Snow tires or all season for 2002 Volvo C70 Convert?

Question

I have performance tires on my car and they are horrible in the snow, but I'm told they are great in the rain. Should I spend the money on snow tires for a few months or switch to all season? The current tires are in great shape. (I've had the car for only 4 months)

Answer 1

This is right up my alley. I work in the tire industry and I live in the snow belt.

I don't know if you have the16 or 17-inch wheel option on your car. Either way, there are a few all-seaons options that give you a reasonable amount of winter traction while still giving you the kind of handling you've come to expect from your high-performance summer tires. The Bridgestone RE960AS Pole Position is at the top of that list. The Continental Extreme Contact would be next. I can vouch for both from experience.

But you already have a good set of high-performance tires that work great in the spring, summer and fall, they are just useless in winter. Why not keep those and buy a second set of tires (preferably on their own rims) for use in winter? That way you get the best possible performance all-year round. Not a compromise like the typical all-season tire.

I've been driving for 21 years and even though I have only been in the tire industry for 5, I have ALWAYS used winter tires in the winter time and high-performance summer or all-season tires spring-through-fall. Tires are the number 1 safety feature of your car. This is not a good place to go cheap. We had 13-inches of snow here today. It was fun driving past all those people whose all-season tires couldn't get them out of their driveways while I cruised past easily on my dedicated winter tires. I was probably the only non-4-wheel drive on the road this morning and I was doing better than a lot of those!

Winter tires are well worth it!

Go to www.tirerack.com and click on the "Winter" tab. Type in your vehicle information and they can set you up with all manner of winter tire options. In a 15 or 16-inch size they can even get you a set of winter tires already mounted on their own wheels and ready to bolt on for about $500.

Answer 2

Depends upon where you live and how cold it stays as snow tires are usually made of softer rubber and in warmer temperatures wear out faster.

So if you live in a long term cold place, snows work great, four seasons will wear slightly faster the just regular summer tires as regular summer tires can be made with harder rubber so they last longer in Hot-warmer temperatures.

You can always use snow tires in a not so long term cold place just change them when you know the temperatures are going to stay above 32° F or 0 C for a long(er) time, like in the spring.

Answer 3

Depends where you come from really, if it snows a lot then winter tires, but if it's not all that bad then all season tires really go well in light snow cases... And it's a lot less expensive then buying two sets of tires...

Answer 4

If it were me, I'd go with the all-season tires.