HARDTRAILZ wrote:True. I may be used to poorer snow performance. I also ditched the brand new at tires knowing they have underperformed for my needs Offroad in the one past. We just don't get enough snow around here for me to base my tire selection on that. They generally plow what we do get right away anyway.
Our minivan does have blizzak snow tires but I don't really care for their performance without snow and we have literally driven it in snow once. I wont replace the snow tires for it. I can't justify having two sets of tires with our winters
For you, I agree. This is exactly what we're talking about... Everything is a trade-off for something else, and everybody has to make the decisions about what is more important to them, and their needs. I also sacrificed snow performance on my truck, to have a bigger footprint on wet ground when loaded, but kept the AT pattern to try and make up for the bigger footprint. You ditched the AT pattern for the MT, because you aren't as concerned about snow performance as you are mud performance. Totally understandable, for your uses.
You live in a very suburban area that gets plowed, and you go from there to downtown, for work. You also work for the state, who does call off work for snow emergencies (for non-essential personel), where I am expected to be there no matter what, or take a vacation day. Your wife is/was/will be again a school teacher, and they don't go to work if the roads are bad (My mom rarely had to worry about it, as well). Because of these, your reasons are completely justified (not that you have to justify them to me or anybody but yourself).
I commute from my rural home, 7 miles that are usually unplowed in the morning, then go around Indy, then go up the worst stretch of highway in the state, I-65 in the fields, to my semi-rural workplace. This winter has been unusually warm, but last winter, the last 3 miles to my house were basically snow/ice covered for a month and a half, and I-65 was snow covered and/or icy probably 15-16 days (I only get 10 vacation days). I won't put snow tires on my truck or Trailblazer, but I'll keep AT tires on them that are good in the snow. I am going to buy snows for my car, again, when these are worn out. They (Winterforce) have lasted me like 5 winters, now, on 2 different cars, and they actually do perform well on the road, without snow. They cost me $55 per tire (on wheels I got for free), which works out to $44 a year, and they aren't worn out yet... So basically, if they save me from taking 1 vacation day a year for snow, they've 3x paid for themselves that year (which they have every year but this one, so far).
The Michelin X-Ice on the Neon my wife used to have did what you're talking about, where they sort of made me uneasy driving them on the dry, because they would flex and squirm so much on heavy braking and cornering. They were the main reason I went with the Winterforce for my car.
Mike
