All Season Tires
All Season tires are designed for driving safely over a wide range of conditions right through summer, spring and fall. They provide good traction and grip, stable handling and even tread-wear in both, dry as well as wet conditions. The name can be a bit misleading though in that they do have a limitation and that is under severe snow conditions. When driving through snow, slush and ice, all season tires do not offer the traction that winter tires do.
Why Snowy Roads Stop All-Season Tires In Their Tracks
All season tires truly do provide safe all-weather performance but the severe Canadian winters can be challenging and all-season tires are lacking in a few features that are essential to facing up to this daunting challenge.
What is it that winter tires have that all-season tires do not have? There are quite a few differences actually.
All-season tires do not have the channelling tread patterns and the large number of tread sipes necessary for deep snow traction that winter tries have. (Tread sipes are the tiny slits that you can see in the tread blocks in winter tires).
These tires are made of a hard-rubber compound that is essentially used to extend the tread life of the tires. Under severely low temperatures this material hardens, resulting in reduced traction, which can make your car spin on ice as you lose control over it. Winter tires are made of a softer rubber compound that remains flexible no matter how cold it gets, which gives them a better grip in icy, snow road and gives you better control over your vehicle.
When should you get your tires changed?
This is question I am often asked whenever I suggest that using winter tires. Do you need to change the tires only after the snow begins to accumulate on the roads or much before?
It’s a good question. In Canada, the temperatures drop down to the low single digits much before it actually starts snowing so knowing the right time to get those winter tires installed is important.
On dry roads, the overall performance of all-season tires starts to decline progressively as the thermometer starts to dip down. At about 5°C all-season tires perform at about the same degree of efficiency as winter-tires but as the temperature drops below 5°C to -30°C, winter tires outperform their all-season counterparts.
If your thermometer is showing 5°C and you have not yet switched over to winter tires I strongly suggest that you do for your safety and that of your family. All-season tires are not safe at temperatures lower than 5°C.
If you are looking at switching from all-season tires to winter tires or vice versa but are not sure which ones are best for you, visit Auto Orleans Pro. Our experts will explain the different options available and which one would work best for you.