Considering a CT, wondering how they do during the winter?

 

Fine - if you have winter tires. The low rolling resistance tires are kinda sketchy in the snow.

 

Are people buying 4 winter tires, or just 2 snow tires like the old days?

 

You have to do 4 tires. My Dad used to have a great story about the time he put studded snow tires on the front of a FWD car their first winter in Colorado after moving from San Diego. The first time he applied the brakes in a slippery situation, it took about a nanosecond for the back end of the car to pass the front end. He drove directly to the tire store very carefully, and had 2 more tires installed while the installer laughed at the stupid Californians invading his state. My Dad wasn't pleased, but he was grateful my Mom wasn't driving!

I just had 4 Blizzaks put on my new CT 2 months ago. It hasn't snowed since, or I could be more helpful.

 

We got Yokahamas installed on ours and they were great in some srious snow we got last week!

 

How much do they run? Where are you storing the summer tires? Or do you plan on using the Yokahamas all year?

 

I purchased them at Northern Performance in Burlington ON for $180 each and I get Northern Performance to store/install the tires. The Yokahama Iceguards are strictly winter tires and wouldn't be useful or safe in the summer.

 

Winter tires can make any car perform amazing in snow/ice. It's been said that one should consider getting 4 really good winter tires, and just keep them stored for each winter season. Steel wheels work well for this considering the low cost.

 

Downsizing to 16" wheels and 205/55-16 tires can give you a wider and less expensive selection of winter tires and a more pleasant ride on rough winter roads.

Was 2014 the first model year that a TRAC OFF button was added to the CT200h? Being able to turn traction control off is kind of important in getting out of deep snow.

Tire Rack sells the same 16" steel wheels for the CT200h in their winter tire/wheel packages that we bought for our Prius wagon but the hubcaps they sell for them don't seem to attach very securely. I guess the black steel wheels could be left naked. 16" Prius wheels might be a better choice.

FYI: Costco has a $70/set off deal on Bridgestone Blizzak winter tires until Dec. 28 and also sells compatible TPM sensors. I bought a set of Blizzak WS80 and TPM sensors for our Sienna and programmed the TPM sensors on the winter wheels for both our Sienna and Prius into their ECU's with an inexpensive ($149) ATEQ Quickset from Amazon.com in just a few minutes. The ATEQ Quickset can upload TPMS ID's to vehicle ECU's of all vehicles manufactured by Toyota including the CT200h.