Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General First time driving the SVT in the snow

Ditto last post...

Had my car inspected last feb/march, the shop rotated back tires to front. Well the fronts were almost shot and the rears were nice.

So now I had good tires up front and [censored] in the back. Went around a right hand turn doing 35 and the ass just let loose and almost took me and the car because I didn't expect it. It wasn't till after that I realized they put the crappy tires on the back.

obviously dont have 2 bald tires and 2 new tires. if you have to buy only 2 snow tires i would probably put them on the front assuming u have allseasons with lots of tread in the back. now if u have hipo tires please dont think having snow tires in the front and hipo's in the back is a good idea. i cant stand seeing these hondas with steelies in the front and their 18s in the back with rubberbands. the winter's gonna eat up the wheels to start, wear out the summer tires and wont match the front tires stored away (rotation is gonna be thrown off), and summer tires simply arent made to handle temps below like 40F. different rubber compound and all. you might as well have comletely bald tires in the rear on those 18s. buy 4 snow tires. if all u do is drive straight then put the 2 snows in the back. if u have to turn onto a hill like my street your gonna want snow tires on the front wheels and very slow gas in 2nd to creep onto my street and make the turn. get the 4 snow tires.

and if u have gc's, raise them. thats the advantage of them and get it realigned. i do it before and after winter.

Look at the article SAV posted - 55mph wet skidpad?? If anyone is taking corners at 55 MPH in heavy rain or snow your asking for trouble no matter what tires your running.

If your going to run 2 snow tires you should put them on the front. Why? B/C the front tires need traction for accelleration AND braking. Which is more important, being able to stop quickly or taking corners at 55 in the snow? The spinout problem can be solved by taking corners slower.

OK point taken about non-snow tires in the article. But I stand behind my comment about having 2 snow tires in the front if your going to only have 2 of them. And adjust your driving habits accordingly.

I put my factory 16's back on with those new Nitto NT SN1 snow tires and wow I couldn't have been more please for the $359 I spent on them. I had to drive the first day of winter on my 17's with 215/45's not pretty. Definately get a set of winter tires if you are driving an SVT in the winter or any car for that matter.

Rara I agree 100%, and I have experienced the snap oversteer from bad rear tires before. My point is that - if for whatever reason youre forced to run only 2 snow tires, like I was last weekend for a short time, they need to go on the front otherwise the car will barely be able to acellerate or stop at all in any kind of snow or ice.

i have 4 new snow tires on my lx, and its incredible compared to the 16" stock focus tires that were on my focus last winter, that thing wouldnt go anywhere, now with these new tires on the contour i park in my front yard when there is no room, i live in erie, pa, we get plenty of snow