How to turn your VIII into 4WD this winter

[MonsterMark]

Next best thing to having a 4 wheel drive vehicle is turning your Lincoln Mark VIII into one.

I've driven these cars for the past 14 years. This is the first year I've put REAL snow tires on.

WOW! The Dunlops are fantastic.

Dunlop SP Winter Sport M3 in 235/60/16 size on stock OctaStars.

The sipe design and placement make this the best tire for winter driving. I can't compare to other 'winter' tires but I can say they blow away ANY 'All-Season' tire you can buy.

Slush, wet, hard pack, deep snow. These tires have seen it all so far this year. 8" snow. No problem. Jack rabbit starts (sans traction control). No problem. Stopping. Turning without sliding. These tires have done it all.

Of course, one must add 250 pounds of sand to the formula. Another 60 pounds of nitrous doesn't hurt either.

I love to blow 4wd blazers and explorers off the line. They can't believe how I can take off. I've had 4 guys ask me if my car was a new AWD vehicle. LOL.

If you can find them, I would strongly recommend buying them.

 

[brentalan]

I have to agree with your Winter tire assessment. I've tried the Good Year ultra grip ICE and the Hankook Winter Pike. There is no comparison to all season tires. I don't think its brand so much a the improvements that have been made in winter tires in the last ten years. Lotsa technology has gone into them and they just work. Everyone should consider winter tires if they drive in the snow.

 

[k9t8m]

I prefer the real thing.

 

[Jeffintampa]

Love living in florida again lol

 

[Gilby959798]

I prefer the real thing.

i dont know how i feel about that

 

[MediumD]

That chunk of diamond plate has to be pretty heavy as well...

My 275mm Goodyear Eagle F1s (snow rating on Tirerack: Not Applicable) are good enough for the 2-3" of snow I might see this year.

 

[luxuryrules]

Very cool.

It's funny, I have known a number of individuals who have bad mouthed snow tires and used all-seasons for years, who have tried snow tires and will now never go back.

I used Blizzak WS-50 and REVO1 in years prior. This year, I found a set of Nokian Hakkapelitta RSi for myself. I would give great reviews to any of those tires, and I would rank them in order of Nokian, REVO1, and WS-50 from best to almost the best, but they are all awesome. Nice to see the Dunlop Winter rubber gets good reviews too.
http://www.canadiandriver.com/winter/tires/hakka_rsi.htm

 

[Frogman]

Meh... It's still not a 4 wheel drive... unless you got a couple of midgets running on top of the front tires to provide some sort of traction.

 

[MonsterMark]

No, but it beats freaking out evrrytime it snows worrying you might be the moron stuck in the intersection blocking all the traffic.

Tire Rack review for those that follow those sorts of things...

I love the Hunda Civic review. Those drivers from those sorts of cars are very convincing.

 

[Cheez_94]

I love the Dunlop Blizzack Revos on the Crown Vic because they keep my wife from complaining

I think they have also kept me from needing a divorce Attorney

 

[Frogman]

No, but it beats freaking out evrrytime it snows worrying you might be the moron stuck in the intersection blocking all the traffic.

True... This is why I fire up the pick-up truck when there's a lot of snow on the ground. Mo' Easier.

 

[mmtphoto]

four-wheel-drive formula-

park the mark in mid December, drive the Wrangler w/BFG All-Terrain TA'S (35's) for four months-been that way for 7 years now, works like a charm

 

[tubbyLS6]

same tires and they are the best hands down

 

[RedCellSix]

Have 4 Sams Club snow tires on my original rims ( which are pitted ). Used them 2 winters ago with great results, only had winter survival gear in the trunk. It was nice to leave traffic lights without sliding every second. Then El Nino hit. We've had only three or four major storms a year. This year a 10" followed by a 9" storm already. Thinking seriously of putting them back on, ugly rims or not. Ugly beats wrecking for sure.

 

[mafioso]

I prefer the real thing.

Now thats funny!

 

[Joeychgo]

I just put the GoodYear F1s on my Gen II. WAYYY better in snow then my Pirellis

 

[k9t8m]

what size are you running joey? Im thinkin about those tires for the VIC.

 

[kustomizingkid]

I've got summer tires on the Vic.... its been kind of miserable so far.

Don't want to spend the $$'s for real snow tires though... the Mark needs tires for the new wheels.

 

[lslove]

anyone use he pirellei 210 snowsports, i just put them on because i was that moron stuck blocking traffic, I want to see first hand how they are, figures all the snows off the roads now...guess i just have to go tear it up in some parking lot

 

[Kevin]

Even OLD winter tires (about 7 years old) perform better than newer all seasons.

We had an arseload of snow last night, my lowered Cougar w/4.30's and about 300hp got through more of our work parking lot than the cube vans, and FWD econoboxes w/all-seasons did.

Heck, even the 18 wheelers were getting stuck, on what my Cougar just went through!

We picked up a set of "General Tire"s for the Mark8, supposedly made in Germany? The car is damn near unstoppable.

 

[kustomizingkid]

I want snow tires... really bad now

 

[MonsterMark]

I just put the GoodYear F1s on my Gen II. WAYYY better in snow then my Pirellis

The Goodyears are nice tires for sure but they are like ice-skates in cold weather.

Just not the same.

Not even close, imho.

True winter tires are the only way to go with these cars.

 

[kustomizingkid]

Wanna buy me some...

 

[MonsterMark]

If you want to cry, Tire Rack had them on closeout. They are all gone in 16".

 

[kustomizingkid]

No need to cry.... I just would rather drive on summer tires and spend the money to get the gears put in my Mark than buy snow tires, it's all about priorities.