Make that US 101, US 1 runs on the east coast.
I drove I-10, even that can get snow, 6 inches in El Paso, no plows, no sand/salt trucks.
And no electricity, yes indeed! We will study the weather and radar maps before leaving.
Well that needs to change. You should have all 4 matching tires ideally, but if not, each axleâs tires should at least match.
Even slight differences in tire traction from one side to the other can cause a skid on snow.
1 Like
I see, thanks! Let me see if I can find a Touranza EL-400 then.
you have a new bridgestone driveguard. just get another one to match the new one. as long as the 2 front are the same and the 2 back are the same you should be ok.
1 Like
OK, thanks! I guess that makes more sense.
This is very bad news. First, assuming your size is 245/45-17, the Tire Rack ratings for Winter/Snow are 3.4 for the Turanza, which is about the worst Iâve ever seen, and 5.8 for the DriveGuard, which isnât particularly good. I honestly wouldnât recommend driving anywhere in snow with these, even at home.
Second, as mentioned above, you shouldnât have different tires on the same axle, especially with the traction difference I just mentioned. You can easily go into a spin here. A competent tire shop wouldnât have done this.
I think you should get all new tires right now. It looks like the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ ZP is your best choice in a run-flat tire (which actually is surprising because itâs in the ultra-high-performance category). If you wanted to take a chance without run-flats, the Michelin CrossClimate 2 is getting rave reviews these days. (Thatâll be my next tire on my car.)
3 Likes
Now that youâve gotten so much information youâre probably ready to just skip the whole drive and just fly out.
We do get snow in California on all the high passes from time to time, even in the Southern areas. The Tehachapi Pass on 58, the Grapevine on I-5, both in Southern California do get snow and ice from time to time during the Winter and they can require chains. I-80 west of Reno gets that sort of situation a lot in Winter, and it can be completely closed. The highway department wonât let you past certain points when that happens. Itâs not often, but it can create a big mess, as you might imagine. The internet has many ways to get road conditions and webcams of the freeways and major roads.
Weather forecasts are pretty reliable too. The changes are well tracked and you can have ample warning of possible closures.
1 Like
or you could just wait till summer and go.
Or take my 1997 Volvo 850, worth a 150k miles, and not a whiner, unlike the Mercedes E250 which seems to be built to complain:-) We took the Volvo a similar route about 9 years ago, but in the summer.
sorry, I was just joking. I would get new tires for the trip if you can. better safe than sorry. follow the above advice and enjoy the ride.
10 feet of snow predicted in the mountains. YIKES!
take the scenic routeâŠ
Sorry , but I live near what is called the Historic 66 . Waste of time , there is not enough of original road to even give a sense of what it was. In Tulsa , OK much of it goes through run down areaâs that are not attractive at all .
4 Likes
I have never done it. just what I have seen on shows. did not know it changed so much.
I have driven the I-40 route in winter many times, without chains. Watch the weather but most of the time, the road is clear, except maybe Flagstaff AZ, but they are good about clearing the road quickly after a snow event.
If it does snow in AZ, it would be worth a side trip to the Grand Canyon. The beauty of the Grand Canyon in snow way surpasses the typical summer day, but the roads are not plowed so careful driving is a must. If you get the chance, you will not regret it.
I second the Cross Climate 2 tires, perfect for your car. Do you have AWD on your MB? Also the worse months for snow/ice is mid Dec to end Feb. Outside of that, itâs just cold (until June, then its hot).
Strange, I can not get Tirerack on my browser (access denied). Anyway, so I looked around: I can find a Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ 245/45ZR17 245/45R17 99Y XL AS High Performance, but is this the correct tire? There is no ZP in the name. I think I want to stick to run-flat tires.
It is does seem wasteful to throw away a new tire (and 4 half-used ones, for that matter). Hopefully, the shop will reuse them.
Just call a local tire store and tell them what you have and that you want something in a Run Flat with good traction rating . You are making this way to difficult . If you did order from Tire Rack then since you probably canât mount them yourself you still need to have them shipped to your home or a tire store on their list of installerâs.
Thanks, I used Tire Rack for my Volvo years ago, and they were good: they shipped to a store about an hour away and I went and got it done there. We are a bit limited in our choice of stores (and to an extent, even experience: the tire shop earlier this summer did not give me a lot of confidence when it was I who had to point out that the tire being replaced was a run-flat tire). Perhaps I should ask Walmart, there are two of them in our five-miles wide town, ha!
With ESC (Electronic Stability Control), how worrisome, really, is that different fourth tire? Certainly less than in the pre-ESC era.