I love my Blizzaks

After today especially.

My SO and I went out for lunch. While there we got freezing rain. Nothing slipperier than wet ice. Lots of cars off the road and some just stopped waiting for the sand truck.

The Blizzaks showed their prowess. I was able to drive at a reasonable speed and able to pass cars an got home safely.

I even passed an Explorer going uphill. It was stopped dead.

One thing I found. Don't rely on the ABS in such conditions. Go back to the old thresh hold braking.

Fun, fun, fun.

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/95-miata-m-disabling-anti-lock-brakes/123272/page1/

iceracer wrote: Curious, what is the reason behind wanting to disable the ABS. Think you can do it better ? Remember, a sliding wheel has almost no traction. You can't steer with a sliding wheel. This from one who got his first ABS equipped vehicle in 2010.

I stand corrected. On special circumstances which occur once every ten years or more.

I can't remember driving on anything this slick.

Think we got the same ice storm yesterday...I love my studded toyos.

Luckily my SO is calm, cool and collected.

She just sat there calmly. commented once in awhile.

i LOVE mine too. I put them on and it warmed up.

I loved Blizzaks when I had them on the Miata. They just chomp and go. But that was a Miata.

My boss just put a set on his Hellcat Charger, so we shall see how that goes...

I live in Wisconsin. I can't think of a single person that I know personally that have/had snow tires. But then again, you mention a sand truck. They've been BRINING our roads since before Thanksgiving.

RossD wrote: I live in Wisconsin. I can't think of a single person that I know personally that have/had snow tires. But then again, you mention a sand truck. They've been BRINING our roads since before Thanksgiving.

Eh, pretty common there in my experience. I used to live in Sheboygan and Appleton. Then again it's also telling that the people I knew who bought them also tended to be other enthusiasts.

I'm probably an anomaly owning a set in NE Indiana but I will own and use snow tires as long as I live any place that gets regular accumulation in winter. It's also worth every penny when I drive up to the Upper Peninsula for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Both drives up this year had awful road conditions.

In reply to Contradiction:

I live in Appleton. The other automotive enthusiasts that I know are the type that like cars and about the only tire talk you'll get is about All- or Mud-Terrains. Oh well, I guess it's who you know.

RossD wrote: In reply to Contradiction: I live in Appleton. The other automotive enthusiasts that I know are the type that like cars and about the only tire talk you'll get is about All- or Mud-Terrains. Oh well, I guess it's who you know.

Haha, we run in different circles then. I know mostly VW, Audi, and BMW guys so it was pretty common that they had a set.

I went to far north VT.to spend Christmas with my daughter and grand children. On the way up, I ran into heavy snow on I-87 near the high peaks area. All traffic was limping along on their warm weather tire around 40 or less mph. One car off already. I just pulled over into the empty left lane and cruised on by at 60+. I did slow own once due to visibility. Drive one winter on winter tires and you will never go back

Both my daughters got fresh winters today. The nurse had to pay for her Ultra grip Ice Goodyear . But the student got her Hankook 419s free.

And depending on the vehicle, I will pull the ABS fuse. Most any GM product will just remove the ability to stop, ever, but my XC90 is programmed well enough that I know I've gone too far if I hear the pump.

Even half tread snow tires on my DD accord goes better than new all weather tires on the Frontier 4x4.

iceracer wrote: All traffic was limping along on their warm weather tire around 40 or less mph. One car off already. I just pulled over into the empty left lane and cruised on by at 60+.

That empty left lane you are talking about was the inside shoulder, wasn't it? At least, it would be here. People are scared enough to go 40, but too stupid to do it in the right lane. My favorite penalty for that is a "twin powerslide" lane change.

Streetwiseguy wrote: Most any GM product will just remove the ability to stop, ever.

I tested SWMBO's '14 Impala's ABS on the first snowy/icy road I had it on. I was actually amazed. It slammed to a halt better than anything I had ever seen. On a downhill grade, on Winterforces. I don't know if GM finally figured it out, or what.

In reply to snailmont5oh:

They finally figured out ABS. My Buick has none of the panic inducing traits of my Malibu or Cavilier

In reply to Wall-e:

Wow. I think the terrifying GM stuff started in 88 or so, and a 14 works well. Only took 25 years or so for the engineers there to figure out what most other manufacturers did in one generation of programming.

Good work.

I had a friend in high school with a Saturn SL2 that somehow had ABS. The ABS on that thing was truly frightening.

I don't mind ABS as much as traction control. In my '03 VW, I shut the traction control off as soon as conditions turn sketchy. IMHO, a car is harder to control when it doesn't slide when you expect it to.

For me, the amazing thing about Blizzaks isn't how well they can help a car//truck "go" but how well they help something stop. My '95 Cummins 4x4 (~6000 lbs empty) with W965's seemed like it defied the laws of physics when driving on ice compared to the more normal A/T tires that were previously on it.

My early comment on resorting to threshold braking before the ABS kicked in may have been a little misleading.

It simply was that the threshold for braking on this wet, smooth ice was lower than the ABS threshold. A very gentle touch on the brake pedal was all that would give some slowing. Otherwise, my ABS works OK.

In reply to snailmont5oh: Nope, fortunately we had good lane usage. Everyone poked along in the right lane. The left lane was snow covered which kept it clear for me.

I had a similar circumstance in VT a couple years ago.

still love mine. They are doing a fantastic job of keeping the snow and ice away! Haven't had to use them once in snow.

Ice storm here Xmas day. All roads covered w/ice and then snow showers. Difficult to walk and sand/salt trucks busy on major roads. CX-5 AWD with Blizzaks did not engage traction control or ABS with cautious driving. Tacoma 4x4 with Altimax Arctics was not as capable on the ice.

I think the problem most people have with traction control is the blinking light.

Mine comes on when I don't even feel the wheel/wheels spinning. Usually blinks three or four times then all is good.