Snow tires for a 1976 300D?

[ozipin]

I'm driving a new-to-me 1976 W123 sedan. It came with a nice set of Hankook whitewalls, which are excellent all-weathers especially in the rain, but I live in New England and the roads are gonna get real ****ty real soon.

Does anyone have a good suggestion for tires to use in snow and salt slush? I used to ride Blizzaks on the Jetta and Saab I dailied before the Benz -- would those tires work on a much older rear-wheel car?

Thanks in advance!

[cleeves]

Originally Posted by ozipin

I'm driving a new-to-me 1976 W123 sedan. It came with a nice set of Hankook whitewalls, which are excellent all-weathers especially in the rain, but I live in New England and the roads are gonna get real ****ty real soon.

Does anyone have a good suggestion for tires to use in snow and salt slush? I used to ride Blizzaks on the Jetta and Saab I dailied before the Benz -- would those tires work on a much older rear-wheel car?

Thanks in advance!

I would be worried about rust ... what is the condition of your unibody? I'm in NY and I keep mine garaged all winter. So I recommend not driving it in the east coast winter!

-Henry

[diametricalbenz]

My 76' lived in "dry" Southern California for its entire life and the passenger footwells were rusted out so I would second keeping it garaged all winter if it's worth keeping.

[300decel]

Well, if this is your chosen vehicle for the conditions I think Blizzaks are a good choice, as are Nokian Hakkapelittas. Corrosion may be a far greater concern to you than traction, however.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by ozipin

I'm driving a new-to-me 1976 W123 sedan. It came with a nice set of Hankook whitewalls, which are excellent all-weathers especially in the rain, but I live in New England and the roads are gonna get real ****ty real soon.

Does anyone have a good suggestion for tires to use in snow and salt slush? I used to ride Blizzaks on the Jetta and Saab I dailied before the Benz -- would those tires work on a much older rear-wheel car?

Thanks in advance!

I have owned my 85 300D for 32 years. Retired now, but it was my daily driver when I worked. We are in Ontario, Canada. I had to drive it a lot in winter. Done 460k km now. Never have had snow tires. When I had to be sure to get out of our long uphill sometimes icy driveway on winter mornings, I would load up the trunk with something heavy. Usually two bags - salt & sand.

Depends on where you are though. When we lived in Montreal, we could not do without snow tires. Back then cars mostly just had them on the rears.

Not sure if they are available in the US, but in Canada we now have "All-Weather" tires. These are good for all year use in most areas. These meet government specifications for winter driving. (Some jurisdictions require winter rated tires). These are not all-season" tires, which perhaps your Hankooks may be? Hankook do have All-Weather tires in Canada: https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/hankook-optimo-4s-all-weather-tire-for-passenger-cuv-0041732p.html

Added: Seems some brands do now have All-Weather tires in USA: https://www.tirebuyer.com/education/all-season-versus-all-weather-tires#:~:text=They%20are%20distinguished%20from%20standard,Advantage%20T%2FA%20Sport%20LT.

[Idle]

Since this is the summer time.....

I picked up a set of snow tires last January. They were Bridgestones and work great. I am going to run them all year around as they are a softer compound and give my old truck a better ride.

But I only bought four. Then I decided I needed a new one for a spare. The dealer told me to come back on November since the tire distributors were out until then. No one stocks them during the summer because besides the single idiot like me who buys snow tires in the summer?