Snow Tires

lostinthewoods · December 2, 2003

This is my first winter with a 98 GS300. I am about to purchase snow tires. Some one has said that I must have four... is that true? I was planning on just two for the rear. Please help. Thanx

SKperformance · December 2, 2003

With a front wheel dirve car you can barley get away with 2 front snows alone.

With a rwd drive car it is much more of a hazard to drive klike that.

You basically would have to decide which is more important , driving in a straight lline (rear wheels)or cornering and braking( front wheels).

tds · December 3, 2003

You should absolutely go with 4 snow tires. Placing two different types of tires on a car is dangerous. Either install 4 snow tires or 4 all season tires, but never mix the two!

Snow tires are not only used to get you moving in snow. When you drive around a curve or brake to a stop, all 4 tires must have the same traction. This keeps the car balanced for both driving and braking, keeps the car stable and is key in extremely slippery conditions.

As well, many drivers will opt to use all season tires instead of snow tires in cold weather. This is a mistake. All season tires are a compromise between hot summer temps and cold winter temps. They are good at neither. Snow tires are formulated to have a softer rubber at cold temps which helps the tire grip better (remember that there are many days with cold temp and no snow). As well they have sipes in the tire to help grip ice and an agressive tread pattern for snow.

Hope this helps.

Dan