It took this little 90's fwd saturn like 10 minutes to get up my neighborhood hill. I have to say it was pretty damn entertaining.

 

Yeah gun it and slam on brakes that's what it looked like driving home last night, a car and a gmc jimmy sitting in the snow covered grass median on Hwy 20 by the refinery. I probably could have made a u-turn at the next light and came back to pull them out, but it wasn't worth getting stuck myself with the roads getting worse. Between La Conner and Deception Pass the road hadn't been plowed in several hours, a semi truck got his trailer stuck in the ditch near the top of the hill by the jetboat tours shack heading towards Whidbey.

The morning it first snowed, I pulled a Explorer out of the middle of the road to a side street because he got stuck lol. Always knew that aircraft tiedown chain would come in handy! I love my Suburban!

 

Yeah I saw some SUV turned around and on its side on the side of I-405 North on my way to Woodinville on Sunday.

 

AWD with proper snowtires can inspire confidence in any driver.

Just don't forget....

ALL cars built this century have 4 wheel brakes!

 

Hi Fellow NW'ers. I have a new MR with the advans and obviously the current weather has me wondering about tires.

I live in Seattle (Fremont specifically) so we don't see that much slow versus North of me but we get enough that I wonder if leaving the advans on is suicidal?

I drove her a couple of days ago in the snow and it felt pretty good even with the advans.

Should I bite the bullet and go with all-seasons or leave the advans on and drive extra careful / stay home?

 

Leave your car at home. That Advans are called "Extreme Performance Summer Tires" for a reason; they are horrendous in snow. The reason they likely "felt fine" is that you're driving in more slush than you are snow.

I'd park the car and bus it to work if it's an option. Snow isn't common here and buying an entire set of new tires for the "snow" we are getting now isn't exactly practical on the wallet

 

Ideally get a separate set of winter wheels with good all season tires if you only drive in the city. Those stock summer tires are an accident waiting to happen when the temperature gets this low. Even with no snow on the ground, summer tires have very little traction if they can't get up to operating temperature.

 

sorry for the potentially dumb question but why winter wheels versus putting the all seasons on the existing bbs wheels? is it b/c they'll get damaged somehow by the snow?

 

yeah agree getting new tires for just a once a year event doesn't make sense but wondering how the advans will hold up in the rainy season as well? maybe they'll be ok?

 

The snow itself won't damage the wheels but winter road conditions are more hazardous to the car in general. Having two sets of wheels and tires makes it easier for you to swap out at your convenience depending on weather conditions, assuming you have the room to keep an extra set of wheels/tires around. There are plenty of affordable aftermarket wheel options or try to find a good deal on standard evo wheels in the for sale forums.

 

This topic has been beaten senseless, BUT get another set of wheels and tires. Period. Not worth the heartache and downtime of a wrecked evo, and DEFINITELY worth the added traction during the winter. I've got my stock evo 9 enkies slapped with sumitomo HTR +III's for track and summer driving, and picked up a set of used evo 8 wheels from a member here and put my Hankook icept evo's on this fall. Im telling you the difference is night and day. I run circles around these *****es in subarus and 4wd trucks, in the rain AND snow.

You already did the hard part - buying the car. Now put shoes on it that will keep it out of the ditch (assuming your driving skills are up to par). Your car will thank you.

 

Winter wheels = beater wheels that if you bust one or two you won't be crying your way to sleep

Every other Season Wheels = Usually nicer and cleaner looking that you love and prefer not to destroy when you slide into a curb or something solid.

 

It's a misconception that winter tires are just for snow. They work very well in temperatures below 40* with or without snow.

The cost is heavy up front, but in the long run, you'll save more since you'll be using your summer tires less and we know how fast those wear out. Using winter tires for 3-4 months a year also means that you won't be replacing them for years.

The cost of fixing or replacing a $30k+ car is more expensive than replacing tires.

OP, do yourself a favor and buy a cheap set of wheels and put winter tires. Keep the Advans for March-November.

 

I'm gonna pickup some stock wheels and slap on blizzaks for sure.

 

I live in FreeLard (Freemont & Ballard = worst friken cities to live in. I would rather live in Bellevue where people arent as stuck up), and wanted to share this bit of sage wisdom with you.

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...-disaster.html

And the video from it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LnTd...layer_embedded


Just get a set of winter wheels/tires and be done with it. Yes it's "only" a few days per year, but would you hit a track day or auto-X in winter tires when it's "only" a few days per year?