How is winter going for you so far? Have you had any kind of measurable snow or ice yet? Luckily, around BangShift Mid-West, we haven’t…nothing more than a dusting that was melted by noon has fallen so far. If that annoys you, don’t worry…we usually get it sometime between late Feburary and as late as early April. But for plenty of you, especially those of you who live in latitudes north of Lohnes and the prairies, that season of snowdrifts will come, and when it does, will you be ready for the snowy, icy conditions? We hope you will be. We hope your safety kit is up to snuff, that you have a blanket in the car just in case, that you’ve checked out all of your mechanicals and that if you know you’ll see constant snow and ice, that winter tires are part of your program.
Winter tires do well…tests have proven it, and we’ve taken parts in tests that proved the point thanks to our friends at BFGoodrich. But sometimes…you just need more. Look, for example, to our ice racing friends around the Great Lakes and in Scandinavia. They use studs, guaranteed to rip, shred, and chunk snow and ice into fine powder, digging into a more tractable surface and gaining grip that the cold stuff just can’t manage. It’s a good concept…the Frozen Rush race trucks used tires like that. But what if you just eliminate the pesky tire out of the equation? No flat tire to deal with when you pop the bead, no expensive repairs…just spikes on wheels that will grip on just about everything you can possibly think of. Well, in case that thought had crossed your mind, allow us to show you what that looks like in action courtesy of the Russian channel Garage 54. Using what we think is a Lada Samara 2, the front tires are replaced with wheels that consist of thousands of nails welded onto a flat strip of metal that was welded to the wheel. No rubber needed, it’s just all long pointy spikes that should have no trouble digging into the frozen surface. Care to guess how well this one plays out?
What a great idea….instead of throwing up occasional rocks or roadside debris that may crack a windshield…lets throw up shit that could kill someone, puncture a gas tank or severe a brake line sending us careening into oncoming traffic…cool !!! Fun loving Russians.