Car Tires for Winter in the Cascades?

[Justin_RR]

Not sure if this counts as a _gear_ question...

 

I'm buying new tires for my car (front-wheel drive) and was wondering what people recommend for shodding a mountaineering-wagon. I'm planning on heading into the Cascades every couple of week for climbs throughout the winter and spring. I want to be safe, but don't have tons of cash to throw at the issue.

 

Basically, I'm trying to figure out if I should go with a dedicated set of studless snow tires or will all-season tires work OK since it's not like I'm living in Minnesota and driving to work in snow every day.

 

Any suggestions apppreciated!

 

-Justin

[Figger_Eight]

All season tires will work fine if you can't buy two sets of tires. Get good chains though.

[Jake]

Chains suck (you never put em on when its nice and sunny out in your garage for one) - though DOT will require you to em going over the passes sometimes - four wheel drives are often exempt from this. I would go with some snow tires - thus hopefully avoiding having to use the chains very often - unless DOT required them.

[cj001f]

Chains suck (you never put em on when its nice and sunny out in your garage for one)

Check out the new "quick connect" chain (not cable) chains. Quick to put on (like 5 minutes total)

[Jake]

Hmmmm. Cool. Do they work?

[cj001f]

I used a pair like this in NZ:

Took me and a shitty on snow subcompact corolla on rutted ice, nasty snow and rock skifield roads. Stayed on, easier to tighten than standard chains. Don't know about durability - but I'd be willing to take a 2-3x hit on that for the convenience. Easy enough I'd consider getting a car with out 4wd.

[iain]

You simply can't beat the traction of chains in packed snow. The problem with them is when the road is clear but wet, and there are shady parts with ice. This is one of the reasons I like having a set of studs. They provide a bit of a cushion in terms of what you can get away with. It might allow you to evade that Ford Expedition that is taking an expedition into oncoming traffic due to ice and an overconfident SUV driver. With just chains, I tend to keep them off until the last possible moment, usually when I start sliding. the worst are those guys who just decide to stop in the middle of the road to put their chains on or the guy who decides to put just one chain on or the snowboarder lowered blingmobile doing unintentional donuts in the parking lot

[Dr_Crash]

Snow tires, *non* studded.

 

drC

[Gaper_Jeffy]

I have studless (I'm not a stud! [don't tell Kasha]) snowtires, Bridgestone Winter Duelers which are the small-truck/SUV version of Bridgestone Blizzaks. I've read they perform very similar to studded tires. They work good enough for me to have purchased another set, though some don't like them claiming on dry streets they feel like driving on jello, and they don't last long for the price. These issues may be more noticeable with the Blizzaks then the Duelers. The set I recently purchased I got from tirerack.com. W/ shipping and eventual installation (haven't installed them yet) I'll end up paying $150 less then had I purchased them locally.

 

Even if you don't purchase tires from them, tirerack.com is a good resource (if you can filter out their marketing) for snowtire reviews and comparisons.

http://www.tirerack.com/

 

Oh and to answer your question: if you're just getting out every few wkends to climb you're probably not going to be driving in inclement weather like skiers would be so chains would be sufficient. The type cj001f recommend are good as well as the real chains that you have to drive over to install. Don't get the cables. They’re super easy to install but I've broken several sets of these (and that was with a small car).

 

Edit to add: Will installing my snowtires now please Ullr?

[cj001f]

Snow tires, *non* studded.

Is that professional advice?