I've gotten up to an early start, but got nothing much accomplished so far. I read and replied to some mails, am waiting for some other things to get the thumbs up or ultimately fall through, and have cleaned up a little in my "office" area. It's still quite the mess, but at least it's more of an organised mess now.
I'm wondering if I should fit winter tires to the smart fortwo? Most people and forums say it's a very good thing to do, due to the short body of the fortwo, yet when I look outside it's a wonderful autum day. That's bound to change over time - I do realize that - but two things bother me : I've never had winter tires fitted before, and it is quite expensive. Not as expensive as wrecking your car, that's for sure, but still. I'd get some steel rims to use during wintertime, though I could have winter tires fitted to the alloys as well. See, there are so many options it confuses me!
Are you a "fan" of winter tires on your car? And by that I mean "have you ever had them fitted out of your own free will", not because the leasing company for the company car told you to come in and get them fitted. If so, did you find they performed much better - especially when it comes to safety - or are you rather undecided or even unimpressed?
Comments
The experience here with the company cars has learned us that most of the time your light alloy rims will be damaged in this exercise. Works better and faster to get some simple steel ones and leave the winter tires on them while stored during non use. This has also the advantage that from both sets the balancing is not jeopardised by switching sets.
Posted by: Boobke at October 17, 2006 4:39 PM
Aha, that's an answer I can do something with! I kind of figured the same, but it's good to see my assumptions confirmed.
I'll start looking for a set of steel rims sporting a 175 tire on the front and a 195 on the rear. Next year I can (hopefully) sell the current alloy rims (135 front, 175 rear) and replace them with a nice 15" set of 175/195's.
The small 135 tires are supposed to be better in rain and snow, but they look mighty fragile to me.
Posted by: ServMe at October 17, 2006 4:47 PM
I've never had winter tires, and I've driven in some pretty crappy winter conditions.
I've heard that thing about having them stored on the extra set of rims though. Makes sense to me!
Posted by: Ashtronaut at October 17, 2006 7:44 PM