POLL: Winters vs All-Season Tires

[silverpontiac]

Not this winter, I've had those tires since last winter. It prevented 2 accidents last winter due to people racing to the next red light, cuts in front of you and slams on the brakes.

The last one was last week when a guy pulled out of a Petro Canada onto the road to make a left and he obviously doesn't have the right of way since we're already in the road way. He almost got t-boned by me.

[mikemohr06]

I have travelled over a million miles in my life and have found the following. The key issue in winter driving is stopping. It took me a while to accept the fact that winter tires are constructed with softer compounds. This actually does allows for greater traction during cold weather. Slipping around to get started is not as bad as having a 4000 lb vehicles slide as you watch in dispair and are unable to do anything. Originally I equipped my rear wheel drive vehicles with winter tires on the back only. This wasn't too bad, but occasionally I had to gear down to force the front end down for further steering control. Using four winter tires provides a balance and controlled traction on all four wheels. I definitely believe that more control and predictability of the vehicle during snow and ice is important. Good driving.

[silverpontiac]

On my way to work this morning I saw a car slide into the curb.... gues what? Looked like he didn't have winter tires on. It was cold this morning and there was a dusting of snow on the ground. Glad I got mine.

[ovr50]

I have travelled over a million miles in my life and have found the following. The key issue in winter driving is stopping. It took me a while to accept the fact that winter tires are constructed with softer compounds. This actually does allows for greater traction during cold weather. Slipping around to get started is not as bad as having a 4000 lb vehicles slide as you watch in dispair and are unable to do anything. Originally I equipped my rear wheel drive vehicles with winter tires on the back only. This wasn't too bad, but occasionally I had to gear down to force the front end down for further steering control. Using four winter tires provides a balance and controlled traction on all four wheels. I definitely believe that more control and predictability of the vehicle during snow and ice is important. Good driving.

+1 Yep, good post and correct in your facts. 

[awdpath]

Not this winter, I've had those tires since last winter. It prevented 2 accidents last winter due to people racing to the next red light, cuts in front of you and slams on the brakes.

The last one was last week when a guy pulled out of a Petro Canada onto the road to make a left and he obviously doesn't have the right of way since we're already in the road way. He almost got t-boned by me.

I hope you put your "all season" tires back on your car for our safety!

[silverpontiac]

awdpath - I don't think you understand.  I nearly t-boned the guy due to him pulling out of a gas station into the roadway when he doesn't have the right of way. I was able to stop because I have winter tires on. If the all seasons were on I wouldn't have been able to stop in time as they don't stop as quickly in the cold.

[SkiBunny]

There is some sort of precedence to SkiBunny's point.

Child Seats are PST exempt in Ontario.

If winter tires are mandated by the provincial government, why not extend it to winter tires.

There is PST on car insurance, that is mandatory
Have to win the lottery , then who cares about taxes

Actually the lottery is something that SHOULD be taxed.  How screwed-up it is to tax labour and investment, then let some lucky SOB lottery-winner off tax-free.

Interesting dichotomy that car insurance incurs PST while child seats don't.  I guess that child seats fall under the category of children's clothing, which is sales-tax-free (or used to be).

[Noobee]

I have travelled over a million miles in my life and have found the following. The key issue in winter driving is stopping. It took me a while to accept the fact that winter tires are constructed with softer compounds. This actually does allows for greater traction during cold weather. Slipping around to get started is not as bad as having a 4000 lb vehicles slide as you watch in dispair and are unable to do anything. Originally I equipped my rear wheel drive vehicles with winter tires on the back only. This wasn't too bad, but occasionally I had to gear down to force the front end down for further steering control. Using four winter tires provides a balance and controlled traction on all four wheels. I definitely believe that more control and predictability of the vehicle during snow and ice is important. Good driving.

And from my experience, if on black ice or icy roads, even the best winter tires except for studded tires isn't going to help you [much] when you have to come to an abrupt or sudden stop. For me, it's all seasons with cable/chains.  I recently got rid of my X-Ice i2s because they were just not worth the additional cost vs benefit.

[Craig]

There is some sort of precedence to SkiBunny's point.

Child Seats are PST exempt in Ontario.

If winter tires are mandated by the provincial government, why not extend it to winter tires.

There is PST on car insurance, that is mandatory
Have to win the lottery , then who cares about taxes

Actually the lottery is something that SHOULD be taxed.  How screwed-up it is to tax labour and investment, then let some lucky SOB lottery-winner off tax-free.

Interesting dichotomy that car insurance incurs PST while child seats don't.  I guess that child seats fall under the category of children's clothing, which is sales-tax-free (or used to be).

Aren't the tickets taxed?  I thought that was why the winnings were tax-free?

The obvious upside for the government is that they make a lot more by taxing each ticket, than taxing only the winners.

