I moved to Portland in June, and the weather has been pretty good up to now. Since the cold weather will be creeping up soon, i was curious about needing blizzaks here in Portland? Or will all-seasons do?

currently, i have T1-Rs on my stock wheels. Worse case scenario is that I have a good excuse to buy new wheels with some new tires.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks guys.

 

Welcome to Portland! Not sure what you mean about the weather not being nice because it has been warm (high 70's to low 90's) over the last few weeks.

Your T1R's should be fine for the majority of the year because we do not get much snow. Any idea how they handle in sub 40* temps? For a couple of months it will be wet and the temps hover around 30* so you have to drive smart.

 

The T1S's are great on my 7 in the cold.

 

I've been here for a year now, still on the stock Potenzas. I haven't had a problem until it snowed last year. If last winter is anything like this one coming up, I'm only going to get some all seasons that work well in the rain for the winter. If it snows, I just won't drive the car. Maybe I'll just walk to work or something. It's not worth it to get snow tires for 2 or 3 snowfalls.

 

Welcome to P town...
My stock potenzas were fine, and yeah, don't even bother driving when it does snow(we'll get like 1-3 days of those)
Enjoy the weather while it lasts...=)

 

Welcome. Your T1's will be fine, I had them on a Miata and found them to be pretty good. The DSC in the RX8 works really well.

If you don't have much experience driving in the rain, you are going to need to get some. Our streets get pretty oily and gunky over the dry summer and are pretty slippery for the first few weeks of rain. Slow down and try to anticipate the corners and what traffic is doing.

I spent a lot of time in snow country and know how to drive in it quite well, but I stay home when it snows here. There are too many idiots on the road. That youtube video of a car sliding down an icy hill and smacking up about 10 cars was made in Portland last winter.

Portland has more of a problem with ice than with snow. Get a nice pair of boots and take Trimet when its icy.

 

thanks guys for the replies. i guess i will stick with my T1-S's and just drive smart, although i was looking forward to some new wheels.

pdxhak...didn't mean the weather has gotten bad, just looking ahead to the colder months. i actually can't wait for the rain to start. i love the cold weather, just not the cold weather driving.

like Corners said, there are too many idiots on the road.

i am lucky enough to live a block away from work, so i don't need to drive everyday.

thanks again for the replies and also for the welcome. i love it here, and i don't miss L.A. at all.

santino

 

I have my stock Dunlops on still, and they did fine last winter. I had the misfortune of being at work when freezing rain hit and having to drive home in it (same thing happened with snow, too). Fortunately I get off work at 12:30 a.m. so there's hardly any traffic on I-205 then. I made it okay with no sliding problems or anything. Of course, I was also only driving about 20 mph. I did just fine with driving in the snow though.

Other cars terrify me in that kind of weather, though. Just because I'm doing okay and controlling my car doesn't mean they are!!!

Corners is right, though. We mainly just get ice here. I live a little bit outside of Portland between Oregon City and Molalla, so it's country roads and the two-mile stretch of road I live on has virtually no traffic, has trees overhangingm and is hilly and curvy. So, even though all the main roads have long since thawed out, my road takes days longer to melt.

If it's too bad and I don't want to venture out (or if my mom panics and refuses to let me) I just get my mom to take me to work in the CX-7, or at least the 11 miles from my house to the nearest TriMet stop.