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For some of us it's getting to be the time of year we take off our nice oversized rims and low profile tires and don the stock or steel wheels and higher sidewalls.
My question :?: To stud or not to stud? I've heard arguments for both sides but I am just curious what some of us have chosen and discuss our experiences.
Thanks, drive carefully.
All I know is come first snow in Denver, I'm going studded. Then when spring hits, 16" rims and tires.
i have never studded the tires on my car. does it really work? can you feel 'em while driving?
you can't "feel" them so much as hear them. It adds to the road noise, but its a trade off in winter weather conditions in a fwd aveo.
do u keep them on all winter?
Studded tires are only legal Nov. 1 - Mar. 31. Motorists using studded tires after the deadline could incur a $101 fine from the Washington State Patrol.
just an example. the restiction is due to road ware
hhhhmmmm interesting, thanks for the info.
I've been told that studs are only good for driving on ice, not through snow?
That's right. Here is what I recommend from personal experience. If you do a lot of highway driving or live in a place where ice a frequent problem, get studded.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron-E-Babe
If you mainly stay in the city where they use so much salt that the only way to see ice is to watch it freeze at night, then non-studded tires are for you.
I do have studded tire which are good here in New-Brunswick because we don't get much snow but a lot of ice. But when I go see my family in Northern Ontario, they have a lot of snow and I can tell the difference right away. I have to start in 2nd or in 3rd gear sometimes just to get going at a stop sign.
I Lived in Montana and would run studded tires.
I later moved to OR and the studs they sell are only good for 1, maybe 2 seasons so I tried some regular non studded snow tires. The non studded tires had just as much grip as the studded tires and they lasted me 3 winters... I even autocrossed on them, though it's like driving on carpet so I wouldn't recommend them.
Oh yeah and Portland rains a lot and it freezes at night so I drove on a lot of ice. Also went skiing up at mt hood once a week.
And topics like this make me more grateful for Arizona every year... I'm still wearing shorts and a T-shirt.
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
+1
Quote:
Originally Posted by whiteraven
shutup. :lol:
Yeah but you miss all the fun stuff winter brings... Snowmobiles, skiing, camps with warm wood stoves.... :PQuote:
Originally Posted by whiteraven
On my mk2 jetta I'd run studs in front and sawblades in the rear... I'd fishtail all over the place, but never stray farther than I wanted.
Fairly certain that had something to do with the ass end of the car falling apart, though... good times.
I dont drive mine in the winter any more lol!
I take a quick drive to Flagstaff for some of the best snow in the West... then back home to sit by the pool. :) :lol:
lol depends on your definition of quick....Quote:
Originally Posted by whiteraven
im from alberta, and through my years of driving i find a good winter tread that eats through the snow and studs to help out when it gets to the bottom works best. here in alberta we have lots of side roads that don't get plowed every snow fall. Also like kirbycope was saying, you have to check what the current laws are in your province or state. here they are legal year round(or atleast i didnt get pulled over for having them on all year, i know its bad but i knew id be trading it in)In british columbia they are fully banned which sucks in the mountains big time.
The winter's in Winnipeg, Manitoba, are fun :roll: I have been impressed on how well my Aveo has done in the snow. This year I am giving a set of winter tires a try. If I can get them studded before the snow lands, I will, if not, I'll just run them without.
Conclusions from the Washington State Transportation Center found here:
http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/rep...orts/551.1.pdf
1. Studded tires produce their best traction on snow or ice near the freezing mark and lose proportionately more of their tractive ability at lower temperatures than do studless or all-season tires.
2. The traction of studded tires is slightly superior to studless tires only under an ever-narrowing set of circumstances. With less aggressive (lightweight) studs being mandated, and with the advent of the new “studless” tire, such as the Blizzak, since the early 1990s, the traction benefit for studded tires is primarily evident on clear ice near the freezing mark, a condition whose occurrence is limited. For the majority of test results reviewed for snow, and for ice at lower temperatures, studded tires performed as well as or worse than the Blizzak tire. For those conditions in which studded tires provided better traction than studless tires, the increment usually was small.
