POLL: Winters vs All-Season Tires

[Whisper]

Any one that drives in the snow with just 3 season tires should be fined. Especially if the road signs say "Carry chains or use good winter tread".  How many accidents are caused by drivers driving on icy/snowy roads with the wrong tires?

I agree, but there needs to be more public education. I haven't seen any signs here in Ottawa. It's a great idea though.

[duck]

Living in Victoria there is only a need for winter tires for about 1 week every year.  The temperature is so mild that the softer compound isn't needed.

My tires only see about an inch of snow here for a couple days, and the same just at the peak of driving to the ski hills.  All seasons with accountable tread are fine.

robarakira,  Do you have room  for a  duck?   

Alberta winters are four months long.

[si]

I notice ducks all over this area.  They make lake swimming a no-no because of the excretions, so on that account I'm going to have to decline your offer to live in my pool  
As many of you repeatedly know, I'm a ski junky and crave the white stuff.  The local mountain (Mt. Washington) was open for about 1 month last season due to a lack of snow. 

Although I live on southern Vancouver Island and we usualy don't even get snow, and if we do it usualy melts within a day, except the ocassional big dump every few years

I could understand if your commute is over the Malahat or up in the hills, but otherwise good for you for being prepared for Victoria's statistical minimum December temperature of 0 degrees, and our statistical snow cover of 1cm in November, 2 cm in December and 1 cm in January. 

Question though, don't winter tires wear out much faster when they are not driven in winter conditions?

Personally, living in a hilly area there have been a couple days in the past when FWD all seasons didn't cut it.  It's just that $1000 worth of snow tires are not worth having for 0.54% of the year.  Better to just stay home, or better yet spend spend the day at a nearby wide open parking lot.

[Vancup]

Adding my bit, I have purchased Assurance Tripletred's from Goodyear, and being a courier in the interior, I have driven in all the weather I have needed to see that these tires are the transition type tires that will eventually find mass appeal.  From a professional driver's point of view, confidence -not cockiness- is a "tires up" type of feeling. If you have decent stuff, you tend to want to keep it so.  Anyways, for the money I spent, I expected them to be smokin tires, and I haven't been dissapointed.  Not the gas-sucking winters I had last year, but still good ride and performance. Thanks for reading this....

[Titanium48]

I switch when overnight lows hit 3-5 *C.  I found my summers get really hard around that point.  Some say as high as 7*C, others pick 1*C, up to you (and the tire).

Lows of +3°C?  If I switched my tires then I'd be running winters from early September through to the end of May.  In Alberta September in particular has lots of cold mornings followed by highs in the 20s, which I would think would bad for soft compound winter tires.  At what temperature does the durability of winter tires become poor?

[davidm]

I switch when overnight lows hit 3-5 *C.  I found my summers get really hard around that point.  Some say as high as 7*C, others pick 1*C, up to you (and the tire).

Lows of +3°C?  If I switched my tires then I'd be running winters from early September through to the end of May.  In Alberta September in particular has lots of cold mornings followed by highs in the 20s, which I would think would bad for soft compound winter tires.  At what temperature does the durability of winter tires become poor?

I live in Vancouver where we don't see those kind of swings.  If you are getting desert-style temp fluctuations, but no precip, then I wouldn't use these same temp points.  The key is whether or not you will be seeing black ice or heavy condensation on the roads over night.

[syzygy]

On My Focus, All seasons (Toyo Proxes 4s) for the summer months because let's face it; I live in Alberta where the only month it could snow... is ALL of them! So I am willing to sacrifice that 1% difference in performance between an AS and a hard core summer tire. And Blizzaks for the winter months on steel rims with a narrower width to get more bite in the snow and ice. Sounds counterintuitive but it works. And besides, mounting 15 inch steelies with winters is cheaper than 16 inch low profile; AND I don't risk messing up the rims or tires remounting them every year.

[Arthur Dent]

All Seasons on both (running) vehicles

[random006]

And Blizzaks for the winter months on steel rims with a narrower width to get more bite in the snow and ice. Sounds counterintuitive but it works.

It's not counterintuitive at all.  Simple physics actually and a very smart move on your part.  A narrower width means more pounds per square inch (or more weight per unit of area) equals more force exerted on the contact patch of the tire.

