GregCanada

Studs are for ice for when you live in rural areas or far north where it is snow covered all winter. You probably aren't allowed to use studs in NYC (they tear up the asphalt). So no, you wont run them.

General Altimax are good tires as well. Blizzak, X-ice, Altimax, you cant go wrong. I run Goodyear's ultra grip on my tacoma and they work pretty well. Quiet on the road. Very good on ice.

DMPesso

Yea studs are legal between October and April or something in NYC

MattyG

I had them on the aforementioned 1996 Camry. They worked wonders on Goodyear Nordics. But they will 'hum" at freeway/highway speeds. Really depends on you I suppose. The other thing is newer tire tech almost precludes using studs. I know some of these winter tires are marketed as "studless" winter tires. Studded winters also handle a little differently on bare cold pavement than winter tires.

But anecdotally that Camry came to a stop on the highway one day due to an ignition issue and the tow truck driver who came to get me saw that I had winters/studs and told me I was one of the rare smart drivers he'd seen for doing that (he pulled a lot of people out of ditches and such in the winter time).

firelizard

iTrader: (1)

I have 215/60-16 Hankook iPike on my GS430. My car was undrivable on the sporty all-seasons I bought it with, it was a legitimate safety issue. The GS is a pretty ****ty winter car for a lot of reasons, but with winter tires at least traction is now reasonable.

liazon

iTrader: (1)

I found the 430 to be all but worthless in Denver's winters. Anything over 2-3 inches on the ground and it was going nowhere. I had a set of winter studded snows on my sc400 and found them to be pretty ineffective too, and definitely not worth the noise and rough ride all the days when snow wasn't on the ground. from posts here, it sounds like others have had more luck than i, but my opinion is 100% buy a front wheel drive beater for winter.

MattyG

This is good advice. If my 96 Camry hadn't been wiped out in an accident, I would be using it as my preferred and wonderful winter car. FWD, winter studded tires and great heat and smooth ride.

I agree. It was never meant to be a proper winter car. If it had come with an AWD option that would be something else to talk about. But ground clearance is the other issue here. Subarus for eg. have decent ground clearance and AWD. That's what helps them get through winter roads quite easily.

I've actually learned to enjoy my GS's capabilities with its winters now. But in any sort of deep wintery blizzard situation... forget it. I risk getting stuck if snow plows have not been out.

firelizard

iTrader: (1)

Really? I haven't been stuck with the snow tires on yet. Constantly, with all-seasons, but never with the winters, even in fresh snow.

MattyG

How deep? Fresh snow or hard packed crusty deep uncleared ruts? Scraping crusty hard deep packed stuff that will tear off your exhaust? These are important questions to understand. Anybody can hoon around in light stuff or a moderate snowfall. A full on proper Southern AB blizzard will see four wheel pickups upside down on their roofs. It's all relative about not getting stuck.

firelizard

iTrader: (1)

Seen it all. Winnipeg.

MattyG

On 16's? Yes, and that was my original point. Nothing I haven't seen in High Prairie, Grande Prairie, Lloydminster, Edmonton and of course Calgary. As I've mentioned a couple of times now. My previous owner chose 17's with the factory size.

DMPesso

wow I cannot even imagine driving any RWD car in Denver, those mountains and turns are insane. Even without snow I was paranoid driving around those mountains. I saw 2 cars that flipped over and almost fell off the mountain while I was there.

DMPesso

well with snow like this I wouldn't expect the GS to drive. But in NORMAL snow hopefully with snow tires I wont be slipping around everywhere. I cannot justify a new car just because of snow.

DMPesso

damn now you guys are making my think that anything more then 3" of snow, the GS is useless even with the best snow tires.

kamlung

iTrader: (8)

you are overthinking it... we live in the snow belt but we don't live in Buffalo and get snow effect... you have some relief being in BK as most of the snow breaks up by the time it gets to Manny-Hatty and then over the east river... i get the brunt of it 30 miles west of you...

i've owned my GS for 7 yrs and have been thru the worst of it on the same tires you have (Conti DWS)... you just have to be smart about how you drive and know your limits... keep it in snow mode and turn traction control off if you are moving from a complete stop... i've gotten home in over 6" of snow but that is because i knew how to use momentum on my side... how much are your really driving your car out in BK anyway? is the car parked on the street? usually with any type of blizzard the cars are buried for weeks and you just cab/uber everywhere anyway... i went out and bought an SUV 2 yrs ago before my daughter was born and so far it was overkill... we got snow once last winter?

GH5T

To the OP I'm a few hundred miles south of you in Maryland. We don't get as much snow in the winter as you do, but this past winter will be the last one I drive my LS400 without winter only tires. If you want to keep the GS get your self a set of junk yard GS430 wheels and a set of Blizzaks for the winter. It'll be a lot less expensive than acquiring another vehicle for winter driving