[Old n Bold]

Since the weather the last few years has been very mild in NW Wasington and there has been no appreciable snow, I am reluctant to purchase snow tires for the winter and incur the extra expense and poor gas milage for the chance of an occasional snow flurry.

Now, I have head across the Cascades for Thanksgiving. Going across is a once or twice a winter thing and snow here is only occasional. I am tempted to purchase a set of chains in case there is snow on the pass and chains or traction tires are required. The Prius manual says chains are okay. They are a pain in the a..... but I can survive for just a short period to get over the pass, if required. Anyone have experience with chains on the front wheels of a Prius?

The pass is reported to be bare and dry right now, but that can change witout much warning.

Then again, I can also take my F150 pickup (2 wd) that already has chains.

 

[fish_antlers]

take the pickup.

 

[wgaustria]

I am reluctant to purchase snow tires for the winter and incur the extra expense

Do you wear warm clothes in the winter?
Do you take care that your grandchildren wear warm clothes in the winter?Do you heat you heat your home in the winter?
Do you watch out for your health in the winter (sour throat, cold, flu, ..)?
Do you treat your cars with antifreeze stuff to prepare for the winter?

Then give your Prius a good treat and buy some winter tires. They are good not just in the snow but provide better traction and breaking results in low temperatures. Our "snow days" in Austria (the part were I live in) might be 5 to 10 per season but I do have winter treis from October to Easter. I feel much saver when we do family travelling.

The same discussion is going on in a German Prius forum and one cannot understand the other and vice versa.

Walter

 

[Johnp]

No Cost Snows

Here is what I think. Buy a good set of snow tires and have them mounted on rims (I have Michelin X-ice and like them). Put them on in November and take them off in March each year. You are going to be wearing some tire out when you drive no matter what. In the long term wear on the snow tires just saves wear on the summer tires. All it actually costs you is the price of the wheels and you can probably sell them if a time comes that you no longer need them.

Now when it is time to replace the summer tires you can leave the all-weather capability out of the tire selection considerations and get the best possible tire for your driving. Having separate sets of tires for the seasons just makes sense. How much are you willing to pay to avoid even one minor fender bender? I lived several years in B'ham and although the snow is infrequent, the roads are sure bad when it does snow.

That's my $0.02.

John

 

[rpm]

I agree with John, so now you have .04.

rpm

 

[jeromep]

Here is another vote for getting steel rims with snow tires. But whatever you do avoid studs. They aren't all that effective when compared to the X-ICE or Blizzak. Studless snowtires grip snow and ice better than studs, but they also save our roads from being chewed up by studs every year. Nothing less intelligent than running on studs for 4 months and only having any use for them for 2 weeks. Running studs on dry pavement is a terrible thing to do. You have a low impact car, get low impact tires to go with it.

 

[hyperion]

Don't they offer the same deal in the Cascades they do in the Sierra's? When they are required for Donner Pass use, the gas stations in Truckee will sell and mount a pair on your car and when you get off the mountain the stations on the other side will buy and remove them from your car. Good salution for the seldom used things. Aside from that I would purchase the least expensive set I could find just on the small chance they will be required. Sure wouldn't bother going through the snow tire hassle if you've never needed them before.

 

[mrv]

There is this old post:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/toy ... sage/22419

That recommended the SAE class "S" chains (restricted wheel clearance), and had good luck with http://tirechain.com/
US Classic: http://tirechain.com/P175-65R-14.htm ($63/pair)
US 2004-?: http://tirechain.com/P185-65R-15.htm ($35-80/pair)

And there is also this old post:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/toy ... sage/17972

 

[hyperion]

NUFF SAID!

 

[Old n Bold]

Thank you mrv. That was what I was looking for.