Winter tips

[PA DETAILER]

A good durable sealant. DP POLI COAT IN THIS CASE.
Wheels coated.
Glass coated.
Trim coated.
Engine cleaned and dressed.
A good winter washer fluid in the resivor.

A winter kit stored in vehicle. Blanket/gloves/jacket/snacks etc...
A fully charged cell phone!

And pray for a mild PA winter!!!

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And WEATHERTECH floor liners!

[Pats300zx]

Great tips. I am definitely up for a mild winter !!!!

[Lonnie]

Three suggestions:
On newer vehicles with carpeted floor mats, change them out for vinyl or rubber floor mats to keep your OEM carpeted floor mats looking new and prevent salt-stains on the carpets mats. Yes, the Weather Tech mats are very good and custom-fit for your particular vehicle(and USA-made and expensive), but if you cannot afford them, you can buy general-purpose, one-size-fits-all mats at Walmart or Sam`s Club or just about any auto-supply store. If you do, DO NOT just lay the vinyl mat over the OEM carpet mat. REMOVE the carpeted mat and let the vinyl mat do its thing over the winter months. You can take them in the house over the winter months and clean them, if they get really dirty and salty OR at least just shake them out once in a while. You do not want to let sand or small gravel (IE; cat litter) that is used as an anti-slip aid for snow and ice on sidewalks, driveways, or parking lots get under your mat and then abrade your foot well carpeting all winter.

I cannot emphasize how important it is to REMOVE ALL SNOW AND ICE FROM YOUR WINDOWS, OUTSIDE MIRRORS, and CAR HOOD BEFORE YOU START DRIVING. Yes, it is time consuming, sometimes nearly impossible if it`s freezing rain and thick ice, or heavy-wet snow, but you need to see where you are going and the other vehicles around you. It`s a huge safety concern to yourself and other drivers. Relying on window defoggers or heaters to melt it as you drive, or the wipers to brush off the snow from just the front windshield, or just driving at speed to blow off the snow is asking for an accident to happen. You will need to invest in a snow brush, a good scrapper, and allow extra time for snow-and-ice removal before your commute on such winter days. If you see other drivers in vehicles with snow all over them driving down the road, stay away from them. They probably cannot see you. AND watch out for semi-trailers that have snow blowing off of their roof. They may have a large sheet of ice that will come off at highway speed and crash into your vehicle. Just avoid driving near them.

This may go without saying, but look at your tires and how much tread you have on them. If they are bald or really worn, consider replacements. Most winter accidents are caused by lose of traction and tires are your ONLY contact patch with the road while driving. Also, check your tire pressure. Tires loose one pound of pressure (1 PSI) for every 10°F drop in temperature. So a tire that is properly inflated at 50°F will be 7 PSI underinflated when it`s -20°F (which is not unusually cold weather in the upper Midwest or Plains) AT least check them once a month. Underinflated tires are the number-one reason for flat tires were the tire comes off the rim and in cold weather you do not want to be on the side of the road.

[06vrss]

A good durable sealant. DP POLI COAT IN THIS CASE.
Wheels coated.
Glass coated.
Trim coated.
Engine cleaned and dressed.
A good winter washer fluid in the resivor.

A winter kit stored in vehicle. Blanket/gloves/jacket/snacks etc...
A fully charged cell phone!

And pray for a mild PA winter!!!

3192331924319253192631927

And WEATHERTECH floor liners!

I thought last winter was fairly mild, at least in SW PA. Not sure we`re lucky enough for two in a row but here`s hoping!

[Accumulator]

This may go without saying, but look at your tires and how much tread you have on them. If they are bald or really worn, consider replacements. Most winter accidents are caused by lose of traction and tires are your ONLY contact patch with the road while driving..

I`d go so far as saying that Winter Tires are mandatory on *EVERY* vehicle, including AWD/4WD. Think different? See what kind of G-forces you can pull on low-friction surfaces with different tires. "Black ice!" or "it was deep snow" are no excuse for not having 100% control of your vehicle at all times.

I run All-Season tires on a few AWD/4WD vehicles during the warm months, and they are simply *NOT* as effective as dedicated winter tires in snow/ice. Not even close.

[Lonnie]

Accumulator:
Aren`t you the same person who said a front-wheel drive vehicle with dedicated Snow/Ice Winter tires is actually better driving -wise on snow than an all-wheel drive vehicle with all-season tires???
Some may "argue" this point UNTIL they have driven a vehicle with dedicated Winter tires on snow or ice. I only have all-seasons on my all-wheel drive vehicle (Subaru Outback) but I do know friends who do the change-over to Winter tires and for them, it`s no comparison: they prefer to drive a vehicle in winter with Snow-&-Ice winter tires, even if it is only front-wheel drive. I know they say it makes a big difference on icy surfaces, especially going around corners; the vehicle does not tend to have the front end slide or "plow" out (understeer)and it feels much more in control.
I think this is one of the reasons our Canadian Autopians in the providence of Ontario are required BBY LAW to have Winter-spec tires on their vehicles. I read in AutoWeek magazine that a study by the Ontario police found that 90% of the winter accidents were caused by vehicles NOT having winter-spec tires. I have heard no numbers on how much of reduction in winter accidents this has led to since this became a law, I believe enacted in 2014??.

