Snow tires

[Napoleon54]

I'm wondering if I should get a set of snow tires. I never thought about snow tires in the past because either 1)I was too broke to consider it (student years), or 2)I had a 4x4 with decent all season tires. Neither is true this time around.

I'm in a snowy/icy area (NH), I live on a bit of a hill, and I'd rather not have to shovel every morning just to get out of my driveway. I'm leanin' toward investing in some snow tires.

For a front wheel drive car (Jetta), how important are snow tires in the rear? I'm guessing it would help with braking and fishtailing, but is it significant?

I'm leaning toward getting snows for just the front.

[cheapie]

how old are your current tires?

[renovation]

i have found with are front wheel drive vues and other front drives. if are all season tires are in good to new conds. that we get around just fine.as for ice nothing will make a diffrents except stud in your tires and around here in michigan there not allowed any more. most newer cars have traction control built in now a days so thats a big help on snow anyway. now if your running hi performance tires on your vw .then snow tire may be better becouse the design and tread will be a big improvement.

let me back up tire chains will help on ice as they will tear the ice up .but if not installed right they will damage tires and maybe a whole lot more !

[MrGreg]

I've got a set of Dunlop Wintersport M3s on my WRX, but I go up the mountain quite a bit, so the see a lot of snow/ice. I'd highly recommend them for performance snow tires.

[Napoleon54]

how old are your current tires?

About 7k, and they're Michelin Energy MXV4 S8. It looks like a pretty standard tire (not labeled as all-season, not an agressive tread). Michelin says good for wet weather and fuel economy, but nothing about snow. http://www.michelinman.com/tires/luxury-performance-touring/energy-mxv4-s8/89947/

[Napoleon54]

I've got a set of Dunlop Wintersport M3s on my WRX, but I go up the mountain quite a bit, so the see a lot of snow/ice. I'd highly recommend them for performance snow tires.

Thanks for the tip, I'll keep an eye out for them. There are a lot of hills in my area... I live on one and work is on another. It's all paved though, no dirt. Roughly a quarter of the pepole I work with live on dirt roads.

[attgig]

About 7k, and they're Michelin Energy MXV4 S8. It looks like a pretty standard tire (not labeled as all-season, not an agressive tread). Michelin says good for wet weather and fuel economy, but nothing about snow. http://www.michelinman.com/tires/luxury-performance-touring/energy-mxv4-s8/89947/


looking at feedback on those tires from tirerack, It looks like getting some snow tires may be a good idea:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Energy+MXV4+S8&partnum=965HR5MXV4ES8&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&place=27&speed_rating=H&speed_rating=V&speed_rating=Z&speed_rating=W&speed_rating=Y&speed_rating=(Y)&minSpeedRating=H