4A / Snow Tires in Twin Cities?

[mikeofthenorth]

I have a 2024 OBX on order (2.7L Luxe) which is going to be my daily driver in the Minneapolis metro with the occasional (hopefully increasing in frequency!) trips to rural roads and forest areas. So with that, I actually prefer the smaller tires of that trim (in terms of appearance) and don't care as much for the SAS.

Having said that, reading these forums I am now realizing the 2024 only has 4H, not 4A unless I go to SAS or Badlands which has the larger tires that I prefer less in addition to the price jump. (I test drove a 2023, and I just glossed over this detail in my hurry to get the 2024 order in)

I've read comments that snow tires are the more practical investment for winter driving safety, while others say the 4A is well worth the extra cost to just set it and forget it during the winter, others say stock tires and manually flipping between works just fine for them. I've haven't owned an AWD/4WD car that wasn't an automatic mode, and my other cars have been FWD, so not sure what to expect in daily city snow and ice. Is this something I should re-evaluate on my order? Or am I overthinking this, and if I need to, I just get snow tires later?

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[MNBronc]

You should be fine without 4A IMO.
Since you don't have experience with RWD or normal 4H, you will just need some practice in snow to get used to it. I have had many rwd 4H vehicles and never used dedicated snow tires.

 

[Durangatan]

The difference is a dedicated snow tire is profound.

I used to drive up a very game-on, snowy road 5 days per week. I had the choice of 4Runner with Bridgestone AT Revos, or a FWD VW wagon with snows. No contest. The VW was the go to.

Not all snows are created equally. For your colder / less precip environment I'd look at something from Nokian. In the Intermountain West, when I have sub-zero AM's with several inches of hardpacked snow / ice, they are incredible. When things warm they like to float around in slushy snow.

Really, if you live in a snowy environment, snows are a no-brainer. From a wear / cost perspective you distribute 12 months of driving over 2 sets of tires, getting twice the time of ownership from both. As far as safety and security... no contest.

 

[Happycampinman]

Another vote for snow tires. The difference is noticeable.

 

[mikeofthenorth]

Thanks for the insights - this makes me feel better about sticking with my order as is!

Curious for those of you with the snow tires, did you get a second set of rims for them and just swap yourself?

 

[Brian_B]

As others have said - good tires will be much better than 4A. Not that 4A is bad, but it's not a substitute for tires. I've seen 2WD mini vans with snow tires pull 4WD Jeeps and Tacos out of the ditch on many occasions.

Three ways to handle snow really -

First would be just throw a set of chains/cables in the back, good odds that you will never need them, but if you do, you'll be glad you have them. Not too expensive and you just throw them in the back when you need them, they don't take up much room. Make sure you know how to put them on before you need them though, they aren't all intuitive or easy. You don't need all 4 tires, just the rears are ok.

Second would get getting a decent year-round tire that you can just leave on and forget about. I suspect any of the stock Bronco tires would be ok with M+S rating - maybe not optimal but good enough if you are staying on public roads and not trekking offroad in 5' snow drifts. I've had Falken Wildpeaks on a couple of vehicles now and they do excellent. I've heard good things about Goodyear Duratracs, and there are some other good names in there as well. These won't be as good as the last option, but it's a "set it and forget it" type option that does ok.

Third would be a dedicated snow tire - if you are going to swap them back and forth often, a dedicated set of rims (can be cheap steelies or some OEM rims you find for cheap) allow you to swap them yourself in your driveway. I know some people where I live, as soon as Snow pops up on the weather report, they go get their tires swapped at the tire shop and leave them on all winter long. That options is better if you live in areas with bad snow - in metro area I don't know that would be a thing, but I don't know Twin Cities area very well. You need a place to store them - they will take up some room when you aren't using them. You don't want to be driving on snow tires unless you need them - they have softer rubber and will wear much faster than a normal tire if you are just putting miles on them.

If you live in bad snow area, or plan on going to deep snow often (offroading, areas not well maintained, etc) - the third route is the best, but it's the most expensive and involved.

As a side note - I had a neighbor who had Michellin CrossClimate tires (they have a very unique tread pattern) - he was going places none of the rest of thought he could --- but only forward. Couldn't move an inch in reverse and would get stuck as soon as he tried. If you are really worried about it - those tires will definitely get you out, but only in one direction.

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