Winter cross climate tire choice (snows vs all-season) opinions

[prsa01]

Looking for opinions and previous experience -

Somewhere in the February timeframe we'll be taking our first long winter drive from MN to Savannah area for 2 - 3 weeks. I'll certainly have my snows on before I leave and will have them back on once I get back. Trying to decide whether to switch to my all-season for the trip.

Additional info -
Snows are about mid-point in their life. Good for 1 - 2 more winters if NOT used for the trip.

Summer tires are at ~ 8/32 (~ 80%) and are a decent tread all-season.

Trade-offs - Snows won't be ideal for some of the high speeds likely on the trip and will wear faster in the warmer (expected) temps in the south. OTOH, significant portions of the trip could certainly have snowy conditions along the way. May require more careful driving but certainly can be dealt with the all-seasons.

So, thoughts/experiences?

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

Take the snows off. Unlikely you'll need them and they'll wear a lot on dry highways. If you do get caught in snow close to home the all-seasons will do OK as they're pretty new. You'll just have to be a little more careful.

 

[gearheadgrrrl]

Done the winter round trip from MN to FL many times, usually watch the weather and thanks to being a retiree with an open schedule I get clear roads all the way. That said, have still run through ice and snow as far south as central Arkansas a few times.

 

[GlowBugTDI]

Ive never ran anything but all seasons and ive never had an issue. Ive driven through drifts deep enough it was sending snow over the windshield to the point I almost couldn't see. I live in the "boonies" so i drive a lot of back roads and most are always covered in ice/snow. Never had a problem. All that to say I think you'll be fine for a few weeks

 

[Andyinchville1]

HI,

Personally I have never bought dedicated or any true snow tires .... always all seasons.

While I live in VA now , we used to spend winters in MI where you can get upwards of 7 to 8 inches of snow but being that it was flat there, we never really had issues getting around in a vehicle with just all seasons.

On the other hand, moving to VA it was possible to get stuck with just a few inches of snow because it was much more hilly.

If it is relatively flat where you live or travel I probably would not bother with the snows at all and just go all season for your trip (if you want to be really cautious maybe invest in some tire chains and put them in the trunk .... or maybe just kitty litter and a good shovel).

Side note : I did have a van from PA that came with rear snow tires (I did not buy themcame on the van already) , and I just ran them as usual .... even through the warm months / summer since I did not want to buy additional tires to swap out or extra wheels to run the winters in winter only .... The rears wore out surprisingly quickly when compared to the front all season tires though but I guess that was to be expected.

Andrew

 

[prsa01]

Thanks, guys!

Pretty much what I thought but appreciate the input.

 

[vandermic07]

Growing up we took a few trips to Florida and the south from PA in October-november. Everytime we encountered a massive snow storm as soon as we got back to PA. We made it home ( the end of the driveway) everytime with snows on the 2wd astro van. The last time we took the Astro we had studded tires on in Florida. Dad didn't take any chances. Lol