Snow
blizzaks arent the end all be all, there are better ones.....depends on model of tire.
Senior Member
Joined: 06-03-07
Posts: 14,142
Likes: 71
From: NY
It's a front wheel drive compact car, how do you think it is in the snow?
The ONLY differences between this car and a honda civic in the snow are as follows:
1. tire type
2. differential type
3. ground clearance
HP and TQ numbers are meaningless when you're driving in the pow.
The ONLY differences between this car and a honda civic in the snow are as follows:
1. tire type
2. differential type
3. ground clearance
HP and TQ numbers are meaningless when you're driving in the pow.
Senior Member
Joined: 06-02-08
Posts: 2,985
Likes: 2
From: TN
I drive mine for half a winter in Ohio with just all season tires just fine. No reason to buy snow tires when the roads will be plowed by the next day. I drive around in west Michigan for a week every winter too without any issues although if the snow gets more than about 5-6" deep you will just start to snow plow through it.
Senior Member
Joined: 08-23-08
Posts: 3,767
Likes: 0
From: Somers, Wisconsin
I was contemplating winter tires on my car for about 2 seconds. Winter beater is the way to go! Picked up this bad boy 100 dollars, threw on 2 front axles, a new balljoint bolt, 4 Kelly tires and 2 new headlights
Car 100.00
Axles 107.00
Bolt 7.00
4 tires 233.00
headlights- 302.00
750.00 bucks for a killer winter car.
Car 100.00
Axles 107.00
Bolt 7.00
4 tires 233.00
headlights- 302.00
750.00 bucks for a killer winter car.
Senior Member
Joined: 06-03-07
Posts: 14,142
Likes: 71
From: NY
Plus tax, title, registration, insurance, maintenance...
Not worth it IMO, unless you have the disposable income and don't want to drive your FWD economy car in the snow.
Snows can be had for under $500
I'd rather drive a nice car year round, than a piece of **** in the winter giving off the wrong impression.
Not worth it IMO, unless you have the disposable income and don't want to drive your FWD economy car in the snow.
Snows can be had for under $500
I'd rather drive a nice car year round, than a piece of **** in the winter giving off the wrong impression.
Junior Member
Joined: 07-16-08
Posts: 426
Likes: 0
From: USA
Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 Winter tires are awesome. At first I swapped my summer tires for Bridgestone Potenza RE 960 AS Pole Position All Seasons, but when the temps were freezing and there was an inch of snow, I hated those tires. Winter tires FTW, no comparison.
Senior Member
iTrader: (4)
Joined: 01-12-10
Posts: 2,692
Likes: 171
From: Greater Denver Area, Colorado
I drove my SS/TC on the stock Conti's ONCE this spring in the snow... Had to take a different route to work TWICE because I simple could not stop or make the turn in the snow! A little scary for sure, was worried about curb rash!!
I should have known better, of course. These are performance SUMMER tires. Driving in the snow is asking for trouble.
On my previous car (Neon, now my daughter's) I'm running studdable (but not studded) Gislaved snow tires. Compared to the GoodYear Eagle F1 G3DS I run in summer, it makes ALL the difference. Like others said, I used to overtake 4x4 trucks with that thing with 6 inches of (unplowed) snow on the roads. Hard to get it to slide, (and believe me I try!) even using the e-brake! (lol) Handled many times better than my wife's AWD SUV on All Season tires!
I keep hearing great things about the Blizzaks. What I like the most is that they come in our stock wheel size. I'm running black OZ rims in summer, and plan on powder coating my stock TC rims black for the winter. And wrap them in Blizzaks...for sure.
I don't like the idea of a winter beater either. Spent a lot of money and time on this SS/TC sitting in the garage and I look forward to driving it year round. We get serious snow here in Denver, but 9 out of 10 winter days it's sunny here with dry roads. You just can't NOT drive the Cobalt on days like that! Sure, it's an investment to get a set of snow tires, but you're only running one set at a time so overall in the long run it's not much more expensive.
Oh and northvibe, you talked about driving uphill in a FWD car with snow tires? Not a problem, it's all in the handling skill of the driver. We don't have "real hills" here, we call them mountains, lol. And with the RIGHT snow tires, I climb every one of them with my FWD!!
