"Too Much Snow" and Winter Driving - The analogy

[Terry]

seems like as good of a thread as any to ask, does anybody have good recommendations for a 100% winter tire that would fit an 06 tacoma? new job starting after the 1st that is going to have a longer commute and no opportunity to work from home during inclement weather.

I run General Grabber AT2 tires on my truck year round. They have unbelievable traction in snow and wear well year round. A friend of mine has an 05 tacoma and got 70,000 miles out of a set of AT2's. They are surprisingly quiet as well.

 

[xwhaler]

I run General Grabber AT2 tires on my truck year round. They have unbelievable traction in snow and wear well year round. A friend of mine has an 05 tacoma and got 70,000 miles out of a set of AT2's. They are surprisingly quiet as well.

I have an 08 Tacoma with Firestone ATs that are nearing the end of their useable life at 65k miles. The General Grabber ATs are likely my next choice of rubber. Have heard great things about those. The Firestones have been very good as well

Sent from my VS980 4G using AlpineZone mobile app

 

[Bene288]

4wd>awd

 

[〽❄❅]

Skiing and driving on snow are the same IMHO except fat skis will help. Fat tire are useless.

...not the first time i heard that one, though not in the same context. The first time i went to Elk as a teenager happened because it was raining when we got to the tpk exit for Camelback and a state trooper told us it was snowing up at Elk. Anyway another teenager from the neighborhood and i took two other guys from our neighborhood who never skied. We showed them the basics and told them to take a lesson while at the same time allowed the two to ride the lift up behind us. Of course at the top and after their pile up unloading from the lift we said later as we headed down the first run off the right of the lift, a black diamond. We were supposed to direct them to the left of the lift onward to the insanely long traversing green run. Hey, it was snowing! One had a ski patroller piggyback him down, the other figured it out.
When we found them at the end of the day the one who figured it out said, "It's Just Like Driving The Bug In Snow"!
He had a collection of VW beetles and a microbus, most of which he built up of junk yard parts, he never did become a skier, married a physician who made him choose between all the cars or her, went on to pursue fishing as the sole source of cardio. The other guy married a dentist, had a couple children and became built like a beach ball, not a swedish woman's beach volley ball beach ball. Don't ask about me.

 

[Highway Star]

There are many, many people out at ski areas / ski towns without snow tires. So know what they are doing, some don't.

I personally prefer all season tires on an AWD car. AWD keeps you from getting stuck and you can climb almost any hill. I like having AWD for performance and handling reasons year round, so I have a AWD car anyway. Snow tires let you go faster safely on snow covered roads, however, the roads are snow covered only about 1-5% during the winter, and you're most likely to be stuck behind multiple people who don't have snow tires and are driving 25-30 mph.

 

[SIKSKIER]

Wow,strange feeling agreeing with HS.AS tires make way more sense for anybody that doesn't spend 50% of their driving on snow covered roads.Fuel efficiency and less road noise trumps those very few hours spent on snowy roads.

 

[hammer]

There are many, many people out at ski areas / ski towns without snow tires. So know what they are doing, some don't.

I personally prefer all season tires on an AWD car. AWD keeps you from getting stuck and you can climb almost any hill. I like having AWD for performance and handling reasons year round, so I have a AWD car anyway. Snow tires let you go faster safely on snow covered roads, however, the roads are snow covered only about 1-5% during the winter, and you're most likely to be stuck behind multiple people who don't have snow tires and are driving 25-30 mph.

These are actually good points. And, FWIW, I saw plenty of ill-equipped vehicles somehow manage the commute on Tuesday evening (although I felt better in my AWD car).

 

[pcampbell]

seems like as good of a thread as any to ask, does anybody have good recommendations for a 100% winter tire that would fit an 06 tacoma? new job starting after the 1st that is going to have a longer commute and no opportunity to work from home during inclement weather.

What about Blizzaks or Nokians...

Cooper discoverer mud and snow is decent too

http://us.coopertire.com/Tires/Light-Truck.aspx

 

[pcampbell]

for me, all season and winter tires is a night and day differece. obviously depends on where you live but I'd say roads are snow covered 20% of the year, combined with hills makes snow tires a no brainer.

 

[mister moose]

I've met many who find "deep" snow to be too much. I'm going to posit that many of these people were simply using the wrong tool for the job. Just like me submarine-ing in my narrow skis, I'd bet that many people who had a wider ski would suddenly skill much better - they have the knowledge and ski, just the wrong boards.

