Topic: Feature: Winter Tires vs. All-Season Tires

[Autos_Editor]

We compare all-season and winter tires on the slipperiest surface you can imagine.  Yes, a hockey rink.

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[mastodon]

It's a no brainer to get winter tires in Canada. It doesn't cost much more (you would be wearing out your all-seasons faster without them) you just have to put the money up and pay for tire changes which double as rotations anyway. Don't get too confident though I slid in my AWD car with winter tires last year going 40 km/h around a turn, should have lowered my speed even further, sometimes your car and tires give you false confidence. 

[Fobroader]

Rims and tires are the only way to go. Wont damage nice rims, you can changeover at home for free.

Sent from my Galaxy S3

[aaronk]

It can get costly if you pay for regular changeovers, but I just do it myself - if the tires are mounted on rims it is very simple, and I know it's done right.

[SaskSpecV]

So mediocre CdnTire Nordic winter tires are better than mediocre (at best) CdnTire MotoMaster all-season tires?  Got it.

I wonder why they didn't test their Nordics against a serious winter tire - Blizzak, Xice, Hakkapalita, even WinterForce or IceGuard.  Oh right....that's why.  And it's not like the cost of high-quality winter rubber is that much more than the CdnTire house brands.

Nonetheless, a crappy winter tire is still better than a good all-season tire for Canadian winters, and more education about their benefits can't be a bad thing.

[paul246]

So mediocre CdnTire Nordic winter tires are better than mediocre (at best) CdnTire MotoMaster all-season tires?  Got it.

I wonder why they didn't test their Nordics against a serious winter tire - Blizzak, Xice, Hakkapalita, even WinterForce or IceGuard.  Oh right....that's why.  And it's not like the cost of high-quality winter rubber is that much more than the CdnTire house brands.

Nonetheless, a crappy winter tire is still better than a good all-season tire for Canadian winters, and more education about their benefits can't be a bad thing.

I run both the X-Ice and the Nordic on several of my vehicles and the fact is ... the Nordic is a respectable winter tire. I think the trick is to not mount too wide a tire, go with as narrow a tire as possible and keep a close eye on tire pressure.

[mik101]

So mediocre CdnTire Nordic winter tires are better than mediocre (at best) CdnTire MotoMaster all-season tires?  Got it.

I wonder why they didn't test their Nordics against a serious winter tire - Blizzak, Xice, Hakkapalita, even WinterForce or IceGuard.  Oh right....that's why.  And it's not like the cost of high-quality winter rubber is that much more than the CdnTire house brands.

Nonetheless, a crappy winter tire is still better than a good all-season tire for Canadian winters, and more education about their benefits can't be a bad thing.

I run both the X-Ice and the Nordic on several of my vehicles and the fact is ... the Nordic is a respectable winter tire. I think the trick is to not mount too wide a tire, go with as narrow a tire as possible and keep a close eye on tire pressure.

Exactly... it's like he thinks Canadian Tire makes the tires themselves or something...

[Northernridge]

After bashing GM and importing diesels, this is the most replayed theme on autos.ca.

[SaskSpecV]

So mediocre CdnTire Nordic winter tires are better than mediocre (at best) CdnTire MotoMaster all-season tires?  Got it.

I wonder why they didn't test their Nordics against a serious winter tire - Blizzak, Xice, Hakkapalita, even WinterForce or IceGuard.  Oh right....that's why.  And it's not like the cost of high-quality winter rubber is that much more than the CdnTire house brands.

Nonetheless, a crappy winter tire is still better than a good all-season tire for Canadian winters, and more education about their benefits can't be a bad thing.

I run both the X-Ice and the Nordic on several of my vehicles and the fact is ... the Nordic is a respectable winter tire. I think the trick is to not mount too wide a tire, go with as narrow a tire as possible and keep a close eye on tire pressure.

Exactly... it's like he thinks Canadian Tire makes the tires themselves or something...

No, the Nordic is made by Goodyear but sold exclusively at Canadian Tire.  Like I said, any winter would obviously still be better than an all-season tire.  But it fares poorly against the big players - the link below is a relatively subjective comparison, but has it ranked "below average"  (it's not like Tirerack or consumer reports will be testing a tire sold exclusively by Canadian Tire).

If the price truly undercuts the competitors than it would be a good option - but with increased competition in winter tires now, the price differential between "value" and "mainstream" winter tires isn't very big anymore.
http://apa.ca/WinterTires2011-PassengerCars.asp

[jaari]

We had those Nordics on one of our old cars. Very good in deep snow, slush but were awful on ice without the studs.
For now I've gone stud less with Falken Espia Epz.  Not the best tires, but good on ice, pretty quiet, good in snow but sketchy on slush. I think its because the inner 'ice face' tread is packed tightly together and the tire rides up on top the slush. Would I buy again, no.

