Neon -vs- Vibe

[Turbodave]

So rolling to work this morning. Weather was crappy, it was snowing and it had snowed all night 10"down on the ground and the roads were not all plowed yet. My mom was afraid to drive in it so I picked her up and took her to work since her office is only 15min away from mine.

Went to pull right out of the lot at her work and noticed a couple cars at the light to my left, It had just changed so I figured they would be spining their wheels in the slush for a bit giving me a chance to pull out. I've got a nice set of snow tires on the neon, so I can usually walk away from most traffic in this weather. I pulled out and look in my rearview and the pontiac vibe that was at the light was right up on me already. I got on it and pulled away before he had to slow down, but I was suprised at how quick he got away from the stoplight.

Anyhow while I'm trying to remember if they offered awd on the Vibe I cruise on down the road heading towards work. A few lights later the Vibe ends up next to me at a red light. Light turns green and I ease out of the clutch, trying to control wheelspin as best I can and I look over to see the Vibe with a fender on me. I reach a safe speed of about 30 and keep cruising. Next light I'm beside him again, only with traffic in front of us. I look over and check the tires, thinking some how a shmuck with all-seasons is making me question my winter tire investment.

That's when I saw it, he was rolling on the same exact Hankook snow tires as me, and with 4 people in his car vs my empty neon he plain out had me beat in the traction dept.

Snow tires FTW!!!

[lametec]

Snow > Kumho Ecsta AST.... All season my butt!

[Turbodave]

After driving a car with dedicated tires for the winter season I can't see ever going back to all season tires. I feel guilty that I put all season's on my wife's car.

[MiniMopar]

After driving a car with dedicated tires for the winter season I can't see ever going back to all season tires. I feel guilty that I put all season's on my wife's car.

Big plus one to that. I've got 4-year-old Blizzaks on my Daytona and I can run rings around most other cars. Main danger is getting rear-ended. They are almost through winter compound, so this will be the last season for them I think.

Two years ago I got caught in a winter storm in the CSX which has Kumho 712s. That was a white-knuckle nightmare.

[Vigo]

i hate those things even in the dry! i just put my old set on a junk car, soon to be sent away..

where i live, theres almost no reason to run anything but summer tires all year round. Even in deep rain most of my summer tires do well, but when it does get down to the 40sF or lower they just stop working well. intended operating temp has a lot to do with how well a tire compound works, so i wonder how much if any of the snow tire advantage (having personally never seen a snow tire, let alone driven one) is due to that and not just the tread design.

[Dusty_Duster]

I once got into a thunderstorm with my Duster's Z-rated Goodyear Eagles. I was scared to death, but those tires did pretty dang well.

[turbo-baron]

Try driving an awd car with nice winters on it lol.

[Birddog]

Vibe did have awd as an option. He may have had you on weight and driven wheels..

[GLHNSLHT2]

Uhhh you can get an AWD vibe. Even with tires down to the wear bars my g/f's libby will leave the line harder than just about any thing out there when in 4wd. Fun to rocket away with all 4 spinning.

[Birddog]

Uhhh you can get an AWD vibe. Even with tires down to the wear bars my g/f's libby will leave the line harder than just about any thing out there when in 4wd. Fun to rocket away with all 4 spinning.

These last two storms make me miss my AMCs..

[monkeyhead]

Two years ago I got caught in a winter storm in the CSX which has Kumho 712s. That was a white-knuckle nightmare.

Oh yeah. I have those on my lebaron and it's liked I might as well not even have a steering wheel or brakes.

[RoadWarrior222]

I've been lurching around on "Kumho won't even put their name on them" Walmart ASRs*, that are around 6 years old, are barely still legal and are showing signs of rot, and they're still not tooooooo scary to drive on, until they get on sheet ice, enough grip in the loose stuff still, but they're tending to plane a bit on the sloppy crap, though still seem to pump out plain water well enough... so I'm a bit surprised about what you guys are saying about the "better" Kumho ASRs. These felt pretty good in winter the first couple of years they were on. I keep thinking I wanna put the ECSTA ASX on it when I get some $$, on 15" pumpers, it's on 14" steelies right now. Kinda not liking how this kumho made rubber looks to be rotting though. If it hadn't been for a messed up front end, these wouldn't all be worn so bad as they are, so I'd be replacing tires with 50% tread on due to rot. Is there anything decent out there for ASRs that last, grip and don't rot so quick?

It's said that a set of winter and summer tires is still economical because you halve the wear on each set. I ain't really gonna buy into that theory if I'm replacing 2 sets every 5 years or so because of rot instead of 1 set of ASRs.


(*Ulysses ST/Marshall 791 Touring)

[skitzo_inc]

I put snow tires on EVERY car I have ever owned, and ever will. Regardless of weather it's snowing out or when I was in AZ and it was 120 degrees, I get a better launch, and I have a lot better traction and control. I had all season tires on my Camaro when I bought it, took me two weeks to ditch that.

[neoned]

I put snow tires on EVERY car I have ever owned, and ever will. Regardless of weather it's snowing out or when I was in AZ and it was 120 degrees, I get a better launch, and I have a lot better traction and control. I had all season tires on my Camaro when I bought it, took me two weeks to ditch that.

What? That's retarded

[skitzo_inc]

Not really, better launch: I don't burn them. Not sure what it is, but I had trouble smoking the tires on that Camaro with those tires.

[BadAssPerformance]

Snow tires are usually made out of really really soft rubber to help wth traction on snow. The soft rubber is grippy on dry pavement too however does not last as long so they have a low treadwear rating cuz of it.

[skitzo_inc]

That's true, but it still helps with traction, take off, and handeling. Whether it's snow, sun, or rain. IT still handles better.
I talked to my dad today. He sold the Camaro right after I traded him for the Shelby. The kid who bought it took it out, the day after, wrapped up the motor to red line, dumped the clutch, and snapped the differential on the back. (Or something to that matter) First gear is now gone, and the car won't move. Total Estimated Cost: 2500.
Exactly what he paid for the car. HAHAHA...stupid 16 year old kids...

[Turbodave]

My snow tires are nice and soft, but come warm weather they go back in the garage and the summer tires go on. The get greasy in the warm weather, the deep tread is squirmy and they don't handle nearly as well as a nice set of performance tires. My neon will get rubber in 2nd with the snows, but won't even squeak the pirelli's I run in the summer.

[MiniMopar]

Yeah, the Blizzaks are like that too. Kind of scary to drive when pushed. Actually, I'm on my 4th season with them and the special compound is now gone (there are two sets of wear markers). The car handles noticeably better in the dry now that the soft stuff is gone. The treads are still deep and will probably still work fine in the snow...but the fancy compound that gives traction on ice is gone.

[risen]

Yeah, the Blizzaks are like that too. Kind of scary to drive when pushed. Actually, I'm on my 4th season with them and the special compound is now gone (there are two sets of wear markers). The car handles noticeably better in the dry now that the soft stuff is gone. The treads are still deep and will probably still work fine in the snow...but the fancy compound that gives traction on ice is gone.

+1 to that. The blizzaks on my Altima flat out frighten me sometimes, as I can feel the blocks squirm and split. Then again the road I take to work is 2 lanes in either direction, no breakdown lanes on either side, and about 3 feet between the side of the car and the grass (with trees) on the side or median. It's a 55mph speed limit and the average speed is somewhere in the 75-80mph range. Squirmy tires make it a bit scary, I'll be happy to have my conti's back on.