Snow Driving

[Inni]

Well here in NY we got about 6in of snow. I was wondering if there was a way to make my car not slip as much. I have brand new tires but my car slips and slides at lights when i take off.

Thanx

[geozukigti]

Get a snowmobile... Any car is gonna slip and slide in the snow... Hell, it's ice.. Only way not to slide on ice is to have spikes, chains, or tank treads..

[Senatorfan]

Here, north of Montreal, we have snow from the beginning of december to the middle of april. My Firefly has very good traction in snow but only because I use snow tires. Those 4 season types aren't any good.

[Mike_Van]

Yes, 4 snow tires are a must for my '96 2-door. The 'Nordman's I got were not cheap, but worth every penny.

Last winter I tried driving in slush & ice with my so-called 'all season' tires and I slid everywhere.

[SeanMurphy]

Depending on what type of sliding you're having, can look into some studded tires, depending also on legalities in your area.

If money is no object, go nuts and get 4 new studded winter tires. Surprisingly enough, I've found Walmart to be the cheapest and easiest place to get studded winters around here. Most any place has them, but Walmart is quick and inexpensive for tires built by brand name companies and rebadged with Walmart brand names.

If you're having a lot of rear end sliding around on you, your back tires are what's slipping, and you could probably get away with just putting two there.

People will say stuff about how rear wheel drive cars need to grippy tires on the rear, and front wheel drives need them on the front. That's pretty much a myth. You need them on the back no matter what. The only thing putting grippy tires on the front and slicks on the back will do for you on a FWD car is ensure you can get going nice and fast when you take a nice tight corner on your grippy front tires and you can watch the rear of your car come around to meet you as you slide like a dog on a hardwood floor.

Rear tires give you your steering control, even though the front are the steering tires. If your rear tires can't keep in line with your front, you're backwards and in the ditch.

My advice: get 4 studded tires, or even those new Diamond grit tires that have the garnet grit impregnated rubber compound if studs aren't legal there (I presume they're not, they weren't in Ontario when I lived there).

If you've got 4 brand new 'all season' tires, put them in the loft until spring, In Nova Scotia, we call them things '3 season tires'. Great on a dry, warm road. Not much good if you get any kind of ground coverage.