Besides, lotteries themselves are just a tax on those who are bad at math.

[SkiBunny]

Aren't the tickets taxed?  I thought that was why the winnings were tax-free?

The obvious upside for the government is that they make a lot more by taxing each ticket, than taxing only the winners.

Besides, lotteries themselves are just a tax on those who are bad at math.

Yes, yes and yes.  Good points on everything.

[dirtyjeffer]

i didn't vote as we have two cars and one car has winter tires and the other has all season tires. 

[master]

I live in Vancouver where normally it snows about 3 days a year.  However, this year is snowed for almost 3 weeks and the city just wasn't able to clear off the roads.  Most of the people in Vancouver don't have winter tires.  I am one who has a set of four.  As I drove around town worry-free, all too often I would see a group of guys pushing out cars that were stuck in a little more than 3 inches of snow.  Sure enough - all season tires!

In a way, I was kinda glad fewer people had winter tires.  It kept more cars at home since they couldn't go out which lead to more transit usage and kept the roads clear for me to drive on.

[DKaz]

Cheers to that bro! But it's those few people who feel the need to drive 20km/h taking up two lanes on Kingsway or something that end up screwing up everyone anyway. It just takes one irresponsible person.

I tried playing good samaritan and help a young guy push his Paseo out of the snow in East Van... after 5 minutes I looked at his tires to see why he wasn't getting anywhere even with the pushing... All Seasons with less than 1.5mm tread remaining! I was disgusted and immediately left.

[samej]

When I lived in S Ontario (Waterloo, Toronto) I always ran all-seasons. But then again I was younger and poorer! Moved back to Canada 7 years ago to the Ottawa region and I run snows on both family cars. Ottawa pulls down more twice the "record" snowfall Toronto experienced in the 07-08 winter on average every year.

In 6 winters in Ottawa one of my FWD vehicles needed a push only once - on sheer ice in a parking lot.

[Tim Lisle]

I never ran snow tires for years until I tried snows in 2007. I couldn't believe the difference , I have been running them ever since without any regret. I run Hakkapeliita RSi's . Buy snows if you need them they will make a difference.   

[Baba]

A must see/read is the TireRack reviews of Winter Tires and the comparison between Winter tires and All Seasons.  You will be convinced of the need to install Winter Tires in Canada except for Vancouver and Vancouver Island or any places where there is minimal snowfall.  A similar video is also available on ConsumerReports.org but it is only a few seconds of a 6+ minute video on How To Choose Tires.

[Andy@1010tires]

A must see/read is the TireRack reviews of Winter Tires and the comparison between Winter tires and All Seasons.  You will be convinced of the need to install Winter Tires in Canada except for Vancouver and Vancouver Island or any places where there is minimal snowfall.  A similar video is also available on ConsumerReports.org but it is only a few seconds of a 6+ minute video on How To Choose Tires.

Actually installing snow tire if you live in Vancouver is about the BEST thing you can do. As so many people here cannot drive in the snow, and half of them will be in crappy all season tires or summer tires, at least you can get around. Or out of the way!!!

[davidy]

A must see/read is the TireRack reviews of Winter Tires and the comparison between Winter tires and All Seasons.  You will be convinced of the need to install Winter Tires in Canada except for Vancouver and Vancouver Island or any places where there is minimal snowfall.  A similar video is also available on ConsumerReports.org but it is only a few seconds of a 6+ minute video on How To Choose Tires.

I recently recall reading a post by a police officer stationed on Vancouver Island. He has a set of four studded winter tires....he swears by them. Mid island had quite a bit of snow last winter.

Dave

[ovr50]

A must see/read is the TireRack reviews of Winter Tires and the comparison between Winter tires and All Seasons.  You will be convinced of the need to install Winter Tires in Canada except for Vancouver and Vancouver Island or any places where there is minimal snowfall.  A similar video is also available on ConsumerReports.org but it is only a few seconds of a 6+ minute video on How To Choose Tires.

The Dec issue of Car&Driver had an article comparing perf A/S, regular A/S, perf winters, and regular winters. All tires were Michelin to avoid cross-brand differences. The overall winter performance was in the same order I gave them above. Of course, there are trade-offs with each tire (eg. the regular winters are not as good on dry pavement in the winter months).

[PMREdmonton]

I just got my new used car fitted with Michelin X-ICE 2 and what a revelation they are.  I get better accleration and more secure handling with them on my RWD performance car on icy roads than I get with my AWD SUV with ESC fitted with Michelin X-ICE (which I thought were a revelation compared to my previous all-season tires).  What an improvement from one generation of tire to the next.  I know in retrospect that the X-ICEs did not compare to the Nokkian Hakkapelitas or Bridgestone Blizzaks but I never thought one could feel so secure while driving on ice.