We get a lot of winter driving questions, and one of the most important suggestions is telling people to get good tires. Here is a video showing the difference in snow between all-season "mud and snow" tires and summer tires: Compared: Snow vs. summer tires - CNN iReport Tom
Another good link is here tires for winter driving You can see what happens - in graphic detail - when you attempt to run winter tires on one axle and "all season" tires on another axle
They would be fun to try on a closed winter track. Not so fun on real life streets when you whip around into oncoming traffic A lot of folks assume I drive around all winter in 4H. Nope, it stays in 2H almost all the time, until I bog down into a snow drift then I shift into 4H A couple of days ago during our most recent snow event, I let somebody from the office drive my Fj while I sat in the passenger seat. For me that is torture, but I wanted to prove a point He was complaining how his AWD Acura was almost useless in snow and ice, no wonder with those "performance" tires on Snow, slush, glare ice at intersections, he was amazed at how controllable my FJ was. All it takes is four factory studded Nokian winter tires, and 6 sandbags in back for extra weight over the drive axle Unfortunately, Kal Tire is already sold out of the factory studded Nokians he needs for his Acura. I suggested either the General Altimax Arctic or Goodyear Nordic, studded, at Canadian Tire and he is now getting the Nordic. Will take a couple of days to bring them in and stud them however. I promised he would notice a day and night difference in traction
It's like proper footwear for your car. Mind you, I've seen people hiking in thongs, so maybe that's not the best analogy. Hmm...did I say thongs? Well, that too. I meant to say flip-flops. As in sandals. Never mind....
Finally, the truth comes out. And all this time you've been extolling the virtues of studded snow tires.
Can only moderators change titles? Maybe it should be "all-season vs snow tires". Summer only tires are almost extinct.
They could, but then the tread title would be wrong. In the video I posted, they explicitly say that one car has summer tires, while the other has all-season mud and snow. It's not the same as all-season vs. snow tires, although that would also be an interesting test. Perhaps you can post a video showing that test in another thread. Tom
Ok, my bad. Many of the comments down the page from the video were in reference to the confusing terms. Nowadays, all-season equals mud+snow, and is not an aggressively treaded/siped "snow" tire, doesn't sport the mountain+snowflake symbol.
The terms are confusing for most people. What used to be called 'summer tires' are apparently now called 'all-seasons'. Despite the name, they're really not suitable for ALL four seasons. The tread design is generally much safer in rain, and will handle a light snowfall, but they are definitely not safe in genuine Winter conditions.
Two words! Nokian Wrg2s! I have driven a Subaru outback through snow so deep it was over the hood in many places, 18 kms up a logging road, with a thick sun/rain crust without breaking a sweat,,, well a little of one when at 40 kmh the only way to steer was to bounce off the banks. I have driven the Prius in knee deep snow without a sweat either. The only tire I would put on any car! Runs fine in summer, no mileage hit on the Prius, 35,000 miles on them and they show little wear. Icarus
Tirerack has separate categories for summer and all-season. An example of summer would be: Bridgestone Ecopia EP100 I believe they don't have the "M+S" symbol and all-season: Bridgestone Ecopia EP20 Have the "M+S", but not the snow tires' Snowflake/Mountain symbol. The above mentioned WRG2 do have the Snowflake/Mountain, they're maybe mid-way between all-season and snows.
In my opinion, what one calls "summer tires" are the old bias ply tires (tyres). "All-season" tires are radial tires. Winter tires are dedicated snow or snow/ice (studded) tires, with large/deep lugs to bite into snow. When I lived in Minnesota, after radials became more common, many people, myself included, drove year-round on radials, rather than switching between summer and winter tires, for cars. Pickup trucks, however, still switched back and forth. Why? because pickups, unless you have a ton of stuff in the back, have no traction! I've driven through really icky weather on radials. I carried chains in case of blizzard - meaning really deep snow & ice conditions - but generally never used them. Now, I drive on Hydroedges, as rain, generally as serious deluges, is my usual winter challenge. The occasional ice/snow day is fine on them, too, with caution. If I have ground clearance, I can generally drive through anything. I might drive slowly, but I can drive. If I had to drive in really wicked conditions a lot, I'd have something with more ground clearance, and with winter tires on it.
Head on down to San Diego - there's a boat there! First Battle Sail of California Season Scheduled in San Diego Our son is a crew person!
