2007 Element EX
107,000 miles
Previous Tire: Goodyear Fortera
Present Tire: General Grabber HTS
Test Location: Colorado Springs
Conditions: Wintertime, with some snow.

I bought my E last year with 85,000 miles on it. It came with Goodyear Fortera tires that had decent tread on them. I changed them out at about 105000 miles to the General Grabber HTS.

My opinion is that the Forteras were exceptionally loud and gave a very hard ride which made me think that I needed new struts. They still had decent tread on them when I replaced them with the General Grabber HTS.

I immediately noticed that the General Grabbers were very quiet by comparison, both on the ighway and in town. The ride also doesn't seem as hard. Now, with about 2000 miles on them, we had one of those pesky snows at 30 degrees when every road is slick as snot. Perfect for a test for the Grabbers. I live on a large hill and the E handled very well on these tires. My wife has since driven them on snow twice and feels completely in control with this tire. They seem to be the equivalent of the Goodrich All Terrain TA's that I have on my truck - only lighter.

I keep meticulous track of my gas mileage and it has gone down about 2 MPG. I'm not sure what the tire pressure is but it may be a bit on the low side. Still, I'm not worried about it since we gained a bit in noise and control - seems like a decent tradeoff.

I'd highly recommend these tires, especially if you are looking for a quieter ride (and who isn't if you own an Element?).

Thanks for posting details of the experience.

I also lost about 2-3 mpg but I went with 235/70's on my Grabbers and attributed the loss to the new tire size.

Look forward to hear how you do through the winter.

(Oh yeah...spent a year of my childhood at Fort Lion in CO Springs...loved it! Always said I may not come back if I ever make it back out that way.)

Colorado: What/where did you get them and what did you pay for em?

Bowzer: Where's Ft Lion? I've lived here 31 years and never heard of it.

Ft. Collins?

I just bit the bullet because I've been travelling a lot to FL this year and bought them at Discount Tire on Garden of the Gods. They had to order them in but they arrived within two days. $660 out the door. Should have been $621 my wife bought the extended warranty while I was out of town.

Bowzer: Where's Ft Lion? I've lived here 31 years and never heard of it.

Ft. Collins?



LOL...You caught me in a slip back to my days at 5 years old. We lived at the old Ft. Lyon VA Hospital grounds (Had to look it up...it's closed down out in Bent County) for a year or so where my Dad was a doc back in the 70's. We actually lived part time in CO Springs during that time and my 5 year old memories just lop it all together.
In fact, all those 5 year old recollections are a mixed bag from loving to go to the Air Force Academy for visits, living at the Hospital compound, going to Santa's workshop (Is that still around out there somewhere on a mountain top?) and my most vivid memory: our awesome stairway banister perfect for sliding down every morning! Oh yeah...and just "a bit" of snow.

I have the Grabber HTS on my E and just moved from the West Coast to Pittsburgh. My E has never seen snow so I am wondering how the Grabber's will handle the snow out here. I noticed you all have AWD but I have FWD so I'm wondering if the Grabbers and FWD will be enough to get me through the winter.

I will add that they are much more quiet and I have noticed the biggest improvement in wet weather. My traction is a lot better having upgraded from the Wranglers.

This sounds like the tires for me. Sears has the Grabber HTS 99S BSW and the Grabber HTS 100S OWL. Which ones are the ones you all referring to?

Luv my Grabbers. Got them from TireRack.com which used to be referenced from this site :-/ Way quieter than stock and great in our Cleveland weather! Like them so much I got another set for my Rav-4.

I noticed you all have AWD but I have FWD so I'm wondering if the Grabbers and FWD will be enough to get me through the winter.

I've got the AWD and i'm on the other side of PA, but the HTSs are great.

I'd recomend winter tires for Pittsburg and FWD, but I suppose you could always give the HTSs a try thru a few small snows and see how they do. I wouldn't imagine it would make a big difference (price or availability) wether you buy Snow tires in December or January. ;-)

So I had one of the worst driving experiences of my life this morning. We got our first snow and there was just enough of snow to make the roads sloppy. I went out early morning so there wasn't a lot of traffic. I live in the middle of the city of Pittsburgh but am on some small side streets so I took the E out.

