Where do you live? I'm in SE PA, I didn't use them last winter when we got like 60" of snow but used them the year before. When we had snow they seemed ok. I didn't get stuck anywhere. In my opinion if the tire still has deep tread on it, driving skills are more important than the tire. While I'm sure winter tires would be better, if the 15" conti's only have 1000 miles on them I'd have no problems rocking them where I live.

 

^^ I think driving skill is important as well. A tire ultimately won't save you if you make a stupid mistake or screw around. That said, I never had winter tires when I lived up north because I heard that unless you consistently have snow on the ground, you are wearing them out driving on pavement.

 

in canada, or atleast where i live, its mandatory to have winter tires between november 15th and march 15th

 

Thanks for the replies; I'm located in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. We don't get dumped on like the upper NE, but it's a decent amount.

My commute to work is pretty short too; and that's when it's the worst, early morning when the plows haven't made their rounds. and late at night.

 

From my experience, they're ok in light snow and slushy conditions but they don't do all that well in deaper stuff. Since I switched to summer tires, I just bought a set of winter tires that will be going in the bun in a few weeks.

 

get winter tires if you're going through snow in bad conditions

 

They're pretty average, like everyone else has said. If you take it easy you'll do fine. I personally love and miss my stock Continental tires. I was forced to switch to more expensive "Grand Touring" Cooper CS4 tires and they're TERRIBLE in the rain and snow. They have a nasty tendency to hydroplane and there's way too much sidewall flex (boatloads of understeer). I really wish I could go back to stock. I probably will with all the close calls I've had with these terrible tires.

Honestly all-seasons are never going to give you great performance in the winter. You just have to slow down and take it easy (even with ASR and ESP). The only time you'll get better handling is with winter tires. No matter what crazy tread pattern of all-season tires you get, the rubber compound itself is going to harden at those cooler temperatures. That's what's affecting its ability to grip the road properly. There is no magic brand that I know of beyond those facts.

 

I got some cheapo tires...Nexen Class Premiere in 195/65/R15 and though they don't handle water as well as the Stock Conti's...the value was hard to beat on a tight budget. Got them for 55 a tire with free mounting at the VW Stealership. Best part is, even though the service advisor said he didn't think they were eligible for that 40 dollar rebate they were running earlier this year, I sent it in anyway and I got the check. Boo ya!

 

All seasons start to lose grip, even on a clear road, at road temperatures between 7 & 10 celsius. That's a little below 50 F.
In your area, you probably spend quite a bit of time below 50 F.
Tires are the most important part on your car. If you can't stick to the road, nothing else matters.

 

Very true. Maybe I'll buy some other steelies and run some winter tirer; or I'll run my Classics as my winter wheel.

 

Keep in mind, the wider the tire, the crappier winter performance. Last winter I ran my 17" goals with the stock conti's 225/45/17. They were definitely worse than the stock 15" steelies with the 195/65/15.

 

explain to me why please, i used to believe what you said, but my dad convinced me otherwise

 

yea stick with a thinner tire for the winter. The thinner the tire, the more traction you have in snow. I have had stock conties on my rabbit for 2 years now (in the winter) and both winters they were about 40% or less tread. And i had a blast with them. Absolutly no problems in the ice and the snow. If you drive carefully you shouldnt have problems. I never had any real problem with the contis all year round. Very comfortable, handle good, and last a while with my driving (45k miles and that's just before the wear bar). So i would recommend getting the contis.

 

wouldn't you need more contact on ice?

 

I've always felt the same way. I always go by the belief that the wider the tires are, the better the traction because of the larger contact patch.

BUT some people argue that thinner tires allow the smaller contact patch to DIG INTO the ground more by having more weight applied within a smaller surface area. So theoretically thinner tires would dig deeper into the ground, whereas wider tires would spread the weight out more and have a tendency to float over thick snow/ice.

Honestly it's a tough call to make. You're better off just sticking with winter tires, period. The material is what's going to matter more. If your all-season tires harden up quickly in the cold, it's not going to matter how wide anything is at that point because you're simply not going to get much traction to begin with.

 

just put it this way, my buddy had 36x12" super swamper tires on his truck..i had the stock 195s on my car, his tires had less traction in the snow than my stock contis...why? more weight on a smaller surface.

 

i'm calling into myth busters

 

As mmmoose said, narrow tires cut through the snow more easily while wider tires float in to getting less traction. Would you use ice skates with a wide blade the width of a skate board wheel or a blade that's narrow as is common on all ice skates?

 

that just proves the point, thinner blades provide better acceleration, you dont want that on ice.. you want control

 

It's for control too. If there were a team of ice skaters vs. a team of roller skaters, who do you think would win an ice hockey game?

 

Chuck Norris

 

^lulz. Point for Russ.

 

you guys do know that ice skates rely on the thin side for directional changes. unless you're fine with driving your car with extreme negative camber you'll have no control

 

A wider tire has to move more snow out of the way to dig through to get to pavement or a harder surface to get traction. On ice a wider contact patch would be better, however driving down the road through several inches of snow the skinnier the tire the better. Compare a snow board to a single ski. The snow board will float more on top of the snow.

 

^^ that was my point but i suppose my analogy was unclear. In this example, however, you want the ski/snowboard to float while in a car you don't, hence the narrower tire is better.

 

ahh, theres the problem, no way in canada you'll be able to dig to the pavement with tires

 

Are you trying to drive on top of 2 feet of snow? I know in Canada you'll have snow pack before pavement. The point is to get the tire in contact with a hard surface. The wider tire will float more on top of the snow than a skinnier tire. This will degrade traction. Heck, replace the snow with water, the wider tire will hydroplane quicker than the skinnier tire.

Now, unless you are traveling where there are no roads at the North or South pole, then maybe you'd want really wide tires inflated to the lowest pressure possible to maximize the contact patch to stay on top of the snow. But you would not be going at speeds you would go on a road plus the tread would be much more agressive and studded.

 

Wide tire or thin tire, the AREA of the contact patch is more or less the same, since your tire is supporting the same vehicle weight. It's the SHAPE that matters. Pushing through snow, narrow and long is better than wide and short -- the ski vs snowboard analogy mentioned above.

 

Didn't think this would spark a great debate haha.
I concur with the myth busters; at the very least lets get a tire expert in here.

 

http://www.tirerack.com/winter/tech/techpage.jsp?techid=126