Which would you guys recommend for a 4 cylinder FWD sedan?  We've already had two pretty big snow storms and it's not even officially winter yet.  From what I understand, dedicated snow tires give better traction in the snow but need to be replaced with "regular" tires after winter is over.  Is that true?

I got a set of four General Altimax Arctics for my Saturn SC1 last winter.  

It may be the best $400 I've ever spent.  I'll never go back to driving on all season tires in the winter again.

You can drive on winter tires all year 'round, but they obviously don't perform nearly as well (in terms of grip, wear, etc.) as all season tires on warm, dry pavement.

I drive a FWD five door hatchback, all seasons work for me.

All I know is I haven't had any problems with an all weather tire in the snow, even with the 50 mile commute I did for 24 years.

I used to commute through WI winters 160 miles round trip a day.  I felt all season tires were adequate.  I do think that snow tires like Blizzaks are a marked improvement.  All season tires have come a long way since the early 80's when my dad would change out to his snow tires every fall, however, so have snow tires.  If I had to start making that commute again, I would buy a set.

When I lived in Minnesota and North Dakota I had dedicated snow tires for winter and all season radials for the rest of the year.
Now that I live in Arizona and don't see much snow, all season tires work just fine for me year around.

Basically the deal is I need new tires now and I'm not sure if buying a ~$400 set of tires now and then having to spend another $400-$500 in three months makes any sense.  It's not like I live in Michigan.  

Check the local junk yards for a set of cheap steel wheels for you car.   Place the snow tires on them with a set of hub caps.  Cost for the wheels depends on how common the rim is.   Then during the winter you are letting salt and sand attack the steel leaving your nicer rims in storage.  Come spring swap them out.   With a floor jack and cheap impact it takes no time to swap rims out.  When you swap wheels just make sure to mark locations so you can rotate them when you put them back on.   Paying a tire shop 2X a year to swap tires will pay for a set of cheap steels in no time.   It is true afrcom get both.   You can also run the all seasons down further in the summer then what you would want to run them in the winter for tread depth.  And once the snows get short on tread you can run them in the summer to get all the life out of them.

Well, you don't want to drive them on dry pavement all summer, if you do buy a set.  Siping will cause overheating and premature wear.

I just got a set of Blizzaks for our Civic. The stock tires sucked in the snow and ice. 4 used steel rims and tires for about $500.

BIG difference.

Tirerack.com had the tires to my door in 2 days.

FWD cars usually will do fine with all-season tires.  They do even better with snow tires on the front.

Well since you don't live in Michigan you CAN AFFORD all season tires.  





Consider this, how often does it take your road crews to clear the roads you travel even in the worst conditions?  If it is generally less than 6hrs you don't need snow tires.  Also worth considering, how far/difficult is it for you to get to a highway from your home.  Typically highways are clear as a 1st priority.

In the snow, with all-season tires, my Mustang isn't exactly sure footed.    However, with Blizzaks, it's completely different - I'll never go back to using all-season tires year-round I don't think...