All Season Tires Vs. Winter Tires for Winter Driving
The newest generation of studless winter tires can be a real lifesaver for those who live in areas that are perpetually icy in the winter. All-season tires do not even begin to compare.
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Winter Tire Design
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Winter tires must take both snow and ice into consideration. Snow requires only that the tire is able to dig in for traction, while methods vary for dealing with ice.
All-Season Snow
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All-season tires do an acceptable job of digging into snow, but can quickly become packed with the white stuff and lose traction.
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Ice Tires on Snow
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Ice tires are designed to prevent build-up of snow and ice chips, and shed them nearly as fast as they build up.
Ice Design
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Winter tires use the pressure of their small contact patches to melt ice on contact and perform nearly as well on ice as performance tires do in the rain.
Ice Comparison
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Winter tires can shorten stopping distances by half compared with all-seasons, as well as increasing traction for acceleration and cornering.
Other Considerations
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As good as they are, ice tires should be used only by those who live in perpetually icy areas. These designs lose a lot of traction on dry surfaces and wear out very quickly on hard asphalt.
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- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Bugeater
