Winter Tires vs. All Season Tires

If you have ever driven in harsh winter conditions, you may be familiar with winter tires. But are you aware of the differences between winter and all-season tires? Do you even need to consider purchasing winter tires? There are many factors to think about when deciding what is best for your car. Review this information to find out if you are in need of winter tires.

Winter Tires

Winter can bring unpredictable and sometimes dangerous conditions when not properly prepared. One way to make sure your car can handle cold temperatures, ice, and snow is investing in some winter tires built for those conditions. There are three things you are going to want to search for when considering winter tires, biting edges, tread rubber, tread depth and patterns.

Biting Edges

To help improve traction on slippery winter conditions, winter tires come equipped with biting edges. These are small cuts throughout the tire that strategically provide traction when facing difficult conditions.

Specially Designed Rubber

When temperatures drop the rubber on tires will become less flexible. This will affect your tires ability to maintain a grip on the road, especially dangerous when facing slippery and ice conditions. Winter tires are formulated with a special rubber that allows for continued flexibility even when it gets too chilly.

Tread Depth And Patterns

When purchasing winter tires you may notice a difference in the depth and patterns of the grooves throughout the tires compared to your standard tires. This is intentionally done to make it more difficult for snow to build up and for the snow to more easily be expelled from the tires.

All-Season Tires

You most likely purchased your vehicle with all-season tires. They are very common for their versatile nature of performing well in normal, rainy, or easy winter weather conditions. All season tires are not the best tires for hot summer months, nor harsh cold climates. These tires really work best for areas facing moderate climate.

As you may notice with winter tires, there are key features that make them necessary for many areas, like Calgary. It does not matter whether you are driving a new or used car, you will want to make sure the tires are appropriate for the conditions your area may potentially face.