__________________________________________________
Black 2010 SS/TC – G85 |Debadged | GMS1 | Hahn 3” DP and Catback | AEM intake | GM racing pedals | OZ Ultraleggera rims |DEPO 4th gen projectors w/ 6K HIDs | smoked LED tails | 20% 3M tint |Pioneer Avic Z110bt head unit, Alpine PDX-5 amp, Focal speakers all around
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3835837
I should have known better, of course. These are performance SUMMER tires. Driving in the snow is asking for trouble.
On my previous car (Neon, now my daughter's) I'm running studdable (but not studded) Gislaved snow tires. Compared to the GoodYear Eagle F1 G3DS I run in summer, it makes ALL the difference. Like others said, I used to overtake 4x4 trucks with that thing with 6 inches of (unplowed) snow on the roads. Hard to get it to slide, (and believe me I try!) even using the e-brake! (lol) Handled many times better than my wife's AWD SUV on All Season tires!
I keep hearing great things about the Blizzaks. What I like the most is that they come in our stock wheel size. I'm running black OZ rims in summer, and plan on powder coating my stock TC rims black for the winter. And wrap them in Blizzaks...for sure.
I don't like the idea of a winter beater either. Spent a lot of money and time on this SS/TC sitting in the garage and I look forward to driving it year round. We get serious snow here in Denver, but 9 out of 10 winter days it's sunny here with dry roads. You just can't NOT drive the Cobalt on days like that! Sure, it's an investment to get a set of snow tires, but you're only running one set at a time so overall in the long run it's not much more expensive.
Oh and northvibe, you talked about driving uphill in a FWD car with snow tires? Not a problem, it's all in the handling skill of the driver. We don't have "real hills" here, we call them mountains, lol. And with the RIGHT snow tires, I climb every one of them with my FWD!!
__________________________________________________
Black 2010 SS/TC – G85 |Debadged | GMS1 | Hahn 3” DP and Catback | AEM intake | GM racing pedals | OZ Ultraleggera rims |DEPO 4th gen projectors w/ 6K HIDs | smoked LED tails | 20% 3M tint |Pioneer Avic Z110bt head unit, Alpine PDX-5 amp, Focal speakers all around
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3835837
Plus tax, title, registration, insurance, maintenance...
Not worth it IMO, unless you have the disposable income and don't want to drive your FWD economy car in the snow.
Snows can be had for under $500 I'd rather drive a nice car year round, than a piece of **** in the winter giving off the wrong impression.
Not worth it IMO, unless you have the disposable income and don't want to drive your FWD economy car in the snow.
Snows can be had for under $500
I'd rather drive a nice car year round, than a piece of **** in the winter giving off the wrong impression.
Senior Member
Joined: 06-03-07
Posts: 14,142
Likes: 71
From: NY
Senior Member
iTrader: (4)
Joined: 01-12-10
Posts: 2,692
Likes: 171
From: Greater Denver Area, Colorado
Alabama in August: 95 degrees with 90% humidity.
Colorado in August: 95 degrees with SINGLE DIGIT humidity
I believe we win! lol
Oh, and snow driving = so much fun! Or, as Chris put it:
__________________________________________________
Black 2010 SS/TC – G85 |Debadged | GMS1 | Hahn 3” DP and Catback | AEM intake | GM racing pedals | OZ Ultraleggera rims |DEPO 4th gen projectors w/ 6K HIDs | smoked LED tails | 20% 3M tint |Pioneer Avic Z110bt head unit, Alpine PDX-5 amp, Focal speakers all around
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3835837
Senior Member
Joined: 06-21-05
Posts: 5,060
Likes: 0
From: London, Ontario
The winters here have been odd the last couple of years, so I went with a performance winter instead since I seem to spend a lot of time driving in cold weather but on bare roads. I went with the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3s (18") which did the trick snow or dry.
Senior Member
Joined: 03-22-10
Posts: 835
Likes: 0
From: Alabama
Look below:
And yes, I can vouch. I was born in 1985 and I only remember 3-4 times where the roads were bad enough that driving was not an option unless you had a 4x4 (seeing as I live in AL, it's not uncommon to see one 
). A while back (within the last 1-2 years), we got some snow on the road and I didn't have that hard of a time driving with my Pontiac G5. Then again, the G5 didn't have performance summer tires
I was going to say, limited slip would help with winter tires and driving in the snow overall.
I hate you.
). A while back (within the last 1-2 years), we got some snow on the road and I didn't have that hard of a time driving with my Pontiac G5. Then again, the G5 didn't have performance summer tires I hate you.
