We're all going to be going out into the cold in our holidays-- Worth a few moments to review:
The're Brits, so their use of freedom units is inconsistent but it's quite understandable...
2WD and 4WD cars on street tires. Not that impressive.
2 WD on snow sticky tires; whoa, nice improvement
4 WD on snows sticky chunky snow tires---all the way to the the top of the slope!
Connects to this video in which the STOPPING powers of 2WD and 4WD on regular versus snow tires are reviewed, Worth seeing and putting on winter tires is you're hankering for Tahoe, Seattle, Deer Valley, Aspen, Jackson Hole, Vail, Sun Valley----or more mundanely, Chicago, Cleveland, Buffalo, Detroit, New York, Boston---or Anchorage.
Goes into some trouble to explain the issues of treat compound, drive train, and sipe (this word apparently means the cut pattern in the treat block) pattern for aggressive treads---as well as snow-to-snow stickiness with snow tires.
Follow up piece on braking/stopping in snow...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elP_34ltdWI#t=11 edits: several typos
8 Comments
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AeroMechanicalsays...You don't start in first gear going up a snowy hill. Everyone knows that.
Of course, if you live anywhere where it snows regularly, you just buy all-weather tires and leave those on all the time.
oritteropoPerhaps not everyone, some of us live in places where it doesn't snow.
You don't start in first gear going up a snowy hill. Everyone knows that.
Of course, if you live anywhere where it snows regularly, you just buy all-weather tires and leave those on all the time.
spawnflaggerslight nitpick about the video. the technology and the performance is different between All-Wheel-Drive (AWD) and 4-Wheel-Drive (4x4). These guys use the terms interchangeably, but that Ford is AWD, not 4x4.
It would also be a nice PSA if they did the same comparison on ice - where all of them would fail hard. This might teach dumb SUV owners that nothing works on ice and they should slow the fuck down when it's freezing rain followed by heavy snow.
PaybackWinter tires are still better under 7deg C.
All weather tires wear more during summer. You're actually wasting money.
Of course, if you live anywhere where it snows regularly, you just buy all-weather tires and leave those on all the time.
AeroMechanicalsays...Granted of course specialized is always better, but that's a lot of money. Where I live (Milwaukee, USA) you're actually hard pressed to find someone who even carries winter tires. On the other hand, I suppose if you figured they last so many miles, it probably evens out except for the cost of having them swapped out.
More PSAs are good things. The times I've lived in places where it rarely snowed, when it did it was a nightmare. It wasn't that bad from my perspective except for the other drivers who didn't know the true secret, which is: regardless of what you're driving, to drive it really, really slowly. That's what people weren't doing and why I ended up with a surprising number of cars on my front lawn.
Winter tires are still better under 7deg C.
All weather tires wear more during summer. You're actually wasting money.
SFOGuyOh, one other funny trick I've used when stuck with a front wheel drive car going up a hill that refuses to go; turn around and BACK up the hill (Obviously, NOT on a public road, but very useful on snowy driveways and a private road that a friend lives up...)
That way---and yes, it's only marginal---but that way, the weight shift puts the weight onto the driving wheels instead of taking it off them as the car rocks backwards under acceleration...
You don't start in first gear going up a snowy hill. Everyone knows that.
Of course, if you live anywhere where it snows regularly, you just buy all-weather tires and leave those on all the time.
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