Snow tires good!

I finally found a pair of 15-inch steel wheels, and had snow tires mounted on them the day before we got 16 inches of snow here.

When I had snow tires ONLY on the rear I was tired of apologizing to my wife and young-adult daughters when they had to drive "my" car: in snow and ice it had a loose front end, and poor braking (where the front tires do something like 2/3 of the work).

Four snow tires were overdue.

The car worked fine in the new snow.

Loose snow was not a problem.

But as it hardened I had to use a long-handled shovel I carried with me to free the car when it hung up. For a few days of the winter I wish the car had 2 inches more ground clearance. (Lost the belly pan, too. Those "ears" to the left and right seem to have caught on hard stuff one too many times in reverse.)

Extra sets of wheels + tires are no fun to store: fill too much of the garage. But it moves our small fleet out of the class of inadequately-prepped cars, slipping and sliding.

This is all common wisdom, nothing new. Just another reminder or endorsement. :-)