Rant on- why AWD and not use it?
12-12-2016, 09:43 AM
#21
never thought about that. so right.
all great and valid points brought up. Like I said, I just didn't get it at the time...and I've lived in this stuff all my life. I remember driving the big ol' RWD station wagon- with open diff- in winter and not running into issues- there was really no such thing as AWD available except on trucks back then. drive prudently and its all good.
thanks all- I appreciate the discussion!
darcy
all great and valid points brought up. Like I said, I just didn't get it at the time...and I've lived in this stuff all my life. I remember driving the big ol' RWD station wagon- with open diff- in winter and not running into issues- there was really no such thing as AWD available except on trucks back then. drive prudently and its all good.
thanks all- I appreciate the discussion!
darcy
12-12-2016, 07:33 PM
#23
In snow? I've found them to be excellent in snow - good floatation, self-cleaning, etc. My Silverado is awesome in the snow with normal off-road tires (I run 285/75-17s on mine).
On ice? Horrible, horrible, horrible. Virtually no siping, massive tread blocks, not enough surface area, not enough gripping edges, etc, etc. They're like glass. I run dedicated winters (with studs) on my truck and they're a 1000% better on typical winter roads in Alberta than my off-road tires are. They're just not nearly as good off-road when I'm hunting - they sink in (they're much narrower), they don't clean nearly as well, etc.
Problem is, most roads are icy underneath. Snow on top isn't the problem at all for most areas. Snow has quite a bit of traction. I spent quite a bit of my life on the east coast of Canada and there, the roads were snowy and heavily drifted. In Alberta, where I am now, the roads are icy and you want a much different tire to really have traction. Michelin X-Ice are way better in Alberta than in Newfoundland, for instance, as are studded tires of any sort. However, in Newfoundland, wider tires with a more open tread tended to do better - you don't need all the siping to get traction there. You just want the tire to clean itself when you're driving it, so you can tear through and throw away snow.
On ice? Horrible, horrible, horrible. Virtually no siping, massive tread blocks, not enough surface area, not enough gripping edges, etc, etc. They're like glass. I run dedicated winters (with studs) on my truck and they're a 1000% better on typical winter roads in Alberta than my off-road tires are. They're just not nearly as good off-road when I'm hunting - they sink in (they're much narrower), they don't clean nearly as well, etc.
Problem is, most roads are icy underneath. Snow on top isn't the problem at all for most areas. Snow has quite a bit of traction. I spent quite a bit of my life on the east coast of Canada and there, the roads were snowy and heavily drifted. In Alberta, where I am now, the roads are icy and you want a much different tire to really have traction. Michelin X-Ice are way better in Alberta than in Newfoundland, for instance, as are studded tires of any sort. However, in Newfoundland, wider tires with a more open tread tended to do better - you don't need all the siping to get traction there. You just want the tire to clean itself when you're driving it, so you can tear through and throw away snow.
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