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OEM Michelin Tires and Snow

2K views 26 replies 20 participants last post by  HawaiianEagle 
#1 ·
......of snow. Where was YOUR mind..??

In all seriousness, the weather service is predicting anywhere from 6 to 12 inches of snow for our area tonight/tomorrow. This will by my 6s' first venture out in the snow and I'm curious what others have experienced with the stock Michelins in snow. Either way I'll be finding out at about 2am Friday morning.
 
#2 ·
Take 'er REALLLLL easy Dennis.

I have found the stockers are utterly useless in snow/ice. As I'm sure you're aware, leave lots of stopping distance and keep one hand on the E-Brake in case you start to plow through a turn.

Pop the E-Brake, add about 1/4 throttle and be ready to catch the arse when it swings out.

Good luck!
 
#3 ·
Take 'er REALLLLL easy Dennis.

I have found the stockers are utterly useless in snow/ice. As I'm sure you're aware, leave lots of stopping distance and keep one hand on the E-Brake in case you start to plow through a turn.

Pop the E-Brake, add about 1/4 throttle and be ready to catch the arse when it swings out.

Good luck!

[/b]
thanks, I'll be driving like an old man...... wait a minute, I *am* an old man...!!! :swearin:
 
#4 ·
ok here is my horror stories from winter and the stock michelins.

i was driving to school one morning and i have to go through an underpass. i reached the bottom of the underpass and i feel my rear end start to drift around so i slowed down a little bit and the rear end just kicked all the way around so i was sideways on a 2 lane road in an underpass. first the car went left, then right, then did a full 360. luckily i didnt hit the median or the wall but it was pretty scary. good thing there wasnt any traffic. only a school bus full of kids following me. its pretty funny though when you look to your right and all you see are a bunch of kids plastered to the window seeing what happened. :) i had a couple more little incidents but that one was the worst of em all.

all in all the stock tires absoultely SUCK ASS in the snow. im not too excited with all the snow that is expected to fall tonight. im from chicagoland btw. you can always get snow tires :drive:
 
#7 ·
yeah, stocks tires are useless on snow and ice. i had them for my first winter, and it was just horrible. I didnt feel confident in those shoes.

my suggestion, get winter tires. I dont know how many time my life was compromised because of the stock tires. They are 3 seasons, not 4.
 
#10 ·
Well, a lot of tires are useless on ice, but on snow, the Michelins isn't that bad. As long as you drive within reason and not punch on the gas, you'll be fine. I've driven in a snow storm for a 12 hour period two years ago and had no problem. Went through 2 winter season up in the NE as well and not much of a problem. Now hitting a patch of ice, that's another story!
 
#12 ·
I made it through last winter with the stock michelins, but I never really got to test them as we didn't have all that much snow last winter. Just take it easy and you'll be fine.
 
#14 ·
Dennis, you sound like a guy who knows how to drive in the snow, unlike the naysayers. You won't see much difference from any other fwd car with all season tires on it.
[/b]
I'll disagree. There are better all-seasons in snow than our 17" OEMs. That being said, if you're REALLY careful, like anyone should be in winter driving, then you should manage okay.

I'm getting my snow tires/wheels put on this PM. We're going from 60-degree clear weather yesterday, to 30-degree snow squalls tomorrow. What fun!
 
#15 ·
Useless in snow? You guys kill me.

Dennis, you sound like a guy who knows how to drive in the snow, unlike the naysayers. You won't see much difference from any other fwd car with all season tires on it. [/b]

Well for those of us south and east of the big city, the snowfall was almost a non-event. my condolences to those in the hard hit areas, hopefully your driving wasn't too bad.

So, I really didn't get a true picture of how the tires work in really bad weather, I faced nothing more than some slushy roads

My suspicions are that the Michelins will do ok, as long as the driver maintains his wits. I realize that any OEM tire is a compromise between cost, ride quality, noise, acceptable performance in all weather conditions and a reasonable tread life. There are obviously better season-specific tires available, that was never in question. Just finding a tire that meets all of the above qualifications is a tall order.

From my "young and stupider" days I can remember driving a manual trans Chevette with almost bald tires in the winter one year......I got stuck at least once a week before I bought some tires that at least had tread on them.!!! Heck, anything was better than "slicks"
 
#16 ·
I've never been one to drive a car without legal tread.. that said when I bought the Saturn I have now, the previous owner had put cheap winter tires up front, and left the original all seasons on the rear at 43k.

That winter while at college, I spun a full 360 trying to avoid an idiot who thought he could drive normal speeds on a snow covered road. Lucky for me, I didn't hit anything AND stayed on the road. First thing I did when I got my tax refund was buy a set of four all season tires. That was over 3 years ago. I've yet to get that car stuck, as light as it is, and I've been through 6"+ of untouched white stuff. All season tires, at least for me, have been adequate in winter in North Dakota and central New York.
 
#17 ·
Sorry, but adequate doesn't cut it. All seasons are three season tires, and are not meant for winter at all.

If you live where it snows, you need snow tires. Without them, you are compromising your own safety and that of everyone else on the road.
 
#18 ·
I have the Bridgestones on my car basically from the MS6. I hit the gas to turn last night, and my tires just started spinning. I thought maybe I was in water or something, but didn't remember seeing any.

So I did it again, I slammed the gas down from a stop. Nothing but spinning on a DRY, SMOOTH road. I read somewhere these tires aren't for cold climates (it was in the low 30s last night). I am going to put on my Mazda3 wheels later this week definitely.
 
#19 ·
From my "young and stupider" days I can remember driving a manual trans Chevette with almost bald tires in the winter one year......I got stuck at least once a week before I bought some tires that at least had tread on them.!!! Heck, anything was better than "slicks"
[/b]
I remember driving my old prelude around with 4 bald tires every winter. Never even thought twice about it. Now with the 6, I would never dream of doing a winter without the snow tires. It is amazing how when you buy a new car your perceptions change.
 
#20 ·
in my case I'd rather play it safe and get snow tires, I had the extra set of steelies around. my drive to work is longer this year than others, and I go closer to the mountains in the area. mostly working second shift I'd rather spend money to know I won't get stuck than chance it. I learned to drive in the snow belt, but had it easy since they were really on the ball plowing. different case where I'm at now. If the road isn't important, it usually doesn't get touched the day of the snow.

sorry, it's my life, adequate doesn't cut it.
 
#22 ·
I remember driving my old prelude around with 4 bald tires every winter. Never even thought twice about it. Now with the 6, I would never dream of doing a winter without the snow tires. It is amazing how when you buy a new car your perceptions change. [/b]
well I should have added "broke" to my description as well. Buying even two good tires at that time was a major investment. But you're right, I wouldn't think of doing that today. For one I'm getting too old to be un-burying my car every other block. !!
 
#24 ·
out of curiosty who's ratings were these? I've seen such widely varying "reviews" of tires on places like TireRack that I put only limited faith in most of them.
But, for an OEM tire I'm not surprised by the mostly middle-of-the-road scores it got. I'll give them a little better rating in wet driving than what I see here, but until I have the opportunity to drive the car in snow I won't take any "reviews" too much to heart.
 
#25 ·
Would you guys recommend snow tires for someone living in NY, or stick with an all season other than stock ones? not upstate NY either, this is down near NYC. For all seasons, I was thinking of the Toyo Proxes 4. We get snow, but it seems to melt quickly or get sanded/salted down. Then the roads are more wet/slush than anything.
 
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