Why do the stock tires suck?

civicdabest-foo

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Here in Saskatchewan, Canada, we've entered the heart of winter. There's all sorts of road conditions represented between the highways and the city streets: clear roads, iced over roads, iced over roads with salt or traction grit, slushy snow, sheet ice, soft untrudged over snow...... FT140s are dealing with it just fine.
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CobraCommand

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Here in Saskatchewan, Canada, we've entered the heart of winter. There's all sorts of road conditions represented between the highways and the city streets: clear roads, iced over roads, iced over roads with salt or traction grit, slushy snow, sheet ice, soft untrudged over snow...... FT140s are dealing with it just fine.
On a road in winter with pavement showing it doesn't really matter but on actual ice, a couple inches of snow, or frozen slush all seasons cannot compete with real winter tires. As a fellow canuck I find your lack of traction disturbing. Just because you haven't had an accident yet doesn't mean you're making the right choice. RIP when you have to emergency brake on ice for someone.
 
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jred721

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Just drove the Civic for the first time in the snow that we got here (crazy how soon it came) and it was like a slip in slide on the roads that werent treated or plowed, but it was honestly kind of fun and I had some fun screwing around and "drifting" into corners :D. I will say that when I started to make a point to drive it extremely carefully, it wasn't too bad and it was only really sketch on actual sheets of ice. This was only around 3-4 inches of snow though so for any real winter driving, you 100% need winter tires if you don't want to be a danger to yourself or people around you. Thats why for the winter, looks like i'll be driving the BMW primarily since I have a set of winter tires for it already.
 

gtman

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I was surprised how well the Firestones handled in snow. Of course it was just a few inches of icy/slushy snow, but still, better than expected.
 

Billy4202

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Got about 5-6" out near the mountains, went out in the height of the storm 1) for lunch and 2) just because. The roads were an absolute mess - no pretreatment, and very little was plowed, and what was had caved to fresh snow and ice (great job, VDOT!).

The Firestones, even at more than half worn, still perform well. Only really slid in 1 intersection where a bunch of tractor trailers were also having trouble.
 


civicdabest-foo

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I was on the highway I travel each weekend last night.

It was slippery because of the slick road and it being -10 degrees Celsius and snow falling.

Going about 100 kmph. down a valley road. I was at the bottom of the valley and the headlights didn't quite illuminate far up the steep incline ahead.

A deer walks on the road, it's eyes were covered with large snowflakes and I don't think it could see traffic coming.

I didn't see it until 2 seconds in front of it because I was picking munchies from a bag on the passenger seat, in the dark.

Instinctively I braked, swerved left and dodged it, clearing it from the right side mirror by a few feet.

VSA kicked in and kept the car from spinning out :headbang: even though it was like I was driving on marbles. I went on.:headbang:


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So, anyone still think "the stock tires suck?" :D And I was running close to 38 psi. I don't think a set of winter rubbers would have done me much better. FT140's handled the situation like champs.:headbang:
 
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stephenmeadows

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My 1.5T Sport 2018 Hatchback came from the factory with Michelin Primacy 3's on my 17" rims. Very pleased with how they handle.....
 
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jred721

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I was on the highway I travel each weekend last night.

It was slippery because of the slick road and it being -10 degrees Celsius and snow falling.

Going about 100 kmph. down a valley road. I was at the bottom of the valley and the headlights didn't quite illuminate far up the steep incline ahead.

A deer walks on the road, it's eyes were covered with large snowflakes and I don't think it could see traffic coming.

I didn't see it until 2 seconds in front of it because I was picking munchies from a bag on the passenger seat, in the dark.

Instinctively I braked, swerved left and dodged it, clearing it from the right side mirror by a few feet.

VSA kicked in and kept the car from spinning out :headbang: even though it was like I was driving on marbles. I went on.:headbang:


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So, anyone still think "the stock tires suck?" :D And I was running close to 38 psi. I don't think a set of winter rubbers would have done me much better. FT140's handled the situation like champs.:headbang:
Glad you're okay. To be fair though, I think your avoidance of the deer speaks more to your last minute reaction time rather than the tires. If you turn the car hard to the left (even if its in wet conditions) most cars even with terrible tires would do it. The main thing with these tires is that in rainy conditions when accelerating from a stop into a turn, they tend to slip a lot. Once you're up to speed they are actually decent.
 

CobraCommand

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I was on the highway I travel each weekend last night.

It was slippery because of the slick road and it being -10 degrees Celsius and snow falling.

Going about 100 kmph. down a valley road. I was at the bottom of the valley and the headlights didn't quite illuminate far up the steep incline ahead.

A deer walks on the road, it's eyes were covered with large snowflakes and I don't think it could see traffic coming.

I didn't see it until 2 seconds in front of it because I was picking munchies from a bag on the passenger seat, in the dark.

Instinctively I braked, swerved left and dodged it, clearing it from the right side mirror by a few feet.

VSA kicked in and kept the car from spinning out :headbang: even though it was like I was driving on marbles. I went on.:headbang:


-----------

So, anyone still think "the stock tires suck?" :D And I was running close to 38 psi. I don't think a set of winter rubbers would have done me much better. FT140's handled the situation like champs.:headbang:
You just sound like a bad driver lol. There's still no excuse not to get winter tires in Canada.
 


marauderguy

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I've driven 34 years on all season tires and about 34 days on winters. Not much of a comparison. I was always the one who defended how good all seasons were. What an idiot I was. You can usually get from A to B on all seasons as I did but I would rather have the extra traction available should it be needed. I have seen the light.
 

baldheadracing

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... and every year there are videos, like this one that came out a few days ago: (TireRack also just released another video comparing an AWD SUV on all-seasons vs. winter tires, but a Corolla is more applicable)
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