Alaskan's Journal

[Bruce]

Nope, for several reasons:

1. Good snow tires cost more than summer tires
2. Snow tires are made of a softer rubber compound so wear faster, shorter tread life (go back to #1 ). Tread depth is kind of important with snow tires.
3. Snow tires have more rolling resistance thus use more fuel

Since you are new here I will mention that I am a bit of a vehicle energy miser. Some here aren't surprised by that statement Noone in my immediate family has driven anything but a Prius since 2006 (me since 2004) until we bought the Leaf (all electric) for DW August last year.

My current car is a Prius Prime (plug in hybrid). On 50 mile/hr back roads I can get well over 70 MPG over several hundred miles. Over 60 MPG even on 65 MPH interstate roads. Current ODO reading is about 23K, 139 MPG. YMMV of course depending on where and how you drive. And yes, like everyone else my MPG goes down in the winter with colder temps and snow tires But it doesn't get down anywhere near the MPG of what most vehicles get on their best day

 

[Cecilia's-herd]

Interesting, I am not a vehicle person. We have 2 GMC trucks just because we have to haul things around. We had all weather tires for a while but they weren’t big enough.

 

[Alaskan]

I have never had need of studded tires and am not fond of them since they rip up the road. Also, the colder the ice, the more poorly they work and stopping on wet or dry pavement is longer with studded tires. I know someone who went through the same intersection I had about 15 minutes before. Ice at the stop sign. I spun a bit getting started, so did she with her BRAND new studded tires. I know some people really do need them though.

It definitely depends on the conditions.

One of the reasons I like switching out tires as late as possible, is I like to wait until all roads are covered with a snow layer. Up here most of the winter you don't see any road surface. Not on city streets or parking lots. So... the studs don't hurt anything.

And yes again as to conditions. Maybe because we are on the coast, and all of that humidity, tires with studs are so much safer.

And in winter, you do have to drive differently. Slow starts, slow stops, soft turns.

 

[Bruce]

We have 2 GMC trucks just because we have to haul things around. We had all weather tires for a while but they weren’t big enough.

You need TWO trucks to haul stuff? What are you going to do with 2 car seats? Unless they are 4 door cabs you are not going to enjoy getting the babes stuffed in those seats in the back and retrieving them. Won't be fun trying to get them properly installed if you have to move the seats between the trucks either.

My opinion of most "all season" tires is they are good for all seasons in places where snow doesn't happen. Totally unsuitable for snow covered roads. The Goodyear (lack of) Integrity tires were "all season". Of course they weren't great tires in dry conditions either.

And in winter, you do have to drive differently. Slow starts, slow stops, soft turns.

And annually about half the driving population forgets that when the first snows of the season come!

 

[Bruce]

So... the studs don't hurt anything.

Except when people run them long after snow season We have that here. The sound of studded tires on non snow covered roads can't be missed, especially when it is warm enough to drive with the windows open.

 

[Cecilia's-herd]

You need TWO trucks to haul stuff? What are you going to do with 2 car seats? Unless they are 4 door cabs you are not going to enjoy getting the babes stuffed in those seats in the back and retrieving them. Won't be fun trying to get them properly installed if you have to move the seats between the trucks either.

My opinion of most "all season" tires is they are good for all seasons in places where snow doesn't happen. Totally unsuitable for snow covered roads. The Goodyear (lack of) Integrity tires were "all season". Of course they weren't great tires in dry conditions either.

They are 4 door cabs thank goodness. We will probably trade in the blue for a Tahoe. All season tires didn’t last long in this house. They don’t work in snow at all.

 

[Alaskan]

Except when people run them long after snow season We have that here. The sound of studded tires on non snow covered roads can't be missed, especially when it is warm enough to drive with the windows open.

Don't they get ticketed?

We have take off dates, and you get fined after that. The cops sit with their windows open and listen.

Not only that, but if you hear that tick tick sound, that is the sound of your money going up in smoke.

 

[Bruce]

Not in Vermont. There is a "suggested date" but no actual restrictions. I wish there were. But then the cops don't ticket for a lot of "minor" infractions, I doubt they would for studded tires either. Heck they hardly ticket for speeding unless someone is going 20 MPH over. Though I guess sometimes they have nothing better to do, DW once got pulled over for a side marker light being out and got a "fix it ticket". Had to take the car to the station to prove we had replaced the bulb.

