[bustonit]

I must say, Living in Minnesota I have never had winter or snow tires. I have always run all seasons and never had problems. Currently I do run 185/65/15's as my winter tire. This is the first year I will have that size on the car. Previously, it has been 195/60/15. I usually buy 60k tireware tires, put 40-45k on them, then switch out to new ones by/before the next winter.

All that being said, I am intrigued with the thought of a set of dedicated winter tires. I do believe the increased level of confidence/saftey are worth the cost. However the added cost as always been the prohibitive factor.

While it won't be this year, I am working a set of summer only tires into the rotation which will lenghten the life of my current 185s. So still, while it may not be for a few years, when the 185s kick the bucket, winters will be the tire of choice. Then I will see what difference there really is.