Can Winter Tires Make a Car Sway on the Road?
Winter tires -- commonly called snow tires -- are manufactured specifically to keep your car on the road and out of the ditch in snowy and icy conditions. Whether or not those tires do their job, however, depends on suitability and maintenance.
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Air Pressure
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According to Matt Hammond, store manager at Kost Tire in Ithaca, NY, proper tire inflation is a critical factor in keeping your car from drifting on the road. Tires must be inflated not only to their specified pressures, but they must also be inflated to the same pressure, tire to tire. Although some drivers install snow tires on only the drive wheels (either front or rear), Hammond recommends snow tires for all four wheels. He also advises drivers to be sure that their tires have matching treads. Mismatches can cause unsafe handling.
A Softer Tire
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Winter tires are softer than warm-weather or all-weather tires. Greg Umbenhouer, Tire Pro at Dunn Tire in snowy Syracuse, NY, says that it's the relative softness that keeps a snow tire glued to the road when a firmer tire might lose its grip. That comparative softness can cause your car to handle differently -- to feel spongier -- when driven on a hard, dry road. But it's that softness that keeps snow tires supple in cold weather.
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For Winter Only
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Because snow tires are so different from warm-weather tires -- principally in composition, softness, and tread design -- they are unsuited for use in warm conditions. Umbenhouer says that in central New York, where winter tends to linger, the recommendation is October to April. But no matter where you live, he adds, snow tires should be off your car when temperatures reliably exceed 45 degrees.
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- Photo Credit winter road image by Aleksandr Ugorenkov from Fotolia.com
