Aveo's in winter?

this is my second year driving my 04 sedan in the snow. so far aveo's do well as all fwd cars do. my only problem is the car is extremely unstable in cross winds. my car has around 60k mi i am on the stock suspension. i know the stock suspension sucks and all but really if i hit a cross wind the car is pushed around like a leaf. as far a grip in snow and handling in snow the car is perfect. i drove on slick tires the first week of snow fall and the car did great. the second week i got a decent set of cheap all seasons and the car can go any where. but the cross winds are the only thing that scare me. but that will be solved with ultra racing chassis bracing. just wondered if any body else has had this problem?

Mine started good, but lately I think all the slipping has been burning the tread off my tires, I haven't done as well. Also the snow that the tires pick up, really packs into the wheel well.

yea i found that these cars attract car turds (salt/sand/ice boulders) in the wheel wells really quick. when i was running on the set of slick summer tires i would slip only when leaving a stop sign and if i panic stopped. then i swapped my tires around so i had a cheap set of douglas all seasons up front and the summers in the rear and the car goes any where. yes granted i drive very carefully and watch corners because the rear could kick out on ice or slush but honestly the little car does awesome. my only complaint is the wind knocks my car around like its a plastic bag. i will be riding a long and then come to a opening and get hit by a cross wind and get pushed 4-5 feet in what ever direction the wind is going. its kinda scary if your not paying attention or other cars are coming.

when i drove in snow, it did not bother me too much, like driving in rain with bald tires :)

never had any issues though

Besides my car having crappy tires (for winter), the car handles just fine. I'm considering lowering the pressure in the tires to get a bit more traction. I run them high to improve gas mileage, but it hurts traction in winter. I never had much issue with it with other cars, but I carefully select the tires for my cars. I'm sure the previous owner just slapped on whatever was the cheapest tire she could find.

The aveo is OK in the snow in my experiences. It is heavily dependent on the tire and condition of the tread. A good set of all seasons is a step up from the econotires, a cheap FS winterforce tire will still be leaps and bounds better over the "best" all-season.

yes, i agree, all my cars have dedicated snows, and dedicated summers. even my minivan. the only time its a "problem" is if you miss changing either and the temp raises to high in the spring, or snow comes early.. Also temp changes. summer tires do not like 20 degree weather..

my winter tires are cheap studded, i paid $80 for all four. (connections) while the cars literally sucks with handling. And the factory size (185/60r14) with the snow treads rub EVERYWHERE when i turn because of my ride height, its better to be safe in the snow with the kids, than to drive for fun through the winter.. My next set will be performance snows..

I've been running on 195/60/14 BF Goodrich Traction T/A's and havent had a problem. Now I'm not saying I dont get pushed around but its much less.

Do they make these in the OEM size? I was looking for these when I got my dunlops, but came up empty. It looks like they have more circumferential sipes than my dunlops, but I heard they were still good in snow/gravel.

I strongly recommend switching to the 195/60/14 It makes for a much better ride.

We just got probably about 3 to 4 feet of snow in the last 2 weeks it has been absolutely mental. I've driven through basically ALL of our major snow storms so far and the car has performed excellent, my buddy was very impressed with how my car handled the snow and he now loves the car. I have trouble with hills when I am going slow and with really deep and thick snow but I've always been able to get myself out. When the car does let go (after yelling at me for it) it is very manageable. So far very impressed with it in the white stuff and with the snow tires i got for it. The wheel wells are a problem but I had that with my Lumina (though its a bit faster buildup on this car) so I`m used to it. The Fit my friend has does the same thing though so i think its just the small car platform in general.

I'm thinking wheel well protection will become a part of my winter kit for my aveo. Some pop on fender protectors would do wonders in preventing rust.

I was thinking about just getting a set of all-season tires for mine. But for now, I'll just go with what I got, I don't drive very far to even worry about that.

I got 185/70/r14 winter tires on. If I could find 75 or 80 series I would have used instead. I like them for the bumps, and ground/snow clearance. I tried 185/60/r14 one winter and prefer the larger tire.

i have 185/60r14 snow tires and i have to fix my fenders come spring cause they are too big..

how are 185/60/14 too big?

He's slammed, as those dubbers like to put it.

Northguest: No rubbing issues with that big of a sidewall at stock height?

That would make sense. yeah, winter tread is pretty thick.

not sure where most are from but im in upstate ny where the snow flies like crazy, and to be honest i find no surprises with the car in the winter.. been driving it since 06 and every other year i find a new pair of snow tires for it.. the stock tires performed great in the snow surprisingly and the tires i have now are nice.. but its seemed that lately its been more ice than snow.. but in the end a lot of snow driving comes down to the driver and their ability to maneuver and manipulate the car to do what has to be done... (ex: rocking your car to get out of a sticky spot)..

I have done plenty of rocking. I gotta admit as much as I don't like that little reverse lever and the location of the gear, switching between reverse and first is pretty quick in with these transmissions.

