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Snow Tires Needed?

dukebound85

dukebound85

macrumors Core
Original poster
Jul 17, 2005
19,218
4,342
5045 feet above sea level
So I am about to move to NY. My grandparents decided to help me move out there. However they say I would be foolish to not have snow tires

Thing is, I don't really feel that great blowing 400 dollars on tires when I have All season tires that have not even 10k miles on them. I also am not a stranger to driving in snow here in CO and have never had snow tires

I will be driving on interstates obviously when I go there from Colorado to NY. I can't help but think that the interstates should be in good enough driving conditions to get through on with my current tires

what do you think?

my car is a 1990 celica, fwd as well
 
With a car as light as a celica, id deffinatly go with the tires.
 
don't waste your money

all season tires will be fine. i drive a saturn sl2 in the snow without snow tires (similar size to a celica) and its fine.

since you're in colorado, you obviously have experience driving in the snow. you'll be fine. highways are usually pretty clear anyways.
 
Is the place going to be snowy now? If not, head over on your tires and decide later.

I would say it depends on your tires now, like brand and type. Not just "all season".
For a good winter tire, I have heard good things about Bridgestone Blizzaks.

To be safe you could just bring chains.
 
Snow tires for a 90 Celica shouldn't have to cost you more than $250 for the stock size, including new used wheels. You can get brilliant winter tires from euro brands like Nokian Tyre for really cheap. Buy the extra wheels for $15-25 each and it will save you that much in mount and balance fees when you want to switch to the summer tires.

I don't run winter tires on my own car. I work in New York, live in New Jersey, and have been to Colorado. I'd run them on my car if I lived near my cousins above Denver. I'd run them if I lived in upstate New York, or western New York, but not near the city or on Long Island. Especially if I drove a Celica thats two decades old and can use all the help it can get to stay on a straight line.
 
Get your tires siped if they aren't already. It shouldn't cost too much. I lived in Maine for 4 years, tons of ice, and I got by on siped all season tires just fine.
 
Here in Oregon, they frequently require traction tires or even chains on the interstate in bad weather. You get a ticket if you don't have them. Best thing is to watch the road conditions via the internet for each state.


I'd really only be concerned with bad weather or mountainous areas.
 
Your local parts stores, like Advance or Napa or Pep Boys, will stock tire cables in low volumes. They're, in a word, awful, and tend to cost alot of money for what they are. Their ability to ugly-up your rims is rivaled only by curbs.

One of my boys on G35driver had a typical poor experience with tire cables a week ago or so. Cables slip and cause abrasion on the wheel surface. Its very common.

His typical snow cable damage:
NorCal034.jpg
 
Imagine a world where All Seasons are actually an option, I live in the land of ice, snow and cold, lack of winter tires = collisions.

I would say go with the winter's, safety first and all that.
 
Ok I live in northern Ontario Canada,I have never used snow tires.I only ever use all season tires.
If you don't have the money don't worry about it.I don't want to see someone spend a bunch of money they don't need to.

I also have aluminium rims,not a problem.
 
If you get chains, make sure you know how to put them on before you need them. Learning on a cold, wet, windy shoulder id a horrible thing to have to do.

Make sure they are tight when you are all done, loose chains break and come off. Broken chains cause damage.

My first time putting chains on my big truck I lost one entirely, one got wrapped around the axle and two were broken beyond use. All that from not getting them tight enough. In comparison, this year I have used them 5 times already and haven't lost or damaged one.
 
I suppose it depends where you are in New York and how much snow you get.

If you live in upstate New York, in buffalo or on the Canadian boarder you're going to get a ton of snow you might as well just go for the snows. If you live in more southern NY all season will probably be fine. We have cars with all season and do just fine, just be careful.

It's not like you're throwing away your current tires with 10k on them. Just swap them off in the summer.
 
takao said:
why would anybody leave aluminium alloy wheels on the car during winter in the first place ?
Click to expand...

Actually, I think alloys aren't a bad idea in the winter. They won't rust because they're not steel.

Winter tires are the best investment to make in a snow environment. I have my winters mounted on separate rims so switching over is a cinch; I can do it myself in about 30 minutes with just my jack. IT also minimizes wear on the tires by constantly stretching them each season to have them mounted/dismounted. You also save money by not paying to have them mounted each season. My rims cost about $150 (used alloys off ebay) and they have already paid for them self in the first year and a half.

But as someone else said, they are called winter tires for a reason. It's not a gimmick; they are a much different type of rubber and tread.
 
If your car is heavy you should be fine with all seasons, if you don't get good traction get snow tires.
 
Are you talking Upstate New York, or closer to the city?

If you mean Upstate, yes you most certainly need snow tires. They're also a pretty decent investment, since, starting from the last few years, we've had snow from October to April. The difference is also noticeable.

And I'm not sure if your car has extra traction, but it's also a solid investment for Upstate New York.

If you mean the city, disregard most of what I said.
 
For most day to day driving, all-seasons with good treads would be fine. Snow tires are better, of course, but do you "need" them, probably not.

My car's all-seasons are nearly bald, so switching from that to nearly-new snow tires obviously resulted in a dramatic difference. But if they were brand new all-seasons, the difference would have been less dramatic.
 
cosmokanga2 said:
I live on the west coast of Canada and on the highway to Whistler when it's snowing heavy the police won't let you though unless you have winter tires or chains on. Get winter tires, they're well worth it.
Click to expand...
Reading this thread made me think Americans are scared of snow or something.But I guess Americans/Western Canadians are scared of snow.Chains are illegal in Ontario,and snow tires are uncommon.We just use all seasons.I highly doubt in New York,which is about 13 hours south of where I live,you need snow tires.
Especially since you are moving from Colorado,you obviously know how to drive in snow.If you were moving from say Florida,or Texas or something,then ya I would suggest snow tires.
 
SmartIndianKid said:
Are you talking Upstate New York, or closer to the city?

If you mean Upstate, yes you most certainly need snow tires. They're also a pretty decent investment, since, starting from the last few years, we've had snow from October to April. The difference is also noticeable.

And I'm not sure if your car has extra traction, but it's also a solid investment for Upstate New York.

If you mean the city, disregard most of what I said.
Click to expand...

ill be moving to the albany area

is it really that much different than the snow conditions im used to here in colorado? we get quite a bit and ive never had issue driving in snow after doing so for 7 years

johnmartin78 said:
Reading this thread made me think Americans are scared of snow or something.But I guess Americans/Western Canadians are scared of snow.Chains are illegal in Ontario,and snow tires are uncommon.We just use all seasons.I highly doubt in New York,which is about 13 hours south of where I live,you need snow tires.
Especially since you are moving from Colorado,you obviously know how to drive in snow.If you were moving from say Florida,or Texas or something,then ya I would suggest snow tires.
Click to expand...


good point.

id ideally like to get a pair on my other wheels in a little bit but doing so right now would be a little hard for me as i am pretty much going up there with no furniture so ill be spending quite a bit initially
 
One thing that i notice while in Colorado was how easy it was to drive in the snow compared to snow here in say missouri. I'm not sure what it is, higher altitude, different humidity levels, etc etc.

When it snows here and it sticks to the roads its impossible to drive once it's packed down. The snow in CO seemed to never get packed down. We drove around like the roads were cleared, It was crazy (so was watching people run up stairs, while i was huffing and puffing trying to climb up the stairs :p)

I wouldn't get snow tires just yet. But i wouldn't go out there and try to drive like you would have in CO.
 
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