To stud or not to stud

[Jaxx_]

the car is unstoppable in the snow.

sounds like a good thing

[cale]

How can you possibly reference the ability of snow tires like this on an awd car? I feel it negates, or possibly blurs the obvious ability of the tires themselves...

Because any car is capable of getting moving in the snow and on ice on a level surface, even with summers. Cornering and braking are where the snowies come into play and your car doesn't car about anything other than your tires at that point on ice.

I've spent several harsh winters in areas which get A LOT of snow down to -25 and my favorite tire has been the Gislaved Nordfrost 5. Sweddish tire manufacturer, so they know snow and cold. I've ran them on both my Subaru's and I've never been a situation where I felt like I had inadequate tires. And they're affordable! They dominate the winter tire market for Subaru's in Ontario, which should say a lot.

Do not stud unless you're in an area which sees extremely low temperatures with minimal snow which causes the iciest roads. Very few areas in the continental US and the more populated areas of Canada warrant studs, you're not in one of those areas which does.

[Earendil]

Do not stud unless you're in an area which sees extremely low temperatures with minimal snow which causes the iciest roads. Very few areas in the continental US and the more populated areas of Canada warrant studs, you're not in one of those areas which does.

Agreed, with one addition. If you end up driving from low altitudes to high altitudes, where the high is below freezing and the low is above freezing, studs can be a good idea.

I live in the Cascade mountains, and growing up the house was usually below freezing with a couple feet of snow, and civilization was more often than not above freezing, and wet. Getting home every evening always presented that wonderful point where the roads went from wet to ice before getting to the pleasant snow.

The other scenario that you eluded to is extremely low temperatures and minimal snow. I used to drive across the Washington desert in the winter to get to school, usually at night. Yes, they were rather annoying on dry road, but on a handful of occasions I hit ice on the freeway doing 80mph. It lasted long enough for me to complete an entire swear word before the ice went away :)


If all you see is snow slush and rain, there is no reason for studs.