Focus Ti In Snow...

[Twenty]

Any car that will see snow needs snow tires. Period.

[Flybigrc]

I bought Drag-19 16" Wheels and with Yokohama Ice Guard 20s from Discount Tire Direct. They have been very good in the snow, slush, sleet and ice this year in St. Louis.

[thejordan]

Originally Posted by Twenty

Any car that will see snow needs snow tires. Period.

This.

For California, it's the opposite, we need the summer tires :lol:

But then again no one knows how to drive when it rains.

[HoneyBadger]

Originally Posted by liquidblue88

Man oh man did I make a mistake.

I didn't fully inspect all of the options that came on this vehicle. I sure did realize real fast that the car is equipped with 'summer only' 18" tires. Boy do these things suck in the snow... either that or the car doesn't do well in the snow at all.

Last night on my way home the drive was fine since most of the streets were plowed. But I get on my street in front of my house and i see that the driveway is covered in snow and that I will need a head start to make it up there. So i put the car in reverse and decide to give it some gas so I can make it up there. Upon doing so my tires start to lose traction at about 5-10 mph. Barely any speed at all. I tried turning off the TCS which didn't help at all. I just lost traction and then got to spin my tires.

How many of you have the Ti and also live in a place where the snow can be pretty bad? In my opinion this snow storm wasn't even that bad. Only about 4-6 inches and my little focus was failing me.

What winter tires/all season tires do you guys recommend? I might try to stick out this winter but I will need to get different tires for next season.

Thanks all!

I have the all year tires..They suck if you are on an incline with 4-5 inches of snow starting from a dead stop. I had to shovel a one sided path to have a little grip at start off. LOL That is why I also keep shovel in the back of the car.

[BrApple]

Originally Posted by Hiwayracer

I live in Michigan and it was one of the first questions I asked - I was told they come with all season.

I have not had any issues driving in the snow yet - including last nights 6 inches.

Mine is the 2013 SE

Only the titanium w/handling package has summer only tires. The SE would only have all season tires.


Its pretty bad, there is a nice Ti up the street owned by an elderly person, they are driving with the summer wheels still .... and I see an ST at work, guy still has the summer wheels on ...

[liquidblue88]

Thank you to everyone who has replied. Appreciate the input.

I guess then I have a follow up question... Could I get away with puttin on 15" winter tires or is that just too small?

The price difference between the 15" and 16" tires is pretty big and I don't have to really be styling when my car is covered with salt and snow.

Thanks.

[Joeywhat]

15" wheels should fit without issues.

Using summer tires in winter (even without snow) is very dangerous. Even with just colder temps the tires lose the ability to sufficiently grip the road, and you will be unable to control your vehicle as well as with winter, or at least all season tires.

[Tytanium]

I've got the handling package on mine and those summer tires are terrifying in even slightly snowy/slushy conditions. Definitely looking to invest in an alternate set of snow tires and wheels, if anyone has suggestions for cheap 18"wheels and relatively inexpenstires.

[Joeywhat]

Originally Posted by Tytanium

I've got the handling package on mine and those summer tires are terrifying in even slightly snowy/slushy conditions. Definitely looking to invest in an alternate set of snow tires and wheels, if anyone has suggestions for cheap 18"wheels and relatively inexpenstires.

If you're getting new wheels for winter, why get an expensive 18" set? Just get a 15 or 16" set and tires for that...it will probably be cheaper then just the 18" tires.

[Joey D]

To the OP, you might want to look on craigslist and see if you can find a set of Volvo wheels or I think even Taurus wheels fit too. With it being the end of the season you can probably actually find a set of winter tires already mounted on some rims.

Originally Posted by Tytanium

I've got the handling package on mine and those summer tires are terrifying in even slightly snowy/slushy conditions. Definitely looking to invest in an alternate set of snow tires and wheels, if anyone has suggestions for cheap 18"wheels and relatively inexpenstires.

There's no such thing as cheap tires that fit on 18" wheels. If you want to keep it semi-OEM looking go with 16" wheels. The cheapest winter tires that would fit 18" wheels on TireRack is $195.