What kind of tires do you use in the winter?

Question

The province of Quebec passed a law stating that starting in 2008, from November to April, all cars must have snow tires.

I believe that All Season tires are all you need if you're a good driver.

What kind of tires do you use in the winter?

Answer 1

im from ontario, canada and alot of people have snow tired....but if you're a good driver, you can easily handle snow and ice with all seaons..thats what my parents both use.

i once saw a gorgeous bmw m6 driving with summer tires on the rear and all seasons on the front...stupidest thing you can do with a RWD car....that car was getting no rear traction...anyways, if they had all seasons on all 4's they'd be fine!

Answer 2

i live in nc so i dont need anything but what i have. and being a good driver will not prevent you from sliding on snow and ice. of course you need snow tires.

Answer 3

all season is good enough if you dont like the idea, go for snow tires, can buy them at walmart or sams club or shop

Answer 4

I use the same year round, as it stay fairly warm in San Antonio.

Answer 5

Winter tires are not like All-Season tires. Winter tires have special rubber compounds designed to improve traction, handling and braking in all cold weather conditions, not just ice and snow.

Winter Tires are designed to deliver safety and control in snow, ice, and cold weather conditions. Many people think that all-season tires can deliver this same performance, but this is not true. The superior traction that winter tires deliver, as much as a 25 to 50 percent increase over all-season tires, can very well be the margin you need to stop in time or turn to avoid trouble.

Answer 6

I don't change them because it doesn't get icy or snow much at all in Richmond, VA

Answer 7

If you go a tire place they will tell you which ones they are call snow tires.

Answer 8

At 45 degree Fahrenheit the rubber compound of an all season tire begins to harden and loses the ability to create friction and traction in winter driving conditions.  Careful driving helps but there is nothing that you or the car can do if the tires can not grab the road surface.  The soft and/or silica nature of snow tire rubber, combined with the deeper tread blocks, higher void ratio and higher number of biting edges, makes them significantly safer in winter driving.

Think of using an all season as trying to race a stock Mustang GT in a NASCAR race.  Even the slowest NASCAR vehicle with the worse driver will have lapped you about 100 times before you finish the race.  Just as a stock Mustang can not perform like a race car an all season tire can not perform like a snow tire.  

Years of successful driving on all seasons does not make them safe, it means you've been lucky.  I'd have to guess at least 50% of all winter accidents, prolly more, would have been avoided if the drivers had the proper tires.

I use Magna Grips, built through Goodyear's Republic line, on my car in Maine winters.

Answer 9

Studded snow tires, that's an excellent law!

Answer 10

Well... seeing that we got 20 inches of snow since New Years (and still snowing), this seems like an appropriate question.

On all the cars and trucks that I've owned, I've always had All Season tires. Either Cooper's or Michelin's and I've never had any problems.

As for snow tires, unless you're in an area where you're going to get more than 40 inches of snow per year, or where there actually is snow more than 6 months of the year, they're just a waste of money.

Answer 11

I've got snows on steelies. I just throw those on.

Answer 12

I use the same tires all year long Cooper all-terrain's they are great in the snow, ice and rain. I'm from Alaska now living in NC.

Answer 13

I have a set of 4 snow tires in storage, I would use them if I was doing a lot of mountain driving or I was taking a trip up there, I don't know much about Canada except that most of my vintage