What are the efects of just putting snow tires on the rear? I don't really feel like dropping one thousand dollars on tires right now. Any suggestons?

 

You will accelerate well, but you won't improve your braking or turning very much. Seems every time I have had a close call on slick roads I had to turn and brake to avoid an object. All of your turning and a bunch of your braking is done by the front tires. I would definately put snows on all four corners or leave it parked on bad days.

I bought Hankook W300s and 17" Momo wheels for $840. For four 225/40-18s you would spend a little over $600.

http://www.1010tires.com/tire.asp?ti...l=Icebear+W300

 

It would be Extremely dangerous to put only 2 snow tires on your car. Assuming that you've got your stock summer tires on the front, you WILL NOT be able to TURN or STOP! You would be the equivalent of the retards in SUVs that think that since they have 4wd, they're invincible in the winter. Of course, they're wrong and always the first ones to slide off the roads here in Rochester, NY, every winter because they don't bother to think that 4wd helps you to GO, but not to TURN or STOP. Keep in mind that your summer tires, even if you have them only in the front, WILL NOT GO in the SNOW. You will get no traction AT ALL. I'm not overstressing these points. You must put snows all the way around if you want to get anywhere in the white stuff with any margin of safety.

 

You can get by with only using two rear snow tires but it wouldn't me smart. When you brake its your front tires that do the gripping.... just take the hit and buy all four.

-Doug

 

BTW, my Dunlop Graspic DS-2s WITH Sport Edition Fox 5 wheels in 17x7.5" size were UNDER $1000 with shipping included. They're just about out of most of the lesser expensive snow wheels/tires, but you could put a package together for about $1000, or get 18" snows and mount them on your stock rims for a little less, but then you incur cost every winter and spring when you go to swap the tires back and forth on the rims.

 

Don't be cheap ... it's your car and potentially your life that you are gambling with. Like what the other guys said ... summer tires on the front will be like having skis on the front. Like a snowmobile with more crashing potential.

 

See if this helps:
Winter Tire FAQs

Get four snow tires.

 

Thanks guys. The thing is, I don't really plan on driving in the snow too often. Only when I absolutely have to, say if i'm coming home from work or something. This might happen only a few times this winter. I can ski pretty well, so I'm sure I could manage. ****, last year it snowed and I had to drive the RX backwards all the way home, cause we all know the thing isn't going forwards. Other drivers were looking at me like I was crazy, because there wasn't even that much snow on the ground. So what are the effects when fair weather driving with 2 snow tires on the back? Will my stock tires on the front wear differently? Anyway, I guess I'll just get those cheap tires, instead of those blizzak's that cost a fortune.

 

Snow is not the only reason for winter tires. If the average temperature in your region is below 7° C , you're better off with winter tires. There's a big difference concerning grip between Potenzas and Blizzaks (and any other quality winter tire) even without snow.

Mounting two different tires is always dangerous, because your car will have different grip on both axles. You'll experience massive understeer at least. The DSC will probably be very active (or quite confused) with that setup, because your front wheels are likely to block when you break, while the rear wheels are still spinning.

Tires are the most critical part of a car, because they connect the car to the road. And if the car is not connected to the road, brakes, steering, suspension and electronic protection mechanisms are simply irrelevant. So don't try to save money at this point.

 

let's put it this way...

you just dropped $26,000+ on a new car. do you REALLY want to run the risk of damaging it because you chinsed out on snow tires? Snow tires pays even if it only snows ONCE. And driving in the snow with ANY of the stock tires is just plain stupid. If you're willing to drop $500 on 2 tires, go the extra mile and get 2 more. Spending $1000 is better than paying the thousands more it will cost if you smack up your car or someone else's car...either by having to fix it or because of your insurance rates going up.

 

Is that how low you value your life? $500?

For all the reasons others have posted here I would get all 4 tires changed.

 

Joe:

Being the All Season Tire evangelist around here, I say, go get a high-quality set of ultra high performance all seasons - the Pirelli Pzero Nero M+S and the Continental UltraContact are two great examples ... they perform great in dry and wet, and do a reasonable job on snow. I wouldn't want to live in Buffalo NY with these (although I'm sure I could manage), but for the few times a year I get caught out in snow they are far more than adequate. AND they are a significant improvement over the OEM summer tires in terms of wear, ride, noise, and in my humble opinion (and for that matter, that of TireRack's as well), GRIP. My handling on dry has improved with these.

And, in cold weather they don't turn hard and slippery. (oops, that sounded bad)

There's two other threads on this in this area. Check it out. It is a good solution if your snow situation is relatively limited.

 

I wouldn't want to make a compromise and have to drive sub par tires year round. Snow tires are good for the cold/snow and summer tires are good for warmer weather. All seasons suck year round....

 

RX-Cars Rock:

Sorry pal, beg to differ. Go check out the TireRack ratings for yourself. The PZero Nero M+S rates higher in ALL categories than the OEM summer tires of either variety - the Dunlops OR the Bridgestones. Dry, Wet, overall handling score, heat, wear, and of course, snow.

The trick is buying Ultra High Performance all-seasons. No compromise whatsover.

Don't knock it until you do the research. I didn't want to invest $1200 into a car I'm only going to have for four winters, and I live in an area that takes great care of the roads. I couldn't keep the summers on and live around here, but the snows were not worth the $$$$ therefore, my switch. And it was a decided improvement in the car. I'd bet my track times on these will equal my summer tire times. They are terrific.

 

Not to knock your choice, because there are circumstances where it's beneficial to have all-seasons, but I have to disagree with your two points above.

First, research - fine, but who's doing those Tire Rack ratings? The people who bought those particular tires. Generally NOT experts at tire evaluation, and definitely have a vested interest in the particular product they bought scoring well. Tire Rack ratings are USELESS for determining the relative merits of tires.

Second - all-season tires ARE a compromise, without doubt. Just look at Tire Rack's performance tests for the objective proof - all-seasons always perform less well than an equivalent summer-only tire. Yes, you can find high-performance all-seasons which will out-perform a cheap summer tire like a Nitto - but category for category, summers do outperform all-seasons. Always. Whether you need that last bit of dry or wet ultimate performance or not is up to the individual.

(PS - 4 winter tires, absolutely. 2 on the rear will help you get moving - what's going to help you turn or stop? The stock tires are completely useless in snow.)

Regards,
Gordon

 

Well, I find it funny that people seem to get generally universally kinked up about the idea of all-season tires and universally trash the idea. The proof is in the drive, and I am absolutely convinced that the PZero Neros provide significantly better grip than the OEM shoes ... in all circumstances.

SC