[motorhead2]

This is easy if you live in an area where snow is a normal part of winter driving. The tires you run are directly related to how seriously you want to get safely to where you are headed. Listen carefully, s-n-o-w-t-i-r-e....enough said?

[UmroAyyar]

I am new to winter driving in Canada. Read too much about in too many magazines, websites, forums. Obvious choice Winters. Humand mind is peculiar, doesn't want to do the obvious thing. I drive on city roads in Toronto, put on Mich Harmony A/S tyres, way better than Mich MX4 OE I had. My lame reasoning being, if I drove on the highway or very early in the mornings or very late in the evenings given the weather of Toronto, I would get Winters.

[stevek]

I live in a "snow belt", Barrie Ontario, 100 km north of Toronto. I have always driven all seasons on a number of FWD vehicles for years. Very few problems, it seems a few times per winter I'll think, wish I had AWD and/or winter tires, but most times the roads are fine. Seems to me winters are mikler than when I was a kid (I'm 50 now).

When I got my new Vibe in August, I priced out winter tires with dedicated rims at Can. Tire in November based on adfvice here that winters were a good idea. It was about $700-800 total, and I assume name brand tires would be even more. It seemed pricy to me and didn't get them. I'm sure many here would say it's worth it. I must say this winter I really notice a lot of black rims out there, maybe because I'm looking for them after reading this site.

Questions to winter tire owners - where do you store the ones you're not using? How much do winter tires prolong the life of your all seasons? How do you keep track of tire rotation on the 2 sets of tires when they are stored? How is the ride on winter tires on bare roads, which is very often the case in winter?

[airbalancer]

Depends of the tires you get .
There is not much of diff in the tires I got, have Continental summers and Hankook ice bears for winter both are 225/45/27 V rated.
I hate the look of black rims, get some nice rims

[mrthompson]

Questions to winter tire owners - where do you store the ones you're not using? How much do winter tires prolong the life of your all seasons? How do you keep track of tire rotation on the 2 sets of tires when they are stored? How is the ride on winter tires on bare roads, which is very often the case in winter?

I have stored tires both in the basement and in my backyard shed.

Winter tires prolong the life of all seasons (summer) by the amount that you use the winter tires.

I use a special crayon for marking on the tires their position before storing them.

The ride is 'softer' than a typical all season tire.  The steering is not as precise, but nothing to be worried about.

[random006]

Questions to winter tire owners - where do you store the ones you're not using? How much do winter tires prolong the life of your all seasons? How do you keep track of tire rotation on the 2 sets of tires when they are stored? How is the ride on winter tires on bare roads, which is very often the case in winter?

1)  I store them in my unheated garage, flat, in bags on top of some 4x4 lumber pieces left over from a landscaping job.  This way they stay away from any moisture or contaminants which might otherwise find their way into the bags.

2)  I estimate I get about 2 more years out of my all seasons than I would have otherwise.  The winters will last about 3 or 4 years.

3)  I take my car in for the job as I sometimes get other stuff done as well.  Minor cost and no hassle on my part.

4)  Depends on the tire but most people find handling a little less precise.  With my current winter tires, I hardly notice the difference.

[quadzilla]

It was about $700-800 total, and I assume name brand tires would be even more. It seemed pricy to me and didn't get them. I'm sure many here would say it's worth it.

Since all of the other questions were already answerd.....You should have been able to get name brand winter tires for this price also.  Check out Tiretrends (most tires are probably gone by now) or some local shops.  Maybe check near the end of the season for what is left over and get a deal.  Also if you do get some for next season, get them by Oct 31st if you can, no line ups and maybe even better pricing.

[Bullet Blue]

I foolishly used all seasons during winter once a long time ago. Never again....

[Ray19]

tou have to be really cheap not to buy snow tire for winter, it's for everybody's safety.

[si]

tou have to be really cheap not to buy snow tire for winter

or live where I do.

[AVToller]

I desperately needed snows for our grand total of almost 2" so far this year.  Of course I had to go out late in the evening to try driving in snow as by daylight, there has been zero snow on the roads. Sorry about being such a cheap ba$tard!!