I should have my falcon on the road very soon. I only have room for one car so it will be my daily year round. Since i need tires (and live in New England), i was going to go with some snow tires 155/80/13 Firestone winterforce's Will they look awful having a more modern tread? Is there a better looking tread out there. Maybe the old "W" tread design? does anyone still make the old W design? Post some pics of your car with snow tires!
Do you want cool looking tires or do you want a reliable daily driver in the snow? Modern snow tires are vastly superior performers than the snows that were made in the 60's and 70's. Better stopping on snow and ice, better handling on packed snow, etc. Tread design has come a long way. They are also quieter when the pavement is dry.
how bout using the firestones for the winter, and just changing over to a better lookin tire for the summer?
ANY snow tire is better than spinning out into the ditch or crashing into something, regardless of looks. I've noticed snow tires run cheaper than regular tires if thats any consolation.
For even better traction put snows on the front too. With the snow we get around here and a light car you'll need the extra traction and put some weight in the trunk.
Winterforce tires kick ass, I had a set on an OT winter rat(eagle vision) last year and they were great, you won't regret having them on the car when the weather is cruddy. although if you can find a set of firestone town and country snows you will get the older look tread pattern and still have a decent performing snowtire
I've been running those Firestones on my daily driver for a few years, I'd stick with those, and they last....Unless your burnin em off!
Just set them up on another set of rims, makes for easy swap over in the spring. Let me know if ya need some spare rims. Screw the all weather, best looking tire, get the ones that will work for you in the worst weather. yeah, we drive 'em all winter too.
Me pappy bought a set of radial snow tires and had them mounted on brand new steel wheels for his o/t '78 Ford LTD "Bro-Ham".... Come the end of October, he had me switch those over from the regular rear radials.. That car made like a tank in the deep snow..
Very funny, snow tires are designed to allow you to drive on surfaces with very low traction, such as ice or snow. One of the great benefits of living in a temperate climate is that we get 4 distinct season, beater season, get the real car ready for driving season, real car driving season, and find a new beater because it's soon time to store the real car away season. Unfortunately the OP needs to drive his real car year round, so like many have stated get the best winter tire you can afford to keep your baby on the road(Toyo G02 Observe get my vote). The other advantage of beater season is that with the reduced coefficient of friction provided by frozen precipitation, you get to practice car control at slower speeds . A RWD beater is a necessity for this, and doing such things as wild oversteer, donuts, 4 wheel drifts, and just generaly turning corners with a flick of the wrist and a stab on the gas makes winter a nice time to drive.
I had a set of those winter force tires on the rear of an s-10 I had a couple years ago. Can't go wrong with em, except they grip so well, it made it hard to slide the rear end around any more But that little 2wd would plow through 6 inches of snow, where as with the all seasons it would get stuck in two inches. The 2006 silverado I have now will get stuck in wet grass if you're not careful
My beaters have been front wheel drive for the last few years, I miss getting sideways! If the weather is miserable you might as well have some fun! BTW front drives do good donuts, but you have to go in reverse.
Haha. Thanks for all the input and laughs. I didn't want to offend the gods of tradition At 47 bucks a pop, i think the Winterforces are cheap insurance. Especially since i love driving in the stuff. I don't have to worry about finding the skinniest tires that fit on my rim to dig down to the pavement either. The Smallest size was made for my rim size
It's getting all four tires. They are cracked and dry rotted and need to be replaced before i start driving it. What would be the point in shooting the thing forward if i couldn't make it go around a corner
I was turned into a winter tire nut years ago when I got my first set for free. I've never owned a fwd or even a 4x4. My crappy old Caprice wagon has never let me down in the winter. $$ well spent.
In the winter , I run 4 Dunlop Graspics on my OT daily driver - they work great on it (small FWD car) I ran Bridgestone Blizzaks on my "traditional-inspired" Volvo Amazon for several years - they work awesome ! I've also run them on other OT cars as well with the same results . Here are a few pics of my old Volvo sportin' the snows (all 4 corners , as always with the modern dedicated snows) : Hmmm ... don't know why the pics look so fuzzy - sorry . They look pretty much like any modern tire , but will certainly help keep you outta the ditches !
Bridgestone Blizzaks are a great studless winter traction tires. Just be sure and try to not run them in warmer weather. I have been using them for many years now on various different vehicles and love the heck outa them. Are you running the Winterforce's studded or non-studded? Do they even allow studded tires in your neck of the woods?
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