Alright so I just got home after a long drive home in the snow. Now I had a Ion Redline the past two years and just upgraded to a Cobalt SS/TC a few months ago and I have to say, the TC seems A LOT worse in the snow. Now my question, are winter tires a worthy upgrade? Will I see that much traction gain from them? And is it okay to put them on the stock rims, or is it better to buy rims with? It never seemed this bad in the Redline, I was actually scared of a light turning red today, thats why it got me thinking?
Any help would be greatly apperciated
Thanks
Brian

 

uh YEA, stock rims are fine...

 

def worth it. I would go with 16 inch steelies.

 

Please, for your safety and that of those around you get winter tires. If you have to ask if the stock TC tires are acceptable for winter... well...

Meh... I wouldn't, especially since they will not fit on a turbocharged Cobalt.

 

Yes, tires can make a huge difference. I'm talking about night and day differences. You can have one tire that spins in snow and you can only get up to 5 mph if you can move at all; whereas with another tire you may have traction and be able to drive 35 mph safely.

If you have the Continental ContiSport Contact 2 tires on your Cobalt TC still, get them changed immediately. Despite what the car dealer will tell you, those tires are performance summer only tires. The cold alone is not good for them and would have terrible traction in the snow.

I put on Bridgestone Potenza AS Pole Positions on my factory wheels and they are great in snow. I drove confidently today in about 2 inches of snow. Never drove the Conti's in snow...I don't have a death wish.

Get yourself some good tires and be prepared to spend at least $100 per tire.

 

Using summer tires on snow is illegal, try explain that to your insurance company when you instigated an accident.

Good luck.

 

Snows are worth every penny. In the long run, you will actually spend less on tires because snow tires should be quite a bit cheaper than 225/40/18 summer performance tires. I am speaking in terms of tread wear. Your stock tires will last longer if they are off the car for 4-5 months of the year.

 

check tire rack - my guess is 17" rims and snows close in price to 18 snows alone. and you save your winter rims from salt and de/mount damage

 

Mine made a huge difference when I lived in Wyoming, but I can fit 16" steelies

Snow tires are gonna be a pretty penny on a TC

 

Good point. Don't swap tires twice a year. Buy a set of 17's and put the snows on them. I found some cheap aluminum wheels on Ebay for $80 each. Steelies can be had for less than $200 for 4. 2 sets of wheels will be cheaper in the long run.

 

I hope you realize that you have summer tires. Of course they suck in the snow. Do yourself and everybody around you a favor and at least get some all season tires if you don't want to switch tires 2 times a year.

 

blizzaks

 

all season all the way.......just make sure u keep your rims clean and you will not have to worry about

my personal choice is Toyo Proxies 4..........amazing grip in the rain/snow........not too hot on the ice........but its ice so cmon :-p

 

All seasons are a compromise in BOTH summer and winter. NOTHING compares to a dedicated snow tire in winter. The same goes for performance tires in the summer. You will have better grip and stopping ability in summer and winter with the corresponding tires.

 

very true.........but if you wanna save some money go with all season.......its a compromise but as long as you dont drive like an ass in the winter you should be fine

and by amazing grip i meant for an all season tire lol...........winter tires are of course better and a dedicated summer tire is better as well

 

In the long run, it won't cost any more to have 2 sets of wheels and tires. If you can't scrape up the dough for a set of snow tires and wheels, then I guess all-seasons are better than summer only tires.

 

I've never bought snow tires in 12 years of driving. It snows plenty in Michigan too.

Majority of the time its not worth it to get summer tires and winter tires. A good driver will do just fine with all season tires.

 

Yes, a good driver will do fine... But winter tires can mean the difference between stopping two feet short of the car in front at an icy intersection or sliding into them and destroying your front clip/intercooler.

You can get by without snows, but if you buy them you'll wonder why you ever bothered without.

 

yea they are worth it.

 

i sure love my BLizzaks, its the difference between a white-knuckled adventure with all-seasons or driving around laughing at the other fools sliding cuz they don't need snow tires...lol

 

Yeah, I mean I have lived in michigan my whole life and had the Ion Redline which is supercharged and it was never as bad as the other day. I'm just debating whether I want to get rims too i guess. I just wanted to make sure that winter tires would be worth spending 400+.

 

Any snow tire is going to be good for ya. You don't need a high performance winter tire. Not like you need to drive fast and whip around corners in the winter anyway. Just need something that will get you around with confidence.

In my searches I find that the Firestone Winterforce are one of the cheaper tires. I had experience with them on my old Dodge Colt. Never had any issues.

I currently am on my 5th winter with my Dunlop Graspik's. They have been a great tire. Trucks and SUV's are moving slaloms on the winter roads

 

if price isn't an ultimate consideration, the dunlop winter sport m3s have worked well for me, wtih much less degradation of dry grip and handling than i expected. the dunlops are recommended by many of the german manufacturers - the version i got is a wsm3 mo (mercedes only) granted, i got 16s for mine, but was out the door wheels+shipping for under 800 from tire rack.

 

if u don't and u hit Black ice...well u are either going to live or die that is the question...we found that out along time ago after we flipped our car off the highway and into the highway median at 110 mph

 

Not true.

Get the winter tires.