Tire Choice

[chrisgblues]

I can honestly say that a Yaris is great in the snow in spite of it's size (or perhaps due to it's size?). I also drive a GM minivan which is much heavier and does not handle nearly as well as the Yaris does in snow. I actually enjoy winter driving with the Yaris.
The key is to have proper winter tires, I am using Toyo Observe winter tires and it gets me through the worst of Canadian winters. All-season tires are a joke in the winter because the low temperature makes the rubber compounds too hard and they don't grip on ice or snow...trust me I know.
Also, a lot of people will cheap out and only put 2 winter tires on the front, don't do this...mismatched tires will increase the likelihood of fishtailing around corners.
Also, put the winter tires on as soon as the temperature stays reliably below 7 degrees celcius (or 44 Farenheit). Where I'm from, this happens around the first week of November.
JMHO. YMMV.

[wng-2]

Originally Posted by chrisgblues

I can honestly say that a Yaris is great in the snow in spite of it's size (or perhaps due to it's size?). I also drive a GM minivan which is much heavier and does not handle nearly as well as the Yaris does in snow. I actually enjoy winter driving with the Yaris.
The key is to have proper winter tires, I am using Toyo Observe winter tires and it gets me through the worst of Canadian winters. All-season tires are a joke in the winter because the low temperature makes the rubber compounds too hard and they don't grip on ice or snow...trust me I know.
Also, a lot of people will cheap out and only put 2 winter tires on the front, don't do this...mismatched tires will increase the likelihood of fishtailing around corners.
Also, put the winter tires on as soon as the temperature stays reliably below 7 degrees celcius (or 44 Farenheit). Where I'm from, this happens around the first week of November.
JMHO. YMMV.

Thanks, after thinking about it, I decided on Michelin Defenders. We don't need to use the vehicle in the snow, as my wife is retired. I can use my truck in bad weather. Hopefully these tires will serve us well for all the highway driving my wife has to do.