Moving to Washington (Vancouver area)

Hey everyone,

The girl and i and planning to move to Washington/Portland area in the relative future.


I just had some questions, since were in Florida and dont/never had to deal with winters.


What is needed exactly for tires/safe driving in the winter/snow?

Is anyone semi local to Vancouver area and can tell me how it is out there? We have a friend who lives in the area who we would be moving in with for the time being and then eventually getting our own home hopefully.



Just really concerned with the whole idea of winterizing and what that all entails with tires/wheels?
Ive heard mixed things about just using all season tires and chains/grip devices or getting winter tires mounted on stock wheels and then the iconic winter wheel/tire set up to switch to(what do you guys think are best/practical?) but ive also been on the Washington DOT website and they list all different things about requirements for chains/devices and just got a little confused so hoping some locals/native Washington people can shed some light.


I drive a Vw Gti and she has a Hyundai Veloster (so both front wheel drive passenger vehicles) if that makes a difference in requirements.


Also any tips/tricks you can give for the area/winter/driving etc would be appreciated. Thank You

don't live in Vancouver WA, but used to live in Vancouver BC. Similar weather. Even snowboarding on Cypress or Whistler steelies and snow's got me where i needed to go. Most roads don't allow use of chains.
Now if you're going up MT Baker.. they usually have alerts and yes pay attention and bring chains!! It's no joke!

I'm sure some one else living in the area will provide more details. WOw.. what a move.. from FLA to a rainy (Nov -Feb).. that damp cold eeesh. BUT.. .love the West coast. Different vibe altogether.

good luck on your move
ps... on those hills... 2nd gear and feathering the throttle with good snow tires is always a better option than 1st gear. It's not torque steer but it's damn near close!! I've never been stuck in snow ever with good tires. Don't cheap out but don't need the most expensive either

thanks for the insight. Yeah im not sure about the chains/usage i was just reading about the different advisories from the Washington DOT and was like whoa lol.
It rains a lot here in Florida lol

Average rainfall per year in Florida 59.21 inch average in Washington is 38.15 inches according to google.

Im used to rain just not snow lol

Anybody else? OR anyone for that matter who drives in snow has experience/dos and donts? Right now were tight on funds but we do plan on buying winter tires when we come up (currently all seasons on the car)



Are all seasons okay to use? Vancouver Washington states average annual snowfall is 2 inches with Portland averaging annually is 3".


Would good all season tires work for those conditions and then the ability to add chains/grip devices be fine? Or should we shell out the money to get actual snow/winter tires.

lilonespaz said:

Anybody else? OR anyone for that matter who drives in snow has experience/dos and donts? Right now were tight on funds but we do plan on buying winter tires when we come up (currently all seasons on the car)



Are all seasons okay to use? Vancouver Washington states average annual snowfall is 2 inches with Portland averaging annually is 3".


Would good all season tires work for those conditions and then the ability to add chains/grip devices be fine? Or should we shell out the money to get actual snow/winter tires.

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all seasons will cut it in moderate snowfall areas on a mk6 / most FWD cars.

the trick is to drive like a normie and ive extra space for braking. moisture on the road in any form makes taking curves real tough since decreased traction. also assume everything is ice.

There really isn't that much snow here. You can live without winter tires if you are staying to the populated areas. If you plan to drive in the mountains during the winters, I would suggest investing in a good set of steelies and winter tires. I will probably have a set FS in the coming months, since I'm retiring the GTI from winter driving and buying a truck to deal with my winter driving needs.

But 600-700 is all you need for a new set of steelies and winter tires and its worth every penny if you're actually driving in winter conditions (Calgary, Canada native originally).

lilonespaz said:

Average rainfall per year in Florida 59.21 inch average in Washington is 38.15 inches according to google.

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I lived in Seattle for 3 years.

The difference between those two numbers is HOW it comes down.

FL gets their total rainfall in heavy, sharp, bursts. Deluge, storm, buckets of rain... then it goes away and you get sunshine.

The PNW you get days upon days of "mist".

The weird thing is - it can be "raining" by you, and you can literally go 2-3 blocks, and have a "sunburst" where it's sunny and nice.

The very nice thing is that the summers are generally very nice. One summer my friend had an Audi TT and the top stayed down for almost 90 consecutive days.

Summers here are the best in the US IMO.

It also hasn't rained here at all this spring (going to be lots of fires this summer).

Hi! I am in Vancouver, WA. Happy to answer any questions you have about the area.

The snow here is really not that bad, it’s the other people on the road that is the problem. Go out early in the morning when it snows and get used to how your car feels when it’s slippery. Try to avoid high traffic times in the snow.

I have Continental DWS tires on my golf and it handles rain and snow like a champ.

haleyann said:

Hi! I am in Vancouver, WA. Happy to answer any questions you have about the area.

The snow here is really not that bad, it’s the other people on the road that is the problem. Go out early in the morning when it snows and get used to how your car feels when it’s slippery. Try to avoid high traffic times in the snow.

I have Continental DWS tires on my golf and it handles rain and snow like a champ.

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Alright...that's cool.

Thank you everyone for the advice and comments. I appreciate all the replies, it was nice to read about it and learn snow isnt as scary as they make it out to be.

We did not end up moving there, quite the contrary actually which probably was for the best that we delayed our plans as She decided to move in with her ex and get engaged a month after we broke up. That's another story though.

Not the same... But I was in Wyoming for about a year. I drove a 1989 Mustang GT with 225 Sumitomo tires on it. I got around ok, one guy liked to ride with me so we could get sideways. The one thing I had to do was change my coolant/water mix. I came out one morning after I got there and the car wouldn't start. Good thing the water didn't completely freeze!

I also lived in South Florida for about 3 years.

I recommend you not to risk and to use some other ways how to transport your car. When I was moving from Alaska to Nevada I've transported my cars by the help of https://www.shipvehicles.com/ I thought that it would be much safer for me and my family. Sometimes winter can make you very dangerous surprises. I've decided that the save of 500$ won't influence my wallet. Because the health is on the first place.

I live in lake Stevens which is about 200 miles north of Vancouver and our winter's consist of 1-5 days of snow here in late Feb / early March .. I've driven on my stock pirelli p-zeros in Idaho which has way more snow then us with no chains and they did amazing, not sure how winter is in Vancouver but if it's anything like what we have here you should be fine with a decent all weather tire.. Don't do pirelli stradas they suck I was recommended them by discount tire, saying that they were similar to the p zeros.. they are not.. they suck in the snow and the rain and in the dry.. lol rant over. But yeah we are mostly rain all the time and snow seldom

I've lived in both Oregon and Washington. Vancouver is practically at sea level so you won't really have any real winter weather to speak of. I never had a problem with my GTI, even after the big snowstorm Feb '19, and I'm on BFG Comp2 A/S tires.

If you will be driving into or through the mountains on a regular basis during the winter, you may want to invest in a set of winter tires, but if not, you'll probably never need them. I'm now living in Kansas, and my car has been just fine with the Midwest winters.