FIRESTONE COMPLETE AUTO CARE HAS PUT TIRES ON MORE CARS THAN ANY OTHER COMPANY. Compare Dodge Caliber tire sizes, prices & brands At your local Firestone Complete Auto Care, you'll find the best Dodge Caliber tires at the best price. Browse our wide catalog of Caliber tires and compare by tire price, size, type, and brand. Whether you're shopping for tires that will maximize your fuel-efficiency or vehicle speed, you'll find the right ones for your car or truck and budget. Take care of your shopping online, then schedule a convenient appointment with a trusted technician today! We're open late and on weekends, so when you need new tires, we're ready!In the winter, there are times when most drivers wish they had a bit more traction, particularly when scaling a slippery hill or ascending an icy driveway. Beyond winter tires and all-wheel drive, there are aftermarket products that promise to provide added grip for occasional use. Consumer Reports recently evaluated three textile products that fit over tires to aid traction.

Think of them as alternatives to clunky metal snow chains. (See below for a note about states that require tire chains.) Two of the products—AutoSock and ISSE—resemble a cloth sock that slips over the tire. The Michelin Easy Grip looks and works more like a snow chain made out of rope. Like the “socks,” the Easy Grip slips over the tire. Installing these products is straightforward, but by no means is it easy or clean. Kneeling in the snow and working in close proximity to a wet, cold, and dirty wheel well is no treat. Plus, it takes some muscle and patience to slip one of these products over the tire. All are intended for use on snow- and ice-covered roads only, and they have limited speed ranges of 25 mph (Michelin Easy Grip and ISSE) to 30 mph (AutoSock). We purchased all three products online, in a size to fit the 215/60R16 tires on our 2012 Toyota Camry. (Tip: Be careful when ordering to get the appropriate size, as proper fit is vital.) Each product comes with a pair for the drive wheels of a front- or rear-wheel drive car, but they can be used in a set of four for an all-wheel-drive vehicle.

The Michelin Easy Grip cost $139.60, the AutoSock was purchased for $109.95, and the cheapest was the ISSE was the least expensive at $71.96. Prices will vary depending on retail outlets and sizes.Houses For Sale In Wick Village Bristol Where the Sock Meets the RoadHusky Puppies For Sale In College Station Texas We measured the snow traction performance of these products on a set of Michelin Premier A/S all-season tires in our standard snow traction test where we accelerate from 5 to 20 mph. Less distance needed to reach 20 mph equates to better snow traction. Samsung Vacuum Cleaner Bags Easy 1300With no traction devices installed, our Toyota Camry took 73 feet to reach 20 mph. The AutoSock and ISSE “tire socks” significantly improved snow traction, shortening the distance to 58 feet, while the Michelin Easy Grip did even better at 49 feet.

For comparison, a dedicated winter tire took 57 feet to reach 20 mph. The good news is all three products offer added grip on snow. The bad news is installation can be tough, particularly when you factor in the cold. It is important that these be installed in a safe place away from traffic. In our experience, the ”tire sock” products were a little easier to install than the Michelin Easy Grip, but all three are hard to pull over a tire. Each requires the tire to rotate periodically during installation to position the traction aids properly over the tire’s tread. Consequently, this process is easier with an assistant. If you need temporary traction to get out of a slick-wintry spot once in a great while, then these products might make sense as a part of a winter emergency kit in the trunk. For most snow-belt drivers, dedicated winter tires are more practical and versatile for the wide variety of wintry conditions. Some localities require tire chains on certain roads under certain conditions, even for vehicles fitted with snow tires, and these products may or may not fit the bill.

Some states allow textile-based products; others require actual metal chains. Before deciding what to buy, consider where you will be driving and do a Web search for tire chain requirements in those states. Check our tire ratings to find the best-performing models for snow traction that fit your car.I once met a guy who seemed to think quite highly of himself for surviving three Michigan winters in a Pontiac G8 shod with the stock summer tires. His expert advice for anyone attempting such idiocy? “Never stop at a red light in the snow. You’ll never get going again.” Six feet under, in Westminster Abbey, Charles Darwin smiled. If your car can’t find the traction to get to 10 mph, your game plan probably shouldn’t include running red lights.We’ve long preached the importance of the right tires for the season but have rarely supported that message with anything more than anecdotes that run against our suicidal G8 driver’s advice. The right tires allow you to accelerate more quickly, change direction faster, and, most important, stop shorter.

And when they’re the difference between hitting something and avoiding it, the right tires save sheetmetal, money, and, potentially, lives.This tire talk isn’t just for folks who live in wintry climes, either. There’s plenty of incentive to trade out your all-seasons even in Southern states. To prove that point, we fit our long-term Dodge Charger with all-season, winter, and summer tires and performed panic-stop tests on both a snow-packed surface and a warm, dry road. This isn’t an exhaustive, scientific test, but rather a real-world illustration of the consequences of using the wrong tire.We sought top-performing tires in each category, and with Tire Rack providing recommendations, we settled on Pirelli PZero summer tires and Continental ExtremeContact DWS all-seasons. In a nod to practicality, our winter selection — the Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V1 — was narrower than the stock tire and rode on a smaller wheel. Downsizing the rim saves money, and a smaller tread width improves performance in the snow.

“A narrower tire cuts through the snow and down to the pavement, rather than riding on top like a ski,” says Tire Rack product information specialist Woody Rogers.With the Blizzaks mounted, the Pirellis shoved in the back of the Charger, and the Continentals following behind in a chase vehicle, we outran spring’s imminent arrival last March to test on the packed-and-groomed, snow-covered surface of Michigan Technological University’s Keweenaw Research Center. It’s no surprise that from 30 mph the Charger stopped the quickest with the winter tires, but the data also reveal how high the stakes are without them. The stopping distance of the all-season Continentals is nearly double the distance of the Blizzaks. Even more indicative of the possible consequences: at the point where the winter tires stopped, the Charger is still traveling 20 mph with the all-season tires.With summer tires mounted, we modified that Pontiac G8 driver’s advice — don’t bother trying to stop, because you probably won’t.

After 74 feet — the stopping distance of the Charger on winter tires — the Pirelli-equipped car has shed just 4 mph and will slide for another 258 feet before coming to rest. Scarier still, the overworked antilock braking system experiences critical brake fade well before the car stopps. The pedal drops to the floor and braking force plummets, turning the driver into a passenger as the car sails across the slick surface.Several months later and with dry pavement undertire, we ran the same test, but this time from 70 mph. Although the distance gap narrows with more traction, there is still a distinct difference in stopping distances. The PZero summer tires record the shortest distance at 149 feet, and the winter tires need the most room to stop — an extra 56 feet. The all-season Continentals are no slouch at 167 feet, but there’s no question that they’re compromised. Using the summer tires could be the difference between stopping before a collision takes place and hitting something at 22 mph.