Thank you Blizzaks!

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jimbrewer

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Long story short. Worst conditions I've ever seen. Full hockey rink, cars voluntarily proceeding at 10 mph down the interstate. Two cars obviously left the road at highway speeds, and one, presumably a 4x4, Explorer was on its lid.

Thanks to the Blizzaks I managed better than almost everyone around me even though I had a 4x2 truck.(although even the Blizzaks were slipping some). As bad as it was, I was more worried someone would slide into me than anything else.

Best case scenario I would have been off to the side of the road in single digit weather waiting for AAA for three or four hours. That's the best case scenario.

No substitute for proper winter tires. None.
 
We have Blizzaks on all wheels on our 2 cars. Twice I was able to go without problems when other vehicles were sliding off the road and hitting curbs or guardrails.

One of my brothers has a set (all 4 tires) of Blizzaks on one of his vehicles. He came out of a tunnel and onto the Fort-Pitt bridge. There is a slight turn and the bridge was all ice. He was able to turn without any problem. The vehicle behind him that was going the same speed kept on going straight instead of making the slight turn, and it slid into a cement barrier.

Another of my brothers put a set of Blizzaks on his truck. He took his kids to a birthday party and at the house he was going to there was a long steep driveway that was covered in snow and ice. He went right up it. When he brought the kids into the house the woman who lives there said "Oh, you have 4 wheel drive so you were able to make it up the driveway." My brother said "I do have four wheel drive, but I also have Blizzak tires and I left it in 2 wheel drive. With the Blizzaks I was able to make it up the driveway in 2 wheel drive."

I put the Blizzaks on late in the season and take them off early. If you run them in warm weather you will quickly wear them out.
 
Where I live snow only comes once in many years. This was one year to remember, we got hit much harder than usual. To make things worse is the cities were terribly unprepared. I'm sure glad I got a set of winter tires. It was comical and scary at the same time watching drivers struggle with a mere inch of snow on the roads.
 
Originally Posted By: jimbrewer
No substitute for proper winter tires. None.

THIS. So many people want to say that all-seasons are good enough, or (my favorite) that their mad skillz at driving in snow somehow makes up for the lack of traction. Sorry, that's not how it works.
 
Originally Posted By: Bottom_Feeder
Originally Posted By: jimbrewer
No substitute for proper winter tires. None.

THIS. So many people want to say that all-seasons are good enough, or (my favorite) that their mad skillz at driving in snow somehow makes up for the lack of traction. Sorry, that's not how it works.

We can argue which tire is better in ice, slush, deep snow, packed snow etc. but there is NO SuBSTITUTION for major brand winter tire.
I was yesterday skiing here after mountains got some 70-80 inches of snow in 3 days. When you climb 12,000ft pass with 10 inches of soft stuff below your tires is good. When you do that and you still pass cars going uphill 8% is something special!
 
Originally Posted By: Bottom_Feeder
Originally Posted By: jimbrewer
No substitute for proper winter tires. None.

THIS. So many people want to say that all-seasons are good enough, or (my favorite) that their mad skillz at driving in snow somehow makes up for the lack of traction. Sorry, that's not how it works.


Precisely.

What's aggravating after driving winter tires is when one goes back to all seasons and they don't have the cornering grip. They still have some of the stop/go but the lack of cornering is like, huh? Then you feel like an idiot for not having skid control like you do with actual tires.
 
I am trying to get a third season out of my Goodyear Ice Grip WRTs and am worried that I might be pushing it. Haven't had any issues even though we are having an actual New England winter this season, but I just don't have that solid feeling that I am used to. I was still doing way better than most on my way home today, saw people turning sideways despite going very slowly and a big VW SUV was sitting on top of a snow pile at a back road intersection.
We would normally be driving up to ski tonight, but my daughter is too busy this weekend...probably a good weekend to sit out as I saw that 93 is/was shut down up in NH.
 
My last 2 Chevy trucks were 4WD running on Blizzaks, and after rarely needing 4WD I went back to 2WD with a locking diff with 245/70-17 Blizzaks, on a 08 regular cab 2Wd Silverado. Corners, and brakes better in the snow than the 4WD, just not quite as much go, but no problem in the last 6 years. Now 2 years into the second set with DMV2's, which I can't really say are better than the DMV 1's, just newer. After running winter tires on everything since 96, all I can say is they are priceless, no matter what they cost.
 
I had new Premier A/S tires on the Subie, but decided to install my Blizzak WS80s last night, before driving up here to Boston for work. Pretty glad I did.
 
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
I am trying to get a third season out of my Goodyear Ice Grip WRTs and am worried that I might be pushing it. Haven't had any issues even though we are having an actual New England winter this season, but I just don't have that solid feeling that I am used to. I was still doing way better than most on my way home today, saw people turning sideways despite going very slowly and a big VW SUV was sitting on top of a snow pile at a back road intersection.
We would normally be driving up to ski tonight, but my daughter is too busy this weekend...probably a good weekend to sit out as I saw that 93 is/was shut down up in NH.


I'm still at 7 or 8/32" on my Civic's Conti winters. This is fine, but it's not the same as new.
 
Originally Posted By: jimbrewer

Thanks to the Blizzaks I managed better than almost everyone around me even though I had a 4x2 truck.(although even the Blizzaks were slipping some). As bad as it was, I was more worried someone would slide into me than anything else.....No substitute for proper winter tires. None.


Amen to that! I retired to the Colorado Rockies from SoCal with a '07 f150 lariat 4x2. I run Blizaks on all 4 winter and go back to my Michelins in the summer. I've only had to chain up once and that was after 2" of hail followed by 16" of snow. Overall, I find if the snow is under 6" I can handle it (with about 300 lbs of gravel over the rear axle). After that I've got a 96 Bronco 4x4 I got for pounding around the dirt roads and heavier snow. I see people spinning out in the passes every winter and the common denominators are no snow tires and foolish drivers.
 
Winter tires (in this case Blizzak DM-V2) takes you to places like this after huge snow storm and 10inch of snow on the road on Loveland Pass (01/06/2017):
30938rm.jpg
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Mr_Joe
Yes, we can discuss the merits of different brand Winter tires, fact is most any are leaps & bounds ahead of the 'all seasons'.

I realize there will be accidents, here is a recent one in MI where the driver lost traction. I'm willing to bet the tires left some to be desired.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2016/12/kent_county_teen_killed_woman.html



The worst winter tire is better then best all season in winter.
 
Hmm, good reminder: I'm supposed to be looking for one more set of snow tires. Off to CL to see if anything has popped up.
 
All four. That's the practice these days. I don't think it's marketing ploy, but who knows?

They were only $100 apiece as I stumbled into a black Friday sale. I'm sold to the point where I would run them even if I had 4x4 and all terrains. The Blizzaks are cheaper than most all terrains, so the overall running costs switching between the two would be about nil.
 
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