So I just got back from a 45 minute drive on the following tires:

185/75/R14 (Pretty sure) - Goodyear Alegra FRONT
185/75/R14 (Pretty sure) - No tread type Kellys tires (Bald to wear bar)

The road conditions were pretty crappy, it started out as a rain, then mixed, then snow, then rain again so basically the road was about 2 inches of solid slush/snow/ice. I lost control once and skimmed a snowbank, made it out fine and after that didn't really slide or slip at all doing about 70KM/H the whole way in 5th gear. Going up a really icy, slushy hill with just gravel/dirt underneath all that slush and what not I kept it in 2nd and spun my way up the hill, no problems. Yet, buddy with the cobalt and brand new winter studded tires kept getting stuck.

I find this car rides fine, honestly. It has a nice slice through whatever is on the road, the only downfall is if it does lose control it can sway whichever way it wants to go pretty damn fast and pretty damn hard, it's too light, that's my opinion. Winds don't help the situation at all either.

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Originally Posted by exodus0784

He's slammed, as those dubbers like to put it.

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:laugh:

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/5575/photo1zq.jpg

Brendan... The two bald tires on the back probably don't help with the rear wanting to come out. In front wheel drive cars, it is advisable to put the two best winter tires on the back to keep from loosing control. Most people don't know this and think the drive wheels should get the good tires. Sure, it's great to have tires that give you traction in the front, but it is more important to be able to stop and keep the car straight.

^ that is 100% correct, and even applies in summer..

And on all vehicles, you need to keep the back where it belongs.

my drift cars tires are constantly worn more than the front :(

I know what you guys are saying, but the back tires are too bald to put on the front, no chance I'd be able to start up and go with them. They're fine on the back for now.

I got a dedicated set if stock 14" alloys with OEM tires on them for the winter. 185/60/14. They handled well in snow, but I didn't take the car it too much because my front bumper was trying to act like a snow plow, so for the few very snowy days my car stayed at home. Note that I moved down to Oregon for a job, I put my 17" MSRs back on and I'm happy with them. 205/40/17 seem to take corners better than 185/60/14 without trying to slide out.

I have 175/65-14 altimax arctics on my 2004 and I haven't been able to get this car stuck all winter. The most snow that I went through was about a foot when NYC didn't get plowed.

I finally lost it in the snow on the highway the other day on the way to school. Drove into a snow drift just a tractor trailer blew by. Sent me into a pretty sweet spin off the road. Didn't hurt me or the car, but had to pay $97 to have my car pulled about 7 foot back onto the road enough to get traction. Other than that, I really haven't had any problems with my Aveo in the snow.

I put my Aveo through some pretty rough driving conditions, and I didn't really adapt my driving to handle the winter roads I still cruise as if it's summer. Now, last night I ended up taking the van last night and ABS kicked in, flew into a snow bank couldn't even turn the wheel in the parking lot.. ****ty situation, if only I was driving my Aveo, could've ripped the e-brake and maybe not have gone head first into the snow bank.

Luckily, the van was rear wheel drive so it wasn't hard getting out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by exodus0784

He's slammed, as those dubbers like to put it.

Northguest: No rubbing issues with that big of a sidewall at stock height?

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No problem at all with stock height, thats why I thought 75 series could possibly work too although they would be getting very close to rubbing under load. I bought these winter tires off craigslist and apparently they are ancient.. probably came out of someones shed... my mech said he thinks they are from the 80's - he used to put them on his Dodge Dart.. apparently the rubber is a bit harder than what we'd find on a new winter tire.

Anywho never had a problem with this setup so far in winter.. in summer I hope to go wider and smaller diameter than stock still on 14's for a bit more torque and better cornering. Oh and by the way thats the stock hankooks on my avatar picture which is from 2008.. had to strip off the front window tints because bc doesn't allow them tsk tsk..

It snowed really good last February but my car was on blocks due to the Power Steering pump had to come from South Korea. But it did good in the sleet that we got last month. Although the windsheild wiper blades froze but that was alright.

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Originally Posted by northguest47

my mech said he thinks they are from the 80's - he used to put them on his Dodge Dart.. apparently the rubber is a bit harder than what we'd find on a new winter tire.

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there is a dot # on them that will give you a date of manufacturing. IF they are that old, i would seriously hope you replace them. they say 5 years or so for the life of a tire, i would give it a little more. but if those are that old, they might explode on the highway.

ran 185/60/r14 hankook icebear for winter 07/08 and 08/09. pretty great but other were saying blizzaks. these goodyear tires are working great i will check the number for sure. they haven't been rotated yet so i can check tread wear.. i found this winter i get 24 to 32 mpg which isn't great it gets cold like -20C/-4F. car always starts with 5w30, it complains when its cold but it starts, and thats awesome. the coolant temperature has never changed season to season over 5 years of testing, and that is impressive to me. that means the engine runs at pretty consistent temp and that makes sense from the honey colored oil it has when the oil change is due.

So here are the details:
Goodyear Ultra Grip DOT POJ6 PCHR 247 made in canada 19811 GURSMW-92P
-they say M+S but no winter symbol to see
-they are studdable but couldn't get it done because they were slightly used, but overall appearing to be in mint condition when i bought them its the rims that were rusty and needed wire brush which i did
-perhaps they were stored out of the sunlight, so nothing to react with

And here are the tires which have been on all season. They have performed great at 44psi never ran them at lower pressure for mileage. Yes the snow turds collect quickly.

Attachment 4008Attachment 4009