Driving 7th gen Celica gts in the winter

[bas]

How do your guys gts get around in the snow and ice. So far mine is absolutely horrible. My 95 z28 gets around as good and stops better. My tires are pretty worn on the celica but not too great on the z28 either.

I think I might end up using snow tires if I want to get around safely with the gts in the snow and ice.

[zMaN]

Originally posted by bas
My tires are pretty worn on the celica but not too great on the z28 either.

I think I might end up using snow tires if I want to get around safely with the gts in the snow and ice.



I don't mean to sound like an ass but, DUH!!! The stock tires or any other performance tire cannot get good traction in snow, and that is when they are new. After they get worn they will be even worse. They are not made for snow at all. You can get performance snow tires like Blizzacks but they are expensive and wear quickly on dry pavement.

[bas]

Just seems like it should stop and get around better than my rear wheel drive camaro does in the snow. Its tires arent much better than the celicas. I thought the stock celica tire were an all season tire. The tread on them sure looks like it.

I was just wondering if the celica was worthless in the snow even with good tires. My sister had a crx and even with winter tires it was pretty pathetic in the snow.

[nxracer]

The "stock" tire on a GT-S is not an all-season.

[po9i]

in every thread like this i have said "i love living in FL"

[bas]

Ok that explains why the celica is so worthless in the snow right now. I put the origanal good year rsa(all season) back on my camaro for the winter. The M&H's are bad enough in the summer.

[vvtlikick]

Originally posted by bas
Just seems like it should stop and get around better than my rear wheel drive camaro does in the snow. Its tires arent much better than the celicas. I thought the stock celica tire were an all season tire. The tread on them sure looks like it.

I was just wondering if the celica was worthless in the snow even with good tires. My sister had a crx and even with winter tires it was pretty pathetic in the snow. With dedicated snow tires, my Celica gave me excellent service last winter. Of course, you have to drive careful in the winter (most SUV drivers seem not to realize this), but <i>I</i> had no problems.

[2000 XYR]

bas said:
I thought the stock celica tire were an all season tire. The tread on them sure looks like it.Man, so did I. I have 2 spare Celica GT-S wheels/tires in my basement (leftovers) and just looked. Guess what? No M&S (Mud and Snow) rating on them. I thought the stock tires were M&S rated. I know the ones on my "L" aren't M&S. I'm thinking about getting some winter wheels/tires for it.

I didn't really have a problem in the snow with my Celica though, and it was automatic to boot. (Didn't have the 6-speed long enough to drive it in snow ;) :D)

[Backroads]

Hey Bas. zman is right about dedicated snow tires. The Blizzaks are nice but you may want to be aware that there is also a new Blizzak that is more performance rated. Actually, there have been several makers selling these H (130mph) low profile tires in recent years. The basic idea is that there are many little sipes in each tread block. The makers claim grip on ice equal to studs.
I swear by them and here's my story: I had a '97 Maxima SE 5 sp and I put on a full set of Pirelli p210 Winters, in 215/55/HR16. Besides doing great all winter, one day I was stranded in a broken 4wd truck. My g/f had to rescue me in the Max. To do so, she had to drive down our 14oo ft dirt drive, which had 9" of wet unplowed snow on an ice base. The car made it out. Then she drove through the ice storm and got me. Northerners know this situation: it snows 9" then starts to rain. The rain freezes on the cold plowed tar. Some backroads aren't so well plowed so you get 4" of icy slush, and ice. G/F drove 1/2 hr in these conditions no problem. It was so bad a buddy rolled his dumptruck so she brought him home. We're sold on the p210's. Furthermore, they really out-rode and outhandled the stock junk Toyo all seasons. As I said, in recent years there are more and more of these performance treads becoming popular. I'm gettin the p210's again but I'm sure there all good.
Also, my best winter feature on my '93 SE-R was the LSD. I aslo had the Nokians which wore quickly (not as quickly as the orig. Blizzaks) and were poor handlers (Q rated). Z man is right they all do wear quickly but the softness may help dry road grip too. But that LSD really rocked... I hit 3 ft. drifts just for fun and impressed many 4wd truck owners. I am getting one for the new Celi 'cause I still live on the same road and sometimes the bucket loader doesn't start.

'01 GTS 6 sp.

[gts24]

Yup, get some blizzaks, and if you want you can mount 205-55-16 on your stock rims... The reason I say that size is cuz it will be cheaper. I have the TRD springs with those tires on my stock rims. Quite frankly I will never ever go back to all seasons. I will be usin the stock rims during winter and getting some different wheel/tires during the summer

[Backroads]

The Blizzak LM-22's are the ones I was referring to. The other three Blizzaks are "R" or "Q" rated, and are the older style. You can go to bridgestone-usa.com and click on "tire catalog" then "winter tires" for the full specs. Also the Tire Rack has a nice Q&A goin' on about the Blizzaks right now if you don't mind being raped for cookies. You have to set your browser "cookie dial" all the way off (XP). Jerks. Anyway, the LM-22's are the newer H rated type that is catching on with other makers too.

[Gaps]

I recently mounted 4 new Kumho Zen 11s with studs on my 01 GTS. So far it has not snowed but I expect these will be terrific come the first storm. I bought them from www.discounttiredirect.com www.discounttiredirect.com They mounted them on steel rims, balanced, studded and delivered them for $364 and I got them in 4 buisness days....awesome. Everyday street performance of this snow tire sucks compared to the factory 16" alloy/tire combo but there is no free lunch, all is a compromise. Anyway, Discount Tire was great, price was unbelieveable, service the same. Oh yeah, the tires are balanced perfectly, no shimmy at all.

[gts24]

Originally posted by Gaps
I recently mounted 4 new Kumho Zen 11s with studs on my 01 GTS. So far it has not snowed but I expect these will be terrific come the first storm. I bought them from www.discounttiredirect.com www.discounttiredirect.com They mounted them on steel rims, balanced, studded and delivered them for $364 and I got them in 4 buisness days....awesome. Everyday street performance of this snow tire sucks compared to the factory 16" alloy/tire combo but there is no free lunch, all is a compromise. Anyway, Discount Tire was great, price was unbelieveable, service the same. Oh yeah, the tires are balanced perfectly, no shimmy at all.

Studs are illegal here... In Minnesota... of all places.. .durp:rolleyes:

[Gaps]

Originally posted by gts24


Studs are illegal here... In Minnesota... of all places.. .durp:rolleyes:

So knock off $48, or $316 for a set of good snows on rims, not too bad.....if it saves you a single rim from a pothole ding you are ahead of the game. They do make a hell of a racket with studs, my little Sherman Tank coming down the road Grrrrrrrrrrr!!!!

[Backroads]

Studs are even illegal on snowmachines in Minnesota!!!