Do you really need winter tires?

Fast_Eddie

Winter tires are a tremendous advantage on snow and ice. I can't state this strongly enough- if you don't mind changing out tires, getting away from all season tires makes a huge difference.

All-season tires by design are a compromise. They do just fine for most conditions most of the time. But when things get bad, there is no comparison between an all-season and a good winter tire. I drive a Toyota MR2. They are notoriously bad winter cars. But with a set of Bridgstone Blizzaks, there is no stopping me.

Winter tires are siped to grip ice and snow. The rubber compound is formulated to work well in colder temperatures. They're very soft, so once the weather is over 40 most of the time, you'll want to switch back to summer tires or they will wear more quickly. I run mine December through March or April most years.

Another advantage of having winter tires is the ability to run true summer tires in the summer. Again, they are night and day vs. an all-season and usually quite a bit cheaper.

Check out the tirerack winter tire video and you'll see what a big difference winter tires can make. I wouldn't live in Colorado without them!

TORMENTOR

Dude, I've been driving on Yokohama avs100es tires all 12 months. On ice and every thing -15 degrees in Chicago. you will have no breaking on snow or ice with what you have on now, and you might slide sideways while turning or accelerating. you cant make it up hills on ice or heavy snow with the Eagle f1s, and also it will take some time longer to gain some forward speed. "God speed"

bungee

if you drive in snow you need winter tires<

Life is good

My local body shop just loves people who say that they don't need snow tires. He gives discounts to people that advertise the fact. Sometimes even pays their deductible and still managed to put two kids through medical school.

We put snow tires all round on our 2006 Malibu Maxx this year. The difference over last winter (with all season tires) is phenomenal. I walked my car through 2 to 2 1/2 foot snowdrifts today. If I had been on all season tires I'd not have made it home.

UCANTCME

Not if it is not snowing or you have icy roads but..............

Winter Tires are designed to deliver safety and control in snow, ice, and cold weather conditions.

Many people think that all-season tires can deliver this same performance, but this is not true.

The superior traction that winter tires deliver, as much as a 25 to 50 percent increase over all-season tires, can very well be the margin you need to stop in time or turn to avoid trouble.

techyphilosopher2

The temperature really has no bearing on using "winter" tires, but the decision should be based on whether you expect to to be driving in rain and/or snow in the near future.

I've happily been using "all-season" "mud/snow" rated radials year 'round on my vehicles (pickup trucks and front wheel drive sedans) since about 1980. I never hassled with changing out different tires for different seasons, never got stuck in snow, and never hydroplaned in heavy rains in all those years. IMHO, they're the way to go for eliminating the nuisance of seasonal tire changes.

Chris

No winter tires are a waste in of money in Colorado. We have too many nice warm days in the winter with no snow on the streets. Driving on snow tires when it is dry and warm outside will destroy them. Get some good all season tires they will last longer and you don't need to switch them out in the spring,

Russ B

You don't need winter tires just because its cold. If the roads are clean you are good on summer tires regardless of what the temperature is. Winter tires help on snow and ice though. Do you really need them? I don't know. I drove through 3 winters in Colorado (including the 2006 blizzard) safely on ultra high performance summer Dunlops. I had to be extra careful but i did fine. Winter tires would have helped alot though. But dont be thinking that since you have winter tires you can gun it on a sheet of ice.

EDIT: lol to all people giving me thumbs down, I AM NOT saying that you dont need winter tires. I just said that i did fine on summer tires. That's all.

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