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I am a little further north in IL on Chicago's north shore, and we don't get hammered with snow due to proximity to the lake, but I put (4) Blizzak's with steel wheels on my '01 9-3SE as soon as I picked it up last fall.
My rationale is as follows:
1) The improved traction is very significant from the handling and stopping point of view. With winter mode and traction control, good all seasons will get you moving, but my bigger concern was cornering and stopping. While caution is always a good idea when the weather turns foul, I find that with the snows the car behaves more predictably and as a result, the weather occupies much less mind-share and I can drive more 'normally' because of the quality of the shoes on the car.
2) The roads during the winter are at their worst. All alloys are softer than steel and subject to flat spots and damage due to severe potholes and road surface defects. Again, while I try to avoid potholes where possible, running the steel wheels with snows means I don't worry about the water filled pothole damaging a $300 alloy and $150 low profile tire. I put $5 plastic hubcaps on my steel winter tires and hit a mongo hole in downtown Chicago one night two weeks ago that took a large chunk out of the plastic hubcap. Definitely would have bent my OEM alloys. Instead I replaced a cracked piece of plastic.
3) If you plan to keep the car a long time and don't want to have to replace your alloys in 4-5 years, don't run them in the winter. All alloys will react with road salt and will corrode over time if you don't remove the salt as soon as it hits the wheel. Unless you want to constantly wash your wheels and worry about them, go with the winter tires/wheels. I spent around $500 delivered for the set from Tire Rack and as we speak, my OEM wheels/tires are waxed, bagged, and safely resting in my warm dry basement.
So for me it is a no-brainer to run winter tires/wheels. If snow and traction are an issue, tires are about the same price as your deductible and much cheaper than a new nose for the 9-3. Hope this helps.
Pat
posted by 12.99.17...
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