70 underfoot skis powder just fine in wide open areas. It definitely skis differently - and takes more skill. On the other end of the scale, anybody can ride a toboggan down the hill. I think 70 mm on a good deep powder day can be a blast. 80-85 is my east coast personal preference. And like you said, the more tools in the toolbox the more conditions you can optimize for. As the snow gets denser and heavier, you will get tired less soon if you aren't in as deep, and this to me is where wider skis shine. Or on a thin snowfall they help marginally to keep you from bottoming out as much. Consider this comparison - It's a lot easier to learn how to kneeboard than to waterski. The width makes getting up on plane a snap. Narrow water skis take some technique to get out of the water, and a slalom ski takes even more. But once you're up on a slalom ski nothing else has that degree of manueverability, once you learn to balance and control it. Narrow skis in powder take a little more speed and much more management of the center of pressure of the ski. That doesn't necessarily make the ski bad in powder.

It's too bad that money has to become a deciding factor for what tools are in the toolbox. To that, I'd say, if it's deep, consider some wider demo/rental skis for the day.

Money doesn't have to be the deciding factor. Once you let go of having to buy this year's latest thing, you suddenly have enough money to own several pairs of skis. For the skier that does 10 days a year this makes less sense, but the skier that does 30 or more it makes tons of sense. Buy last years stuff, go to ski swaps and look for lighty used gems, and watch Ebay. Lightly used skis can be had for a 1/4 to 1/10 of new. So buy some 90 underfoot boards and try em out, you're not out major $$ and you can re-sell them if you hate them. Skiing lots of different types of skis will get you perspective on what each brings to the table, and what best fits your own style. But all of this requires the perspective, conditioning and time on hill to get what each ski can deliver. If your powder opportunities consist of one snow-day a year, no ski is going to magically give you the skills you need.

For example, my own quiver, by waist width in mm, consists of
65 mm deep sidecut carver
68 burly hardpack 2x4
68 long all mountain, least used ski now
80 general purpose and freshie day ski
85 powder day & bump ski
100 cream cheese planer or freshie on breakable crust floater

Some of these skis I bought from a ski shop, some were leftover blowouts, some were dirt cheap.

And on tires in snow, narrow beats wide, softer blended winter rubber with larger, deeper siping beats all seasons, high profile beats low, stick beats auto, and the more drive wheels the better. Yes, you can get by with all seasons. Even more so if you always day trip or have a ski condo with a big flat lot, and it is on a major road that gets plowed frequently. If your ski condo is on a steep hill, or you are in a house with a long driveway and like powder day mornings, you better chuck the all seasons. Snow tires aren't just about the long ride to Vermont on the interstate, they're about the last 5 miles, or your driveway, or your friend's driveway you just slid over the edge on, or for Roxbury Gap.

 

[billski]

Snow tires aren't just about the long ride to Vermont on the interstate, they're about the last 5 miles, or your driveway, or your friend's driveway you just slid over the edge on, or for Roxbury Gap.

Great post. And one more thing... snow tires give you is .... options. Options about where you are going to drive and when. My wife insists they be put on in October.

 

[tarponhead]

Nokian hekkapeliittas on a subi outback. Overkill? definitely. But huge piece of mind to. By the way, the hekkapeliittas hold up well. Heard stories not so much for the blizzacks

 

[Bene288]

seems like as good of a thread as any to ask, does anybody have good recommendations for a 100% winter tire that would fit an 06 tacoma? new job starting after the 1st that is going to have a longer commute and no opportunity to work from home during inclement weather.

Cooper Discoverer AT2 is an incredible all year tire for a small truck.

Michelin AT3's are what I have on my Tundra, they're the best at tire on a truck I've ever had as far as going through snow, but don't know how they perform on a small truck.

 

[from_the_NEK]

seems like as good of a thread as any to ask, does anybody have good recommendations for a 100% winter tire that would fit an 06 tacoma? new job starting after the 1st that is going to have a longer commute and no opportunity to work from home during inclement weather.

I have an 06 Tacoma and have typically used Firestone Winterforces. This year I switched to Hankook Winter i*Pike's and like them better. They are a lot quieter.

 

[AdironRider]

If someone cant ski powder its not an equipment issue, its a skill issue.

 

[deadheadskier]

If someone cant ski powder its not an equipment issue, its a skill issue.

True.......

But its not an apples to apples comparison. I submarined a lot less on my old 205cm straight skis than I do today when I take narrower skis in the powder.

 

[HD333]

I have an 06 Tacoma and have typically used Firestone Winterforces. This year I switched to Hankook Winter i*Pike's and like them better. They are a lot quieter.

Just put Firestone Winterforce on our Tahoe, definitely worth it. AWD + Snows, Overkill? Maybe but it gives us piece of mind and was nice up in VT last weekend and fighting the 3 inches we got coming out of Boston Tuesday.
The ride is actually quieter then the all seasons, which were near the end of their lifespan so that may be why.

And for skiing in deep stuff, the answer is a snowboard!

 

[SIKSKIER]

I should clarify that when I talk about prefering AS tires to snows,I drive a 4wd suv so never have any problems getting around in a snowstorm.Would snows perform better,sure but in my case,even driving to Franconia Notch every weekend,they are not needed.I guess I have the luxury of having an interstate right to the parking lot also.