Tires or Technology?

[Atomb]

Hypothetical (but possible real!) question:You have 2 cars..one has snow tires but no technology (ABS, Electronic Stability Control, Electronic Traction Control).The second car has all season tires along with ABS, ESC, and ETC.The roads are slippery and you HAVE to drive somewhere...which car do you take?I purposely left AWD out of the scenario as that's too obvious....

[WaveAction]

thats a tough one, cause i never owned anything like that..right now the vibe is in the neither category..got all seasons and no technology..where as my sunfire had snow tires and just ABS and ETC..which i hated

[coldmm803]

i think it depends, at this point i'm not sure which i'd choose. it depends on what the cars are unless their the same, the quality of the all season tires (similar to the conti's that the vibe came with or a set of michelins). i've not driven a car with quality all seasons and snow tires at a later time to know the difference the snow tires would make. my vibe has all seansons and no technology. previous vehicle was a truck with bad tires (nearly bald)

[zionzr2]

take the bus!

[vibe-04]

good question on snow but rain would be a diferent situation.My experience is that technology cannot compensate for poor driving or lack of experience in a particular car's handling characteristics.01 Accord V6, ABS, TCS: handles like a pig in snow, heavy car, Mich's Artic Aplins help but in slush the tcs/abs kick in constantly. The weight makes it a slug in winter.04 Vibe base, Mich's X-ICE: Its light weight and good tires makes snow driving fun. Stopping is no problem, I have wheel spin on acceleration from a stop so I often up to 2nd to reduce spin. The weight ditributing on the Vibe is great as it tracks straight in a lock up.87 Bronco-II 4X4, Brutal rear wheel drive fish tail with all seasons and your heading straght to the nearest ditch but a billy goat in 4x4 mode. Invincible! Had to sell because of inurance and gas $$$$$$$.I would suggest to all who drive in snow to spend some time to learn how you car handles during hard braking and steering avoidance in snow. After all, ABS and TCS are to help steer more than stop.Drive safeAndrew

[keithvibe]

i would take both cars to an empty parking lot and put them threw the paces to see what would work better. I do that with every car I have ever owned to know what the threshold is on traction and steering ect....

[18stars]

It's all about traction and grip. I'd take snows over technology any day.

[Sublimewind]

I'd take snows over tech.... I have the advantage in the snow with the Subie and snow tires, BUT I USUALLY PULL THE ABS fuse in the winter to relieve myself of the ABS that kicks in WAY to early in the snow.. I don't have traction control or any other electronic gizmo's so I can't compare. Nothing can replace ecpierence when driving in the snow, I've spent literally hours in empty parking lots testing the limits of my cars handling, why, well how would know what ones car is going to do in any given situation, so testing the limits lets you know where you stand in a "panic" situation.I've always tried to get my mother out in her car and tried sliding it around to help her see where the limits are, alas, she's scared to DEATH of driving in the snow and I constantly fear the day she has to make a snap decision while driving to/from workTech can only do you so much, when there is little to no traction, thech can't do you much of anything...

[Herb]

There was a report on the radio from a tire guy stating that the cheapest/worst snow rated tire is better than the best all seasons any day.Only exception might be all weather tires that are rated snow/mud. Even then it's maybe.The issue is the tire compound for snows allows for better gripping. This is particularily more noticible as the weather gets colder. Regular tires are hard as rock and tend to slip easier, where as snow tires are softer and grip easier.

[Whelan]

I say neither is better and it's all based on the driver's experience.

[chevelle_lover]

I think that it would depend on what the individual driver is like. I have always driven vehicles that do not have the electronic controllers on them. All of my vehicles are basic that have no ABS no Stabilitrak. The only thing that they might have are posi-traction rear ends. I would take the one with the snow tires. My cousin who has only driven these would depend on the car that has all of the technology.

[lovemyraffe]

Quote, originally posted by chevelle_lover »I think that it would depend on what the individual driver is like. +1I don't run snow/studded tires at all. I have a great all season tire from Toyo, that is amazing. I've use this tire on many different cars including my wife's Jetta. 99% of the time it is plenty of traction.

[northvibe]

tires

[tribalman]

i agree with driver and good tires over tech.while i think i have ABS on my vibe, i'm not braking hard when stopping in ice/snow for it to engage so i have to pump the brakes manually.this is actually funny, last night we had a layer of ice due to a rain storm and 20*weather. the ice was on all the roads because this county is kinda famous for not doing any plowing/salting until the next day. as i was driving home from my friend's house i saw a 4x4 stuck sideways on a road with the back tires up to the curb. he was unable to pull away from the curb, just kept spinning the tires. and there was me, bald as heck RSAs slipping a bit, but under general control. only bad slippage i got was from when the road was empty and i pulled the ebrake. i purposly let myself spin out a bit so when i actually need to do it, i can instintively do what i need to. hopefully i, and everyone else on this forum, don't need to do this.

[Mavrik]

snow tires and no ABS. thats how I rolled successfully for 4 winters with my Vibe.

[AKLGT]

tires will make it or break it! I ran with stock all seasons my first winter in the LGT with AWD, ABS, etc. still ended up in the backend of a pick up. Now I roll with some awesome studded snow tires and have no issues. Even in the VGT rolling on studded snow tires, unless I was on a hill, I made it through ok (unless attempting to do do nuts in the snow).

[psiu]

Not surprising that tires + driver is winning...most people on this board, probably rather obviously, like driving :DI definitely went with tires and my awesome skills as well I dislike ABS. Luckily the Vibe doesn't have it. My Neon does and I tend to lift off about the same time it's kicking in (reflexes die hard) and then start muttering at it.Still think the one winter time accident I got in would've been prevented WITHOUT abs. Hmmph.

[northvibe]

Quote, originally posted by psiu »Not surprising that tires + driver is winning...most people on this board, probably rather obviously, like driving :DI definitely went with tires and my awesome skills as well I dislike ABS. Luckily the Vibe doesn't have it. My Neon does and I tend to lift off about the same time it's kicking in (reflexes die hard) and then start muttering at it.Still think the one winter time accident I got in would've been prevented WITHOUT abs. Hmmph.hahah yeah i catch myself pumping brakes but do it so the abs doesnt kick in...depends on how/where im sliding and on what sort of condition. duluth is full of crazy hills. snow tires, wow made a huge difference though!!

[Whelan]

I've driven cars with no good tires and no ABS or traction control, nothing. And made it through the snow fine. I've driven cars with so so tires and ABS traction, still was able to make it around.I drove my 02 Civic without snow tires, ABS no traction and could not get anywhere if it snowed. The car was too light and even when I put on snow tires, it still slid around regardless of my driving.Flash to my 05 Matrix XR AWD with the ABS and a set of Kumho Ecsta ASX all season high performance tires. Best combination, gets me up the hills, around the corners and moving with safety at slow speeds in the snot.

[Sublimewind]

Quote, originally posted by Whelan »Flash to my 05 Matrix XR AWD with the ABS and a set of Kumho Ecsta ASX all season high performance tires. Best combination, gets me up the hills, around the corners and moving with safety at slow speeds in the snot. Oh, but imagine what it could be with actual snow tires... well, try to imagine, because it's still a lot different than even REALLY good A/S tires...