes, the newer sipe-like treads are great in snow and slush but are still far inferior on actual ice. When driving over an icy mountain pass in the middle of winter I know which tires I want my wife and kids to be driving on. Maybe it’s a non-issue for most people but where we live we drive over a mountain pass nearly every week.
I drive over the continental divide twice daily. Or did before COVID. The county I work in has 4 nationally and internationally known ski areas.
I often get 30 feet of snow at my house during a winter season. Doing this for thirty years now. Snow tires aren’t some magic pill, but an absolute must that really do help. I hate the ‘All-Season’ tires that come on new cars. First fall that I own a new car I get rid of them and get proper snow tires. Of which there are only two brands names that I will purchase.
Now, I’m in an extreme situation, but think I can say snow tires do help. Studs too if that’s your thing. I absolutely must have a good 4 wheel drive with good ground clearance. Ground clearance is one of the first things I check when buying a new vehicle.
Done my share of winter driving. Snow tires are definitely helpful on hills. Less so when travelling at moderate speed and not breaking hard. On flat highways with moderate ice I find them less helpful than advertised. But lots of folks think they make a big difference.
I think a lot of it depends on how often you drive on snow and ice. In my case, every little bit helps.
I live in Saskatchewan where we don’t typically get huge amounts of snow, but winters are long and cold. Extended periods where roads are covered with hard-packed snow or ice are common. Modern winter tires are imo some sort of black magic. It’s true, they still slide around in extremely slippery conditions. But at the worst of times, which in my experience are those extended -30C cold snaps where there are slight dustings of snow packed onto the street surface, too thin to plow to but too substantial to get driven off by traffic, modern winter tires provide some traction where all-seasons slip around like bacon on a buttered non-stick frying pan. At those temps all-seasons are rock hard and just don’t work at all.
The other sort of worst-case, which probably is what more people are familiar with, is the just below freezing temps freezing rain/black ice sort of scenario. At those temperatures all-seasons are slightly more functional, but proper winter tires still kick their asses. But with care you can take the bit of traction you get with all-seasons and tiptoe about.
Michigan will give you much more of the latter type of driving than the former. Whilst I’m sure the OP will disagree, Michigan just doesn’t deliver much in the way of properly cold weather, even in the UP. 
I’m honestly not sure if I’d bother with Nokian Hakkepeliittas in Michigan, but you won’t catch me driving in winter in Saskatoon without them.
Winter tires are probably more helpful in Saskatchewan or rural Newfoundland than they are on the mean streets of, say, Toronto. Now, they don’t call for military assistance every year. But the ratio of whinging to winter remains pretty high in some parts.
To whoever suggested the cheapie tablecloths as a windshield cover (from the Chicago thread) THANK YOU that was super fun! Just a quick “flip” and I was on my way.
The main reason I switch to winter snow tires is the all season tires that came with my car have short sidewalls and large rims. Driving through slush was ok, until I parked for the day. The slush would freeze on the bottom part of the rims, causing the tires to run like they were horribly out of balance. With the frozen slush I didn’t want to go faster than 40 MPH.
Never heard of this. How do you attach them in a windy winter?
Open car door. Tuck ends into door, slam door shut very quickly. Trundle around to other side: lather, rinse, repeat.
I have seen references to using a few well-placed magnets, but that likely works best on older, steel cars. Mine is all newfangled and fiberglass.