HORRIBLE to say the least. I went in an alley and got it up to about 15 mph and hit the brakes and slid a good 10 feet. I tried to take the corner and the traction control was flashing like crazy. Even on the main roads stopping was a nightmare and accelerating was even worse. Traction control flashed the entire time. I had an Aveo pass me up like nothing. How embarrassing is that? I could not keep the E straight and had to head back home. On my way back home I went through a parking lot, took a corner, turned the E completely sideways and smashed into a curb.

In comparison, when I got home I took my wife's Civic out with the stock Continentals and had no problems. Some slipping and sliding but nowhere near the horrible traction of the E.

I grew up in PA so I know driving in snow all too well. When I got my E I figured the FWD and Grabber HTS tires would be fine. Man was I wrong! The tires were fine out West but now that I moved back to PA the E isn't treating me so well.

I need to scramble and figure out what to do before we get any accumulating snow.

So I had one of the worst driving experiences of my life this morning. We got our first snow and there was just enough of snow to make the roads sloppy. I went out early morning so there wasn't a lot of traffic. I live in the middle of the city of Pittsburgh but am on some small side streets so I took the E out.

HORRIBLE to say the least. I went in an alley and got it up to about 15 mph and hit the brakes and slid a good 10 feet. I tried to take the corner and the traction control was flashing like crazy. Even on the main roads stopping was a nightmare and accelerating was even worse. Traction control flashed the entire time. I had an Aveo pass me up like nothing. How embarrassing is that? I could not keep the E straight and had to head back home. On my way back home I went through a parking lot, took a corner, turned the E completely sideways and smashed into a curb.

In comparison, when I got home I took my wife's Civic out with the stock Continentals and had no problems. Some slipping and sliding but nowhere near the horrible traction of the E.

I grew up in PA so I know driving in snow all too well. When I got my E I figured the FWD and Grabber HTS tires would be fine. Man was I wrong! The tires were fine out West but now that I moved back to PA the E isn't treating me so well.

I need to scramble and figure out what to do before we get any accumulating snow.

Yikes. Note to self: Stay away from snow with my current tires.

Glad you didn't have anything worse happen as a result of the sliding. Sounds odd though as I would think you would at least have average grip without it being a severe condition. Of course, I've driven through that white stuff all of 2 light duty seasons for my total experience.

So I had one of the worst driving experiences of my life this morning. We got our first snow and there was just enough of snow to make the roads sloppy. I went out early morning so there wasn't a lot of traffic. I live in the middle of the city of Pittsburgh but am on some small side streets so I took the E out.

HORRIBLE to say the least. I went in an alley and got it up to about 15 mph and hit the brakes and slid a good 10 feet. I tried to take the corner and the traction control was flashing like crazy. Even on the main roads stopping was a nightmare and accelerating was even worse. Traction control flashed the entire time. I had an Aveo pass me up like nothing. How embarrassing is that? I could not keep the E straight and had to head back home. On my way back home I went through a parking lot, took a corner, turned the E completely sideways and smashed into a curb.

In comparison, when I got home I took my wife's Civic out with the stock Continentals and had no problems. Some slipping and sliding but nowhere near the horrible traction of the E.

I grew up in PA so I know driving in snow all too well. When I got my E I figured the FWD and Grabber HTS tires would be fine. Man was I wrong! The tires were fine out West but now that I moved back to PA the E isn't treating me so well.

I need to scramble and figure out what to do before we get any accumulating snow.

Just sounds like a bad set of tires to me. Either that or the outside temperature was near the triple point of water (water exists as a gas, liquid and solid at exactly 32 degrees - which makes the roads slick as snot). We get that condition a lot along the Front Range in Colorado.

Unfortunately I have a similar problem with my pickup truck tires. They have a set of high end Hankook tires that get rave reviews but I can't brake worth a darn in any snow or ice condition. And they cost a lot more than the Genreal Grabbers.

Sorry to hear about your experience.