new guy here with 09 legacy - do i need snow tires or not??

[ProV1]

hi all, i'm in ann arbor and just got a 09 legacy SE 5sp. my first AWD car, ever. dealer says that the stock yoko advans will be more than enough for MI winters. true/false??

 

i leased the car so i'd prefer to not buy snow tires if possible - feedback appreciated

[AGR-LGT]

Your typical all year tire turns very hard after 7 degress celcius..what temps do you run?

 

quiet common what i find at my shop with people that have awd or 4wd, think that they do not need cold weather tires because there car accelerates fine in the snow. What they dont understand is that getting going is the safe part, stopping and making emergency moves is key to your safety and the dangerous part...

 

Your dealer must not sell cold weather tires, or they woudl recco them

[gf2020]

I am in MA and I'm not putting snows on my Outback XT...yet.

 

I took delivery of my Outback in late February and had no issues with the remainder of last winter. I will keep my stock tires on all through this winter too. I am purchasing a set of 18" wheels and tires, however and these will become my 3-season wheels. Next fall I will sell the original Bridgestones and put winter tires on the stock 17" rims.

 

Of course, if weather is really dicey I have an old Ford Ranger 4X4 that I take out and the Subaru will stay in the garage.

[TSiWRX]

Like the others here have said, it's both a matter of exactly what kind of weather you get and your driving conditions, as well as, very heavily, based on your driving habits.

 

If you can stay conservative enough in your driving habits - and hopefully not put yourself into the kind of situation that requires extreme maneuvering - honestly, you should be just fine on "all seasons."

[rtbrjason]

I debated this for a while and decided to go with one of the all season choices that got better ratings for snow than most others. (ContiExtremes). The biggest factor in this decision was cost though. I didn't want to spend $800 on seasonal tires. I ended up spending about $500 shipped for the Contis. My friend also runs these on his 04 Stage 1 STi.

 

I'm not sure if I will put the RE50a's back on for summer or not yet. I will see how the contis do before further consideration. Here is the ContiExtreme:

 

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Continental&tireModel=ContiExtremeContact&partnum=24WR8CEC&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&place=5

 

Assuming you have the Yoko Advan s.4., I would think you'd be fine as it has some winter driving ratings.

[wrxvt]

traction wise you won't have a problem. Just allow plenty of space for braking and take the turns slowly. You'll get in trouble if you take advantage of the good traction and go too fast in the snow/ice

[TSiWRX]

^ +1.

[rock2534]

It depends on the type of traction you want. If you just want to get by, the stock tires will do the job. I ran my first winter on the re92's, they will get you going, but they do tend to ride on top of the snow as opposed to digging into it, so they tend to break loose latterally when turning through semi-deep snow(no biggie). Same goes for stopping, just give yourself enough lead time and take the turns very slow. If you want better traction, the answer is simple, get some snow tires.

 

THe only time I ever had an issue in the snow was when trying to pull out of a parking spot on a tight street. There was a car in front of me so I had to cut the wheel hard left, the car would go up the snow but then slide back down. Nothing a shovel couldn't fix, but I also smoked the clutch pretty good in the process.

[RJS5689]

I debated this for a while and decided to go with one of the all season choices that got better ratings for snow than most others. (ContiExtremes). The biggest factor in this decision was cost though. I didn't want to spend $800 on seasonal tires. I ended up spending about $500 shipped for the Contis. My friend also runs these on his 04 Stage 1 STi.

 

I'm not sure if I will put the RE50a's back on for summer or not yet. I will see how the contis do before further consideration. Here is the ContiExtreme:

 

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Continental&tireModel=ContiExtremeContact&partnum=24WR8CEC&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&place=5

 

Assuming you have the Yoko Advan s.4., I would think you'd be fine as it has some winter driving ratings.

 

I used to run those on my previous vehicle and had them through a Westchester NY winter. They never gave me any issues in the snow, except when I got stuck going up a friend's driveway in 7 inches of snow on a heavily lowered vehicle(the bit of snow that Westchester actually gets.) I was however not completely happy with them in the dry, I mean they are ok for what they are (an all season tire,) but I still feel there is no substitute for a true summer performance tire and a dedicated winter tire. They are cheap and effective though and if you really dont mind losing some of that dry performane you should be able to get by just fine on them.

[johnAWD]

I live in Colorado and have never owned a set of snow tires. A good all season radial combined with some tempered driving when there's snow on the ground has worked very well for me.

 

AWD is simply a plus.

[ProV1]

I live in Colorado and have never owned a set of snow tires. A good all season radial combined with some tempered driving when there's snow on the ground has worked very well for me.

 

AWD is simply a plus.