[Accumulator]

Accumulator:
Aren`t you the same person who said a front-wheel drive vehicle with dedicated Snow/Ice Winter tires is actually better driving -wise on snow than an all-wheel drive vehicle with all-season tires???...

Glad to see you`re doing your Due Diligence on this subject!

Yes indeed, and that was based on direct first-hand experience. Though actually I`d prefer a *REAR* wheel drive vehicle with good Winter Tires over FWD, but that`s just me. Some of the *BEST* winter vehicles I`ve ever had were RWD with Snows, MUCH better than my 4WD trucks or AWD sedans when the latter wore All Season tires. I`ve had FWD vehicles that remained terrible even *with* snows, but at least they were better than with A/S tires.

Hey, I didn`t expect the tires to make that kind of difference either...back in `87 when I got my first Quattro I expected it to do fine without Winter Tires just as I had expected with FWD vehicles before that. Kept expecting newer generations to do fine...hasn`t happened yet and for me it`s still all about the tires.

But then I`m about Car Control....*stopping and turning* , not just "not getting stuck". No, "black ice" is no excuse for anything; if you`re not in 100% control of your vehicle every moment you`re a [freakin`] menace IMO and I don`t want to share the roads with you. If my wife and I can deal with Winter Weather just fine, even in vehicles without ABS, then so can anybody else.

[Striker]

Having been in the car business since 09, I`ve had the pleasure of driving just about everything you can possibly think of for the average consumer. Accumulator is totally correct.

A fwd application with a good set of winters will destroy an awd car with all seasons. All. Day.

Example: a Toyota Venza awd is absolutely USELESS in the winter months without proper tires.


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[Accumulator]

[Duplicate post deleted, won`t "Delete" properly....]

[Accumulator]

This thread has me missing my old Volvo 245GL wagon! By the time I finished modding it that RWD/non-ABS thing was one of the best winter cars I`ve ever driven, one of my best dog-haulers ever. Incredibly fun to drive once it was all set up right (used to play with guys in "real cars" in traffic ;) ). Gave it to my wife`s niece, who lives down south and has never used the winter wheels/tires.

Striker- What`re you gonna drive in the winter now? You have a nice stable of cars these days!

[LEDetailng]

Having been in the car business since 09, I`ve had the pleasure of driving just about everything you can possibly think of for the average consumer. Accumulator is totally correct.

A fwd application with a good set of winters will destroy an awd car with all seasons. All. Day.

Example: a Toyota Venza awd is absolutely USELESS in the winter months without proper tires.


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I had a 2006 Toyota Avalon FWD that was worthless in the snow. It had the noisiest snow tires on it when I bought it used (May 2008). I put all seasons on it immediately and stored the snow tires. I wondered why it had snow tires and thought what a waste of money. Then December snow came and I wondered no more as to why the previous owner had snow tires. Like an idiot I never remounted the snow tires. I`ve since sold the Avalon, one of the best bang for the buck cars out there. Looks like a grandpa car, but sure was nice. I am going to look into snow tires this year for the first time in my life. Thanks Autopians for the good suggestions.

[Accumulator]

I am going to look into snow tires this year for the first time in my life. Thanks Autopians for the good suggestions.


Good on you!

When comparing, I`d look into how well the tires perform on *ice* as IMO that`s the thing most likely to result in a real disaster. Ice-compound tires wear kinda fast, but mine have lasted a lot longer than I expected. Just get `em off quickly when the weather gets warm.

I`d mount them on dedicated winter tires, but it`s easy for me to spend your money ;) And I generally go "minus-one" on the sizing when the size of the brakes allow it (though the Tahoe has plus-ones as I`m running wheels off the Yukon and they`re fine).

[Striker]

This thread has me missing my old Volvo 245GL wagon! By the time I finished modding it that RWD/non-ABS thing was one of the best winter cars I`ve ever driven, one of my best dog-haulers ever. Incredibly fun to drive once it was all set up right (used to play with guys in "real cars" in traffic ;) ). Gave it to my wife`s niece, who lives down south and has never used the winter wheels/tires.

Striker- What`re you gonna drive in the winter now? You have a nice stable of cars these days!

The fiesta st!


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[Accumulator]

Striker- Ah, that makes sense. Could be downright fun with the right wheel/tire setup as long as the torque-steer isn`t too bad on low-friction surfaces.

[LEDetailng]

Anyone own a WRX with snow/studded tires?:) Now, that is something that would make WI winters more tolerable:)