Snow tires on a Saturn???

I have never thought about that but it does make logical sense. You're
probably right! I have been doing this for the past 6 to 7 years. I
thought being the front heavy as most front wheel driver vehicle are and
most of the breaking power (~60%) are in front so stopping distance would
improve and I can tell the difference. The fact that back wheel will spin
around is logical only when you turn. I agree 4 wheel winter tires are
better than 2 and I still think 2 is still better than none base on my
winter exposure. I guess having 4 wheel ABS on the car make a difference in
controlling the car during braking.

"Roy" <crawroy @ nbnet.nb.ca> wrote in message
...
> And as sombody pointed out in another thread on tires having grip in the
> front and less in the back can cause the back end to come around during
> braking or on sharp corners. I would definately suggest all four if you
can
> afford it, if not then maybe shop for 4 used winter tires. They may not
have
> all the tread but at least they should be a softer compound and grip a
> little better on the packed snow.
> "Napalm Heart" > wrote in message
> ...
> > You really should run snow tires on all for wheels due to the
> > difference in handling characteristics. Quite possibly the snow tires
> > will be of a different size than the other tires.
> >
> >
> > > wrote in message
> > ...
> >> On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 04:47:01 -0500, "Paul" > wrote:
> >>
> >> >If you can afford snow tires than I would recommend you to 2 of get
> > them for
> >> >the front. It can only improve your traction and safety. All
> > season tire
> >>
> >> Does having two radically different tires effect the handling, or
> > safe
> >> stopping?
> >>
> >>
> >> >tread compound are not the same as snow tire especially under
> > freezing
> >> >condition. You can quickly loose control on highway without time
> > to react.
> >> >Sure front wheel drive care is an improvement over rear wheel drive
> > car but
> >> >front wheel drive car with snow tire is added extra security. All
> > wheel
> >> >drive vehicle like Subaru even better. Now in Cleveland is much
> > diff. than
> >> >Canada where our temperature can drop below 0F plus heavy snow,
> > snow-drift
> >> >over the highway, local roads (except main street) is always
> > covered with
> >> >snow and ice. Driving with all season tire you will get stuck in
> > just few
> >> >inches of snow like this poster said.
> >> >
> >> >"Roy" <crawroy @ nbnet.nb.ca> wrote in message
> >> ...
> >> >> My girlfriend had brand new all seasons on her 98 SL1 and on my
> > SL1 I had
> >> >2
> >> >> year old winter tires with 40,000 km on them. She got stuck in
> > her
> >> >driveway
> >> >> and after another 3 inches of snow I drove out to pick her up.
> > The next
> >> >day
> >> >> we went to get her some snow tires too. I would most definitely
> > recommend
> >> >> snow tires to anyone who could afford them (maybe even if you
> > couldn't).
> >> >>
> >> >> "Dick Snyder" > wrote in message
> >> >> ...
> >> >> > My daughter has a 1993 Saturn SL2. She has just moved to
> > Cleveland from
> >> >> > California. I'm sure this newsgroup has posted articles from
> > time to
> >> >time
> >> >> > about the advisability of snow tires on a Saturn but I can't
> > find any
> >> >just
> >> >> > now or anything very good with a Google search. A search of the
> > tire
> >> >rack
> >> >> > website was nice but they are in the business of selling tires
> > after
> >> >all.
> >> >> > Can anyone here recommend a good resource that can answer the
> > question
> >> >or
> >> >> > at least give some good information about whether or not it
> > would be
> >> >> > advisable for her to buy snow tires?
> >> >> >
> >> >> > TIA.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > Dick Snyder
> >> >> >
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >
> >>
> >> thanks,
> >>
> >> tom @ www.CarFleaMarket.com
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>
>

Dick,

I live in the Cleveland area, we get 2-5 bad snow falls a year and lots of
lesser ones. Keep in mind on that most winter days the roads are clear and
dry.

I put 4 snow tires on my Saturns. This costs $400-600 dollars if you buy an
extra set of 4 steel wheels, which is what I did.

I recommend you spend lots of time at the Tire rack site.

If I remember correctly, they say that snow tires give you something like a
20% advantage over regular tires. (Check me on that.) But my point is, for
lots of people the extra expense may not be worth it in Cleveland. I view it
like insurance. $500 worth of tires might save me a tow charge or my life!

I do not recommend the generic wheels that Tire Rack or Discount Tire will
sell you. They are "Lug centric", the wheel does not center itself on the
spindle. This caused me vibrations at speed. I went to Blackburns in
Macedonia and got used "hub centric" wheels. Even though they were used,
the wheels were truly round and I had no vibrations.

Hope this helps.

Jerry



"Dick Snyder" > wrote in message
...
> My daughter has a 1993 Saturn SL2. She has just moved to Cleveland from
> California. I'm sure this newsgroup has posted articles from time to time
> about the advisability of snow tires on a Saturn but I can't find any just
> now or anything very good with a Google search. A search of the tire rack
> website was nice but they are in the business of selling tires after all.
> Can anyone here recommend a good resource that can answer the question or
at
> least give some good information about whether or not it would be
advisable
> for her to buy snow tires?
>
> TIA.
>
> Dick Snyder
>
>

i dont like snow tires but i dont live in cleavland either but i did
try out a tire by Bridgestone called Blizak, i got to drive it on an
ice rink. it worked awesome and there was no spikes to it, just all
rubber. i made a 90 degree turn doing about 15 miles and hour, like i
was on dry pavement. now this was in a toyota rav 4 but you should
check the bridgestone website to see about smaller saturn
sizes.\\195.135.221.132
On Sat, 25 Dec 2004 08:36:58 -0500, "Dick Snyder"
> wrote:

>My daughter has a 1993 Saturn SL2. She has just moved to Cleveland from
>California. I'm sure this newsgroup has posted articles from time to time
>about the advisability of snow tires on a Saturn but I can't find any just
>now or anything very good with a Google search. A search of the tire rack
>website was nice but they are in the business of selling tires after all.
>Can anyone here recommend a good resource that can answer the question or at
>least give some good information about whether or not it would be advisable
>for her to buy snow tires?
>
>TIA.
>
>Dick Snyder
>