Re: Are Snow Tires Needed For TCH
Yesterday I swapped my all season tires for my set of new goodyear ultra grip ice tires in prep for a ski trip today. (Three hours changing four wheels ... duh ... but that's a different story.) The forecast called for heavy snow all day today, and I figured I'd get a good test in conditions I've learned to distrust, or rather, fear. In my 40 years of skiing and mountain driving I've learned that winter road surfaces are unpredictable in dangerous ways.
The weather was heavy rain instead, and the road was snowcovered only for the last few miles, and that turned to packed slush, which is nasty.
The tires were great on the slick surface. I had to force things to get the traction control to kick in. With the TCH's great VDIM, along with these tires in winter, I think I won't fear an uncontrolled slide any more.
Other nice surprises: My mileage for the 200 mile round trip was 37.8mpg at 37psi. The tires are quiet on the TCH. They don't hydroplane (today they had their chances!) They have a nice ride. I'd expected them to be clunky feeling and noisy, but they're not!
I'll take them off in April to save wear, though I think by then I'll be liking them more than my regular goodyear ResponsEdge tires, which are lively but often noisy, with worse mpg (but they're 17" on heavier-than-OEM wheels, so it's not their fault).
Anyway, as long as I'm skiing, I'll be using non-studded winter tires like my new ones.
Today's skiing, by the way, sucked. But that's another different story.
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