Beefy offroad tires don't necessarily do it in snow.

So it finally started snowing heavily in MI today and fortunately on my DD (RWD dodge charger) I have winter tires which made it kinda easy for me getting home. When arriving at home I pulled into my driveway (which goes slightly upwards) with no wheel spin or whatsoever.
But then I had to change the order of my cars in the garage so that I get to my ATV with a snowplow and therefore I had to back out my winter garage queen (The Tacoma) into the driveway and got stuck with it with wheelspin. The truck was not moving anywhere and I had to engage 4x4 and even this was just getting me barley back into the garage. Now the truck has Goodyear wrangler MT/R tires on and I expected before that they would be at least half way decent in snow, but for me it impressed me how bad they performed in snow.

TLTR: Don't think just because you have good offroad tires means you are also good prepared for snow. Consider getting decent winter tires when living in snow heavy parts of the country.

Some pictures so that you know what I am talking about.

 

Snow tires are superior for road driving for sure

 

100% agree with this. Snow tires are like snow boots for trucks......ATs are hiking boots.

And don’t forget, just because you’ve gone and sorted your own snow tires, most other vehicles out there are stuck with all-seasons and won’t have the grip you have. They’re like the sneakers of tires......

 

How’d the ATV tires work? I would imagine those are more tractor tires?

 

Absolutely, that is the reason why I almost look more at my rear mirrow then ahead when I have other cars behind me, and why I leave a big gap to the front car when getting to a stop...so that I can move out of the way invade the one behind doesn't get to standstill in time.

 

They are ok. RWD is ok to keep the ATV moving but I have to engage AWD when I plow, but I never needed chains tho.

 

Yeah, Mudders don't tend to do well on snow. They usually pack snow together making it harder to move. Thats the whole reason they are great in mud.

 

I strongly agree that winter tires are a must for severe snow conditions.

 

You can always get AT's that have the severe snow symbol. Its usually a safe bet they do well in the snow. Duratracs/ATKO2/ AT3W

 

Have you seen snow tires?
They look nothing like off-road A/Ts or M/Ts. They have like no tread.

Off road tires do poorly in snow because the tread gets too hard and reduces its grip (friction).

off road tires sucking in snow is why guys run two sets of wheels and tires for off road vs winter driving.

 

I have Hankook snows on a VW Jetta and Firestone Winterforce on a VW Passat. I had them only on the rear of a BMW 325 rwd and they worked great there too. My sons drive those daily and the snow tires work really well. They are about $100.00 each and we have them on all four wheels. When we go upstate we see snow tires on all four wheels on most cars and some are studded. They know something about driving in snow in central NY. They have had feet of snow this winter.

 

I would recommend the cooper at3 4s over the ko2s for winter driving...from what i heard ko2s aren't as good in wet situations. So you can't always go by that snowflake symbol.

 

Agreed. Check out this review
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/cooper-discoverer-at3-4s-review.557727/page-11#post-19724506

 

Hah! That's not snow. That's road ice, and winter tires will always be better.


https://www.instagram.com/p/BszNg2cl6mP/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=18abcoc79zvrf
That's snow.