 

 

 

this is what i wanted to hear - i've heard so much about the AWD superiority in winter driving, i guess i'll find it out myself in a few months.

 

i leased the car for 2 yrs/20k miles, so buying an extra set of snow tires seems likes a waste. that said, i'm in the medical profession and i NEED to get to work regardless of the weather. (but i live only ~4 miles from work)

 

in ann arbor, snowfall averages ~47inches/yr, although we got 95inches last yr!! (record). temp-wise, it is pretty darn cold...

[TSiWRX]

i'm in the medical profession and i NEED to get to work regardless of the weather. (but i live only ~4 miles from work)

 

If you've ABSOLUTELY gotta be there, then the winter tires will give you that added margin-of-safety, as well as the added mobility to go (and turn/stop).

 

By that perspective, it could be well worth the investment.

[ProV1]

thanks all.. i guess we can spend hrs talking about it here, but i wont really find out until the first biga$$ storm gets here. at least i know that a set of 16" snow tires (cheapest one on tirerack) and steelies will cost me $600 and it will get here pretty fast should i need them

 

i'll report back ..

[krzyss]

...and it will get here pretty fast should i need them

 

Well, if you really need them they will not get there pretty fast as the snow will be hurting everybody.

 

Krzys

[rtbrjason]

Tirerack is great. I ordered Thursday late afternoon and they showed up at the dealership the following Monday.

[F-WDC Spec B]

I noticed that noone has mentioned this. But for All season Tires with MS M+S or M&S. They have to be able to "BITE" into the snow. Check out this link http://auto.howstuffworks.com/tire3.htm

[TSiWRX]

The "M+S" or "M&S" branding no longer means much of anything......that article itself says the reason why:

 

However, as you can see from the specification, there is no testing involved.

 

To address this shortcoming, the Rubber Manufacturers Association and the tire industry have agreed on a standard that does involve testing. The designation is called Severe Snow Use and has a specific icon (see image at right), which goes next to the M/S designation.

 

For a better presentation:

 

http://www.tirerack.com/winter/tech/techpage.jsp?techid=125

 

 

[F-WDC Spec B]

wow that shut me up

[wrxvt]

thanks all.. i guess we can spend hrs talking about it here, but i wont really find out until the first biga$$ storm gets here. at least i know that a set of 16" snow tires (cheapest one on tirerack) and steelies will cost me $600 and it will get here pretty fast should i need them

 

i'll report back ..

 

 

IIRC you'll need 17's. most 16" wheels won't fit over the LGT's brakes.

[ilh]

The OP doesn't have an LGT.

[Garandman]

thanks all.. i guess we can spend hrs talking about it here, but i wont really find out until the first biga$$ storm gets here. at least i know that a set of 16" snow tires (cheapest one on tirerack) and steelies will cost me $600 and it will get here pretty fast should i need them

 

i'll report back ..

Only problem with that is that if there are any big storms that hit early in the season, they sell out, as do local dealers.

 

With the economy, the risk of that is probably lower than in the past.

[change_agent]

Know of any paramedics you could ask how many collisions they have attended where winter tires were not in use?

 

In Quebec, it is now the law to run Winter tires on your car. All-seasons don't cut it. Most people run winter tires, but the 10% that don't are involved in 38% of winter collisions. (Source)

 

 

Interesting CBC comparison video between all-season and winter tires: http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2008/01/30/get_a_grip/

 

As a resident of Quebec I think it is a good law because having had snows on my cars for the last 5 years...the traction and handling is much better...as well the compounds used in all season tires gets hard at about 6 degrees celcuis and one can only imagine how unflexible an all season tire becomes at -10 degrees...it is an accident waiting to happen.

 

Because Quebec has enacted this law the manufactures have done a pretty good job in run up. And alot of stock from the neighbouring provinces have had their supplies reduced. Currently, they are running short of certain sizes because the rental flees, SUV owners are buying for the first time. I ordered mine in September through my Subaru dealer and they held on to them for me until last week when I put them on.

 

The person who started this tread has the same tires I do on my wagon. Subaru Canada says that 17 inch steel rims with snows are too heavy for the NA 2.5i's and recommend going to 16 inch steel rims with snows or 17 inch on stock rims or other alloy rims.

So I ended up buying Michelin Alpine Pilot 3's and 17inch winter alloy rim. It looks good and the difference between the steels and alloy was 50$/each

[rjundi]

For the OP, if you have driven in the past with all-season tires and been confident and have reasonable winter drivng skills all-seasons will be fine. A Subaru only makes moving much easier and stability a bit better. Stopping the same and turning about the same as any other non-AWD vehicle.