[Trainman]

So how come more people don't use winter tires?  I just spent 5 days in Saskatchewan (Saskatoon to Hudson Bay) and I could count on one hand how many cars had winter tires.  And not a single car in the rental parking lot at the Saskatoon airport had winters, including the Frontier we got.  Fun to see 4x4s stuck in downtown Hudson Bay after a bit of snow 

[SaskSpecV]

So how come more people don't use winter tires?  I just spent 5 days in Saskatchewan (Saskatoon to Hudson Bay) and I could count on one hand how many cars had winter tires.  And not a single car in the rental parking lot at the Saskatoon airport had winters, including the Frontier we got.  Fun to see 4x4s stuck in downtown Hudson Bay after a bit of snow 

A lot of folks on the prairies still don't see the value in them - maybe they haven't tried a recent winter tire?   My Dad refuses to put winter tires on his 08 Altima - "doesn't need them" he says.  Well, he's never had an accident in winter, and doesn't seem to get stuck, so it's tough to convince him otherwise.  (And I definitely agree with the argument that proper driving knowledge, experience, and attention are BY FAR the greatest vehicle safety aids - not the vehicle equipment itself). 

Nonetheless, I did convince my Mom to put winter tires on her Versa, and she won't go back to all-seasons during the winter again.  And there were 4 vehicles in a row with steelies (and I assume winter tires) at the intersection on the way to work today...maybe ideas are changing out here.  KalTire was certainly crazy-busy during our recent snowfalls.

And I agree, it's hilarious to see the blinged-up 4X4s with dubs sliding all over the road or getting stuck in the snow. My curling teammate just ponied up for winter tires & rims for his new F150 - once he found out 4X4 wasn't going to help him stop at any icy intersection any better...

[Fobroader]

So how come more people don't use winter tires?  I just spent 5 days in Saskatchewan (Saskatoon to Hudson Bay) and I could count on one hand how many cars had winter tires.  And not a single car in the rental parking lot at the Saskatoon airport had winters, including the Frontier we got.  Fun to see 4x4s stuck in downtown Hudson Bay after a bit of snow 

Its the same here around Edmonton, today on the highway, there was easily a dozen cars in the ditch.....90% were 4x4 suvs/trucks. I think the main part is education, people dont understand how much a good tire helps you in the winter, yeah, traction control will help you leave an icy intersection in your 4x4 but wont help you worth a damn to stop. I think Quebec did it right with the whole mandatory snow tire law, it would be great to see it out here. For all the new cars on the road, whats another $1000-1500 when youre talking about $40000+ vehicle?? Id make it a law that every new car sold came with snow tires from the dealer.

[Mike]

After bashing GM and importing diesels, this is the most replayed theme on autos.ca.

Well, we didn't get a GM article up today, (that was yesterday, Monday and Tuesday), but we did get a diesel and a wither tires one up.

[johngenx]

There are also Toyota pile-ons and Subaru love-ins...

[Mike]

There are also Toyota pile-ons and Subaru love-ins...

That was last week and yesterday

[Fobroader]

Ok, Ill be the whipping boy today, domestics suck, Toyota has made the best cars in the universe bar none, Subaru can do no wrong, everything should come with diesels and winter tires.....did I get everything???   

[SaskSpecV]

I think Quebec did it right with the whole mandatory snow tire law, it would be great to see it out here. For all the new cars on the road, whats another $1000-1500 when youre talking about $40000+ vehicle?? Id make it a law that every new car sold came with snow tires from the dealer.

I've got too much of a libertarian streak to want to make things like winter tires govt-mandated (and I'm saying that to an Albertan, no less ) But there definitely needs to be some sort of impetus for personal responsibility here - whether that's personal responsibility for better, safer driving habits, or responsibility for better, safer vehicle equipment (or ideally both).

Maybe a higher deductible for at-fault insurance claims in winter when winter tires weren't used?  Or an insurance rate deduction for those that do use them?  I just don't like the idea of FORCING people to buy things, if there's another way to achieve the same objective.  That being said, I am in favour of mandatory stability control on all vehicles (or at least mandatory AVAILABILITY of stability control as an option) on all vehicles, so that sorta refutes my winter tire argument!

[Fobroader]

I think Quebec did it right with the whole mandatory snow tire law, it would be great to see it out here. For all the new cars on the road, whats another $1000-1500 when youre talking about $40000+ vehicle?? Id make it a law that every new car sold came with snow tires from the dealer.

I've got too much of a libertarian streak to want to make things like winter tires govt-mandated (and I'm saying that to an Albertan, no less ) But there definitely needs to be some sort of impetus for personal responsibility here - whether that's personal responsibility for better, safer driving habits, or responsibility for better, safer vehicle equipment (or ideally both).

Maybe a higher deductible for at-fault insurance claims in winter when winter tires weren't used?  Or an insurance rate deduction for those that do use them?  I just don't like the idea of FORCING people to buy things, if there's another way to achieve the same objective.  That being said, I am in favour of mandatory stability control on all vehicles (or at least mandatory AVAILABILITY of stability control as an option) on all vehicles, so that sorta refutes my winter tire argument!

I would also be down with the increased premiums for no snow tires......anything to make people seriously consider purchasing them would be great. Libertarian...freaking hippie....are you wearing a dashiki and sandals right now?? 

[Brig]

I think Quebec did it right with the whole mandatory snow tire law, it would be great to see it out here.

Car insurance is government-run in Quebec, hence their ability to legislate whatever they want.  I'm sure that all the tire companies are hoping this move goes national, though.