Derk-xB

I thought the xB did well in Salt Lake City during the winter, but my wife is now the main driver of the xB. She's a little worried about her commute - The Dalles to Hood River - during the winter, so I told her I'd ask around and see if anyone thinks snow tires would be a good idea.

I have a feeling that a good set of all-season tires will do just fine, especially since the car did just fine in Salt Lake.

Any input?

mattross

I would recomend snow tires or at least carry chains. Your area get's the majority of the snow and ice. ODOT always closes I-84 between Hood River and The Dalles due to ice and snow. Plus it gets real windy there in the winter.

kenr74

You will have more problems with ice than snow in the gorge. A set of studded tires will be help.

robbiej

^ditto

Derk-xB

Hmm.... Studded tires on the xB. Never thought I'd need to do that.

Thanks for the input so far. I definately appreciate it. Anyone else want to chime in?

sixpac440

I live in Michigan and this will be my 1st winter with a box.
I read up on it and chose an all season 185/60/15 Yokohama Avid TRZs.
You can read up on them here http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....Model=AVID+TRZ

I have driven about 1000 miles on them and I like them tho I have not encountered snow yet.

andersg

I have heard that the tires made to grip on ice (not sure what they are called) are better than studs. And that stip of road is one of the worst for ice anywhere. The wind gets blowing and freezes everything.

cherryBox

you may find the tirerack reviews helpful, although I only found one review of winter tires:
click here

I also saw the blizzaks, and they look good:

sixpac440

Tho I used Tire Rack for information I called up Discount tire and they were able to special order the Yokohamas and have them the next day.

I paid $305 installed, balanced ECT. Tire rack would have been $325 (total including install, balance ECT).
Also I would have had to wait for them to be mailed to me then I would have had to bring them to an installer.

I read up on the snow tires and they are better than the TRZs but I wanted an all-season tire so I wouldn’t have to buy 2 sets.

Sounds like that Stretch of I-84 is real bad and might require a dedicated snow tire.

kenr74

I used to live in Troutdale and loved having the studded tires on. The area between Troutdale and The Dalles can turn to a skating rink with a little rain and wind.

Derk-xB

My brother lives in Ellensburg, WA and I know I'll be travelling over those passes. I bet they get pretty nasty in the winter, too.

Looks like I'll be researching studded tires soon.

kenr74

One other thing is that most of the shops around here will only sell you studs if you do all four corners. That is the right way to do it anyway so you have stopping traction but if you are young and poor(like me) you can get away with front only if you can find somebody to sell you only two.

I had a little Geo Metro with front studs that could go anywhere.........until I got it high centered of course.