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Yeah, that's exactly how I put it as well. Winter tires, once you've seen / touched them, are visibly different: different tread, way softer rubber, etc. I als

Yeah, that's exactly how I put it as well. Winter tires, once you've seen / touched them, are visibly different: different tread, way softer rubber, etc. I also pretty much always use studded tires, as we've been getting a lot of freezing rain in the last few years, and the one accident I've ever had was due to that (fell in the ditch while driving at ~30 km/h. I had a hard time _walking_ on the road without slipping). The flip side is that they're more likely to skid on pavement, especially in summer. That's why you have both.

snuxoll 6y ago
> Winter tires, once you've seen / touched them, are visibly different: different tread, way softer rubber, etc. Exactly, tires are the single most important element of winter driving. If you live in a place with mild winters all season tires can get you far, but if you get a lot of snow or ice seasonal tires are critical. Cold tires are slick tires that will slide all over hell and back, the tread on winter tires is designed to better move slush and snow out of the way so the contact patch can hopefully reach the road surface; while the softer rubber heats easier so it can get to a nice 'grippy' temperature and grab hold of the road even in conditions where the wet and cold are trying to sap heat from it. During the warmer months these winter tires will be less effective because they have smaller contact patches (due to more/deeper grooves in the tread to drive moisture away), and will actually get hotter than desired (softer rubber) causing a loss of grip as the rubber will want to start shearing off instead. Everyone needs to remember no matter what fancy engine, electronics, etc. your car has - your tires are the only thing that actually touches the ground. Acceleration, braking and turning are all highly depending on their ability to grip the ground (and withstand the forces being placed on them) - so make sure you have the right ones and don't put off replacing ones that are nearing the end of their life.

snuxoll 6y ago

> Winter tires, once you've seen / touched them, are visibly different: different tread, way softer rubber, etc. Exactly, tires are the single most important element of winter driving. If you live in a place with mild winters all season tires can get you far, but if you get a lot of snow or ice seasonal tires are critical. Cold tires are slick tires that will slide all over hell and back, the tread on winter tires is designed to better move slush and snow out of the way so the contact patch can hopefully reach the road surface; while the softer rubber heats easier so it can get to a nice 'grippy' temperature and grab hold of the road even in conditions where the wet and cold are trying to sap heat from it. During the warmer months these winter tires will be less effective because they have smaller contact patches (due to more/deeper grooves in the tread to drive moisture away), and will actually get hotter than desired (softer rubber) causing a loss of grip as the rubber will want to start shearing off instead. Everyone needs to remember no matter what fancy engine, electronics, etc. your car has - your tires are the only thing that actually touches the ground. Acceleration, braking and turning are all highly depending on their ability to grip the ground (and withstand the forces being placed on them) - so make sure you have the right ones and don't put off replacing ones that are nearing the end of their life.