I agree!! Cheap insurance, one anyone in the snow belt should consider and figure into their finances before buying any new or used car. A set of steelies and a good set of winter tread. Plus, then you can dump the stupid all-seasons and get dedicated summer tires for the nice months!!
Though I think it"s safe to say that Ken gets much more snow in the mountains of Tennessee than we get here in Central Texas.

 

Snow, what is that
During our 1 ice storm last year, the PPM MZ3 made it up to our house just fine, the Jeep made it up to my lower driveway and stayed there until it thawed out enough for it to go on, BTW that was on the Stock BadYears.

 

While I am certainly a fan of winter tires, I will also say that I am not so quick to condem every All-Season tire on the market. When I have had RWD cars with wide summer performance rubber, yup, you had better believe I opted for a set of winter tires. Withthat said, I have found that FWD cars shod with a set of good All-Season tires (i.e. NOT the Goodyear Eagle RS-As that came on my car) is more than a match for the hilly and winding roads we have here in snowy New Hamster (three of our last six winters featured at least ten feet of snow).

Will my new Mazda3 i Touring, shod with Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires, be up to the task? Time will tell. Then again, I learned to drive in slippery Michigan conditions in my 1969 Plymouth Sport Suburban station wagon, complete with $19.99 bias-belted "Blue-Light" special tires. I am thinking that if Icould drive that beastie safely in heavy snow and lots of icing, the Mazda3 should be a piece of cake.

 

All-Season tires are a good compromise for those "regular" drivers that see a little bit of bad winter weather. I run them myself, not that I really want to, butbecause it is not practical for me to own a set of dedicated winter snows, but A/S tires are always a compromise. Everything is a compromise.
I don"t think you"ll find the traction as good w/your 3 in New Hamster, a place I am not unfamiliar with (my ex was from Littleton,) as you did w/your old Plymouth, a heavier, RWD car, and a wagon to boot. Better rear weight bias, w/the wagon I"m sure. Plus, I"d be willing to bet that the power to weight ratio in that car was not as good as in almost any modern car... short of having a big block in it. And how wide were those old tires coon that car compared to what you have now.
Also, those $20 K-Mart specials while they didn"t last very long (lucky to get 10k out of them,) were actually pretty good for traction. They didn"t last long because they used a very, VERY soft rubber compound... that"s a plus for tires in snow, and on ice.
There are so many things to factor into this equation, but I think in the end you will be disappointed w/any A/S tire on this car where you are.
Just my .02, based on my experiences and what I have learned over the years.

 

Well, the old Plymouth did in fact have a big block in it (I do not think the rear tires lasted even 5,000 miles ), in fact, in that era, Chrysler had the "A" block motors (i.e. 318 and 340), the "B" block motors (only the 383 in 1969), and the "RB" block motors (426 Hemi and 440). Even though the "RB" technically stood for "Raised B-Block" (which accounted for the ability to lengthen the stroke compared to the 383, which by the way had the same bore as the 426), my friends and I always insisted that the "RB" designation for the 440 in our Plymouth stood for "Really Big".

As for winter traction, well, based upon the snow I have already driven the Mazda3 in, it could run rings around the old wagon inwintry weather(at least with the new Michelins on it, I did not drive in any snow with the Goodyears in place). I am thinking that the only two cars I have ever had that were even more diabolical in the snow than the Plymouth were my two Sport Package equipped RWD BMWs, and then only when they were still wearing their summer rubber. We moved to New Hamster shortly after I bought the 530i SP, and geez, with a quarter of an inch of dry/powdery snow on the driveway, I was not able to make it up to the street. That said, once I put some Michelin Arctic-Alpins on it, that car could reel inthe 4x4s and SUVs in rutted snow up to 8".

Since I put the Michelins on the Mazda3, we have had two minor icing events and two minor snow events, and so far at least, it actually does pretty well. I will ll be sure to keep you all posted. [8D]

EDIT: Geez this apostrophe thing is driving me crazy. I'm thinking that it's really weird that I'm having to write without contractions and general slang like y'all and ain't. [:@]

 

Use the QUOTE symbol in it"s place. That doesn"t double, but it does take a little getting used to. Either that or learn to type as Data would speak on STNG.
The Powers-That-Be around here have been very, very, VERYquiet about the new vBulletin update lately. I suspect a problem. It still hasn"t happened on 24/7, my other site,either.
At least our post length isn"t restricted here anymore. If you think the apostrophe thing is annoying, you should"ve been here when that was going on.... [&o][&o][&o]You would"ve had to make that post above in 6-7 different windows and post it as only 2 in a day. This one would"ve only been 4 and 2 days by comparison.

 

"Either that or learn to type as Data would speak on STNG."

Yeah, it is the whole Data vs. Thor thing. Funny, I did not notice the wacky long-gray haired scientist in Independence Day having a problem with contractions. I guess it was Thor playing that part.

 

I know when I was up in Lee Durham area, my old 73 Gran Torino did awesome on a set of 60 series Bias ply Snow tires (free yet), although in the Blizzard of 78 down in Billerica I did use a Yamaha and a Dolphinto get around, tracks and 2 ski's is the way to go LOL

 

Snow update...

There was snow on the roads this morning as I left for work, and during the 35 mile drive, it continued to get deeper, reaching as much as two inches in some spots before I got here. The good news was that throughout the drive, the new Michelins all-season tires never put a foot wrong.

Funny thing though, a mile or so before I got off the freeway another (new looking based on the shiny rear suspension) Mazda3 passed me, and curious about how it was doing, I pulled in behind him and followed him the last mile to the exit and then almost all of the way to the office (he pulled in two buildings before mine). When sitting at a couple of stop lights, I could clearly see by the tread pattern on his rear tires that he was running the crappy Goodyear Eagle RS-A tires that I just removed, not that I had much doubt anyway. Why? Well, my first clue was that he was definitely having a problem holding his line on the freeway ramp when I had no such problems two car lengths back. Worse still was when he was attempting to accelerate away from the traffic lights, the light would turn green, he would give it a little gas, and instead of accelerating smoothly away the nose of his car would drift left-right-left until he got up to five or ten mph. The Michelins on my car however had no such problem as they tracked straight and true through it all. [&:]

 

Yesterday was my first day in snow and ice in the car. I had an hour and a half commute and I think my DSC light was on about half the drive. That thing makes a heck of a noise.