Does grill block reduce engine oxygen intake?

You could try the Nokian WRG2 to see if they work well enough for your use. They are true "all season" tires, and work well in summer and heavy rain so that would cover the "rest of the year". If you are also happy with them in winter then you wouldn't have to change tires.

I use the Nokian WR (older version of the above tires) and am very happy with them.

If you -insist- on driving on freezing rain and ice in very cold temps. (below 0F) on the highway studded tires are probably the best solution, as Jayman posted.

In city use, I've used the WRs on freezing rain. They got me safely there and back, but I was of course, worried someone would slide into me.

I've driven on the highway many times in "bad" conditions, and have the gray hairs to prove it. Don't do that anymore if I can avoid it.

 

Well, again, after having tried wonderful studless winter tires on my Prius, and the FJ, I would never go back to them. In my book, studded tires are the only "real" winter tire, especially the new factory studded Nokian Hakkapeliitta 5's.

 

Still undecided on what do do, but I have one of the worst driveways [img=http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/3921/1driveway.th.jpg] ever. My moms 4 wheel drive V8 Ford Explorer slides down while trying to drive up it. Might have to consider the studded.

 

Only a studded tire could handle a driveway like that. With any amount of ice, forget about it, a four wheel drive will spin all 4 "all season" tires

 

How many miles are the hakkapeliita 5's rated for?

 

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Sorry for the double post, I'm on my BlackBerry so I can't edit. Would it be better from a cost standpoint to buy a new set of rims for a set of winter tires? If the winter tires had their own set, couldn't I just put them myself, or do all newly installed tires need to be aligned/balanced? If the latter is the case, I guess it wouldn't cost that much for the place doing the installation to switch over the rims to the winter tires, correct? I have never changed tires and this is my first vehicle so I'm not really sure about what's best.

 

Snow tires are NOT rated for life. That said, I've always gotten 5-6 winter seasons out of a set of dedicated winter tires, before they were worn to the point of needing replacement

Long-term, yes its much better to have separate wheels, preferably steel, for winter use. You not only save the aluminum wheels from the salt they spread on the roads in winter, but you can then easily swap them over, in the comfort of your own garage

If you insist on reusing the wheels, and paying somebody to dismount/mount the "all seasons" and winter tires, you're going to scratch the rims. I know that tire installer "professionals" claim the modern equipment no longer scratches rims, but that is bulls***

Also, keep mounting/dismounting, sooner or later you'll pick up an odd vibration. The reason why factory tires/wheels are so smooth these days is because they use a Road Force balance to match the wheel to the rim, right at the factory.

Not too many tire shops have a machine like this, to allow them to match wheels to tires, and do a dynamic balance

Hunter GSP9700 Wheel vibration Control System solves wheel vibration and tire pull problems that balancers and aligners can?t fix

A Road Force balance is quite a bit more, easily 4x the cost, of a traditional static balance. Not something you want to repeat twice a year, is it?

Also, if you use aftermarket steel wheels for winter, you MUST get a set of proper "acorn" style lugnuts to fit them. If you attempt to use the OEM Toyota lugnuts for their factory aluminum wheels, they will dangerously loosen up on you

For the 2004-2009 Prius, the lugnut is M12-1.5 x 21mm thread. The NAPA part number is 10#641-2042, you can usually get them for $1 each

Mods: I'm wondering if we can somehow merge this off-tangent winter tire discussion into one of the existing winter tire threads. There is good information presented here, that may be lost if one is just searching by thread topic

 

pictures never really show the true story. slope does not look bad but then again, last winter (which was just before the hottest summer ever) we had one of the worst for snowfall ever. we started with a few feet of snow, coupled that with a few days of typical winter with highs in the 40's and then a cold snap with temps in the teens for more than two weeks, the result; solid rutted ice anywhere from surface to 10" deep. problem was anywhere that was mostly shaded, it just became solid ice.

our street which is flat as a pancake is tree-lined so all shaded and all ice. still had to rock for several minutes just to get enough momentum to get over a 4" ridge of ice. getting traction was nearly impossible. on my 1200 lb Zenn it was even worse. but luckily...very easy to push!!

 

We recently had a garage sale and everyone who came down our driveway had a comment on how much it must suck in the winter. Studded would be nice, just have to shell out a lot of money on new studded tires and wheels. Then come summer, probably have to get new summer tires too. That is a lot of $$$ so I might consider just getting the WR-G2's as all year round tires. Obviously they will not last as long as a new set of winter tires and a new set of summer tires coupled together, but will definitely be cheaper. Not sure what I'm going to do yet. But I appreciate all the help from everyone.

 

Nokian WRG2s last as long as good quality summer tires. I've got 40,000 km on mine (mine are the older WRs) so far and there is lots left. They are just over 2 years old. I'm expecting 80 to 100k before I'll replace them.

Keep in mind tires also age, even if used sparingly. After about 4-5 years they should be replaced as the rubber starts to deteriorate (hardens, sometimes cracks).

 

Dave

Good point about aging tires. The Swedish transport research authority - VTI - did a study on new vs aged tires. Not only do aged summer tires offer poor traction and hydroplane easily on rain soaked roads, the situation becomes much worse for winter driving

Aged studded winter tires will experience a bit of traction loss, but will still work ok on ice and snow. Studless winter tires, called "friction tires" in Sweden, experience a dramatic loss in snow/ice traction once +4 years old. Their testing also revealed that new studded winter tires still offer a clear traction advantage on snow and ice, compared to new friction tires

The absolute worst +4 year old performer was "all season" tires. VTI wanted to test them as still a handful of drivers try to get by with them. Once aged, VTI considered them dangerous on snow/ice

 

If your driveway is the only place you have traction issues maybe you should just stud your driveway...

 

I thought this was a thread about grill blocking and oxygen intake.

 

Yes, but it morphed. As many of our threads do. I had the class and tact not to mention sheep

 

I appreciate all the extra information and do think it should get merged with a tire thread too. I think the initial question on oxygen intake has been answered so no need to really go back to it. I still haven't decided on what to do but might get the WR-G2's since I don't have the coin to get new winter tires and wheels along with new tires for spring to fall. Our winters aren't too bad here so don't know if I'd get enough out of studded winter tires. Thx for info!