So I was just looking at the Les Schwab website because I was looking at getting a set of chains or cables. Then the "Tire Siping" section caught my eye. Don't get me wrong,.. I don't expect to replace cables or chains with tire siping, but I was just wondering if the practice itself was 'legitimate'. I mean,.. is it worth $15 a tire for them to cut it up for you? Are the benefits really that good?

its a solution to a problem that does not exist, created by a tire salesman.

my buddy payed to have little cuts made in his tires...what a waste of time and money.

dude ur in Cali man why would u want to do this?.....we jus got a foot of snow last nite and gettin four more inches 2nite...

for you; no.
for people that actually see weather; yes.

i have avid v4s or w4s on my stock wheels and they absolutely blow for snow.. would siping really help? they have like a 2.5 out of 5 for snow and ice traction rating..and trust me do they suck ass in snow. i just feel really bad getting snow tires as these tires have like 80% meat left on them.. i wanted blizzaks, but i don't know what to do with these avids

problem is is your rubber on your tires now isnt designed for it, and the compounds arent designed for the cold and to aid in traction like a heavily siped snow tire.

Why?

We get snow in Cali up in the foothills like the sierra and up north, but thats it. I'm right in the middle so i'm cool no snow for me and for all you on the east and midwest and wherever it snows im glad im not you LOL! Snow will be fun 2 play in but not drive in

Actually I'm in Oregon at the moment (temporary relocation). But nonetheless, I wasn't asking so much for myself as I was just curious what the consensus was about tire siping in general here in the forum.

i had a set of siped tires in Colorado, i saw improvement when I had my wheels siped about 500 miles after getting them, especially on packed snow and slight improvement on ice..mostly packed snow.

I don't see the need for you to get it if you don't deal with snow that much, if at all. If you look at the good snow tires, they all have significant siping so you are essentially making a hybrid tire. When I lived in Colorado, I just had a winter set of tires on some 16" TL wheels from a 99-01 model. Nice soft spongy tire and great grip with some fairly cheap snow tires I got for $200 total.

I agree. Since the tread block and the rubber compound are not designed to be cut up after being manufactured, the artificial sipes may weaken the tread block and may cause the tread block to break up during high speed highway drivings.

Don't do it. Tires weren't engineered to be siped by some 3rd party.

Since you are temporarily located in Oregon, then don't bother. Just use your common sense when it's snowing outside -- drive slower and leave more space between cars. That's how 75%+ of Canadians drive (even with snow tires).