Snow

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sarge @ Jan 12 2007, 12:30 PM) [snapback]374733[/snapback]</div>

It's a good thing the OPP put a lot of pressure on the MTO and Ontario provincial government to allow studded tires. They even ran some articles in Police Fleet Manager. Unfortunately you need a subscription to see the entire article, but I was able to get this for free:

http://www.hendonpub.com/secure/articlearc...ails.asp?ID=213

The OPP got an engineering firm to examine the original reason(s) why studded tires were banned in Ontario - road "damage." In particular a deeply rutted road near Toronto that was labeled as a reason to ban the studs over 30 years ago.

That engineering firm went back to look at the same road, and despite having been resurfaced 6 times over the years, was STILL deeply rutted and damaged. They concluded improper highway construction, overweight trucks, and a shift from lighter cars to heavier pickups and SUV's all contributed to road damage.

Of course, the MTO and current Liberal government in Ontario make it sound as if they're "listening to the people" instead of CYA from lawsuits:

http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/Artic.../20051216/C1309

This CBC Marketplace transcript from 1998 is humorous when you consider how quickly Ontario reversed it's position, at least for NW Ontario

http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/c...s/tirestud.html

It's contradictory that the Swedish Transport unit has done *extensive* studded tire testing, and has determined they cause at most very minor road damage, but some North American testing has us to believe studded tires chew up pavement and spit it out.

http://www.vti.se/EPiBrowser/Publikationer/S366A.pdf

Additionally, the Swedes have determined the social benefits of mandatory winter tire law - and especially the use of studded tires - far outweigh the slight increase in road maintenance.

One thing I really like about my new studded Goodyear Nordic tires is that they are directional. In December when it really warmed up and we had some rain, it was very reassuring to look into the rearview mirror and see the two cleanly evacuated strips behind my car.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dmckinstry @ Jan 12 2007, 11:34 PM) [snapback]375052[/snapback]</div>

Actually "all season" tires suffer from even *dry* road traction loss in lower temperatures. This article from Discount Tire provides some details

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/winterAllSeason.dos

This article from Tire Rack also provides some details

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=64

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rangerdavid @ Jan 14 2007, 10:17 AM) [snapback]375475[/snapback]</div>

Nokian Tires are locally available at Kal Tire in Winnipeg. If you want more information on the tire range, this is the EU site:

http://www.nokiantyres.com

Note the studded "HAKKAPELIITTA" tire is factory-studded in the EU with special studs. The ones sold here are studded at the dealer. Their latest and greatest is the Hakkapeliitta 5:

http://www.hakkapeliitta5.com

A co-worker purchased new a 2006 Range Rover HSE and had Nokian Hakkapeliitta SUV 5 winter tires specially imported from Europe. They were incredibly expensive but seem to give the Range Rover amazing icy road traction.

As I stated about my Goodyear Nordic studded winter tires, they are only available in Canada at the Canadian Tire retail chain. They are not directly available from Goodyear Canada. For my Prius 185 65 15 size, they were a very good deal $122 a tire studded, mounted, and balanced on my steel wheels.

 

ick. we're just getting the first bit of a good snow up in wisconsin (ok, down in wisconsin for all you canadians ) and damn these integrities suck.

things were ok until we had to make a right turn. we lost traction and headed straight for the minivan in the left turn lane... fortunately we had almost no velocity going on and came to a stop. DH also has extensive snow driving experience.

25k miles on these tires and yes, now i for sure will be damned if we come up here next time on this set... :angry: i wonder how our trip way up north tomorrow will go...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Jan 14 2007, 10:50 PM) [snapback]375693[/snapback]</div>

Now you know how I felt the first winter here in Winnipeg, before my winter tires arrived. Some folks claim the Prius does just fine with "all season" tires. Feh.