I found a VT report on the impact of studded tires on roads from 2011 that said the following states also have no restrictions:
Colorado
Kentucky
New Hampshire
New Mexico
North Carolina
South Carolina
Wyoming

Seems like there wouldn't be enough of an ice problem in many of them for people to want to run studded tires at all.

The study also says:
" In conjunction, Finnish studies reveal that studded tires have, in general, better traction on ice but they provide no benefit in snow, wet, or other deleterious conditions "

If you are bored you can read it here:
https://vtrans.vermont.gov/sites/ao.../Impacts_of_Studded_Tires_on_Pavement_Web.pdf

Thus, unless one lives where the roads are often icy, or MUST travel through areas where it might get icy, there really is no benefit to studs, only detriment. I have personally, in 42 years of driving in Vermont, never hit a road where studs would have been a benefit. They do a pretty decent job of plowing and salting the paved roads in Vermont. Pretty rare to have snow on the road the day after a storm comes through unless it is a big one. The 1/2 mile of unpaved road to our house is well plowed, though not always early enough for DW to leave for work, have never had a problem with plain snow tires.

DD2 could one time have benefited from studded tires on the way home from work at the ski area 2 winters ago. Ice on a hill, everyone stopped and waited for the plow to come by and spread some salt. Of course it doesn't spread it all across the road, cars are supposed to drive over the "precautionary" salt and spread it before the ice can form so people with shovels in their cars were spreading it in front of the stuck vehicles and everyone helped get the cars moving.

 

[Alaskan]

Not in Vermont. There is a "suggested date" but no actual restrictions. I wish there were. But then the cops don't ticket for a lot of "minor" infractions, I doubt they would for studded tires either. Heck they hardly ticket for speeding unless someone is going 20 MPH over. Though I guess sometimes they have nothing better to do, DW once got pulled over for a side marker light being out and got a "fix it ticket". Had to take the car to the station to prove we had replaced the bulb.

I found a VT report on the impact of studded tires on roads from 2011 that said the following states also have no restrictions:
Colorado
Kentucky
New Hampshire
New Mexico
North Carolina
South Carolina
Wyoming

Seems like there wouldn't be enough of an ice problem in many of them for people to want to run studded tires at all.

The study also says:
" In conjunction, Finnish studies reveal that studded tires have, in general, better traction on ice but they provide no benefit in snow, wet, or other deleterious conditions "

If you are bored you can read it here:
https://vtrans.vermont.gov/sites/ao.../Impacts_of_Studded_Tires_on_Pavement_Web.pdf

Thus, unless one lives where the roads are often icy, or MUST travel through areas where it might get icy, there really is no benefit to studs, only detriment. I have personally, in 42 years of driving in Vermont, never hit a road where studs would have been a benefit. They do a pretty decent job of plowing and salting the paved roads in Vermont. Pretty rare to have snow on the road the day after a storm comes through unless it is a big one. The 1/2 mile of unpaved road to our house is well plowed, though not always early enough for DW to leave for work, have never had a problem with plain snow tires.

DD2 could one time have benefited from studded tires on the way home from work at the ski area 2 winters ago. Ice on a hill, everyone stopped and waited for the plow to come by and spread some salt. Of course it doesn't spread it all across the road, cars are supposed to drive over the "precautionary" salt and spread it before the ice can form so people with shovels in their cars were spreading it in front of the stuck vehicles and everyone helped get the cars moving.

Huh. Crazy not having restrictions on studs... and the cops not ticketing more.

Here there is always some ice. Since I live at almost 1,300 feet elevation, and town is close to sea level... there is going to be ice somewhere.

Even in Anchorage, most roads and parking lots have snow cover on them all winter. Makes me panic in Anchorage, since I am not up there much, I don’t have all the lines on the roads memorized.

Driving on a road with 4 lanes, and not knowing where the lines are..... sheesh.

Here in the close small town, I know where all the lines are, even when I can't see them.

 

[Bruce]

Driving on a road with 4 lanes, and not knowing where the lines are..... sheesh.

Around here it is really common on back roads to have 3 wheel tracks in the snow. Everyone shys away from the edge they can't see until there is oncoming traffic. Either that or we ALL have very large 3 wheel motorcycles.