3. The precise environmental conditions under which studded tires provide a traction benefit are relatively rare. The maximum frictional gain (in comparison to nonstudded (not studless) tires) is found for new studded tires on smooth ice, where they have been shown to provide up to 100 percent gain in certain tests. However, the relative frictional gain of studded tires diminishes or becomes negative on roughened ice, as the temperature drops, as the studs wear, or if the comparison is made with studless tires.
4. Traction performance can be characterized in many ways, including braking, acceleration, cornering, controllability, and grade climbing. Though all factors are important, the single best indicator of tire performance is braking distance and deceleration.
5. Studded tires reduce the difference in friction factor between optimum-slip and locked-wheel braking in comparison to non-studded tires. This may reduce the risk of drivers misjudging the necessary braking distance and may improve the braking potential for anti-lock brakes.
6. In one set of stopping distance tests in Alaska, studded, studless, and all-season tires performed nearly equally on snow, when averaged across several vehicles. On ice, stopping distances for studded tires were 15 percent shorter than for Blizzaks, which in turn were 8 percent shorter than for all-season tires.
7. In another set of tests in Alaska, studless Blizzak tires offered the best traction performance, especially for braking on both packed snow and ice in comparison to studded tires (which were second) and all-season tires (which were last).
8. The use of two studded tires on the front of a vehicle produced stopping traction results on snow and ice that were about halfway between the result of four studded tires and four all-season tires. However, other controllability penalties, such as yaw instability, should be considered.
9. On bare pavement, studded tires tend to have poorer traction performance than other tire types. This is especially true for concrete; for asphalt, there is little difference in stopping distance between studded and non-studded tires.
10. Tractive performance of studded tires is sensitive to stud wear. Studded tires may lose more of their tractive ability over time (from stud wear) than studless tires. When stud protrusion diminishes to 0.024 in. (0.6 mm), the frictional effect from the studs becomes negligible. Tire tread wear (on studded tires) has relatively little frictional effect if stud protrusion is maintained at 0.039 in. to 0.043 in. (1.0-1.1 mm).
11. A Norwegian study concluded that the use of studded tires tends to reduce the accident rate by a small amount – from 1 to 10 percent.
12. A number of driver behavior issues have been postulated that tend to affect the judgment of studded tire effectiveness. There is not consensus on these points: 1) drivers with studded tires care more about safety, hence they drive more safely, 2) they drive faster (because of a false sense of security or confidence), and 3) drivers with non-studded tires avoid driving when weather is severe.
13. Pavement rutting caused by accelerated wear from studded tires can cause the dangerous conditions of tramlining, hydroplaning on accumulated water in the ruts, excessive road spray, and premature damage to pavement markings.
14. The roughening of ice and pavement from studded tires provides a safety benefit for all vehicles (with and without studs) by helping to prevent formation of smooth, glare ice.
15. The cost of studless tires is significantly higher than studded tires—by
approximately 50 percent.
16. Studded tires increase fuel consumption by a small amount (~1.2 percent) over non-studded tires on bare roadways. But the other effects of unevenness, snow, and ice are far more significant than this factor and can increase fuel consumption by 15 percent.
17. Suspended particulate matter from pavement dust created by studded tires and noise from studded tires are health concerns in heavily traveled urban areas
I talked with my tire guy and he suggested not studding based on the fact that our roads are kept pretty clean during the winter months. He added, if we had seasonal, or dirt roads that iced over the studs would be very effective.
what do you mean by sawblades? did I miss something?Quote:
Originally Posted by exodus
Skinny ass tires...
haha had me wondering too...
ok, I was going to ask because in the pic it looks as if he had the spare on the rear..LOL
UPDATE..
The stock sneakers did just fine again this winter and we had a couple heavy snow falls. My biggest problem was ground clearance in the deeper snow..LOL
I don't like studded tires. You don't get as much traction in snow as you would think. I always put Bridgestone Blizzaks on my girlfriends car. You'll notice people who have studded tires are always the scared ones on a bad snow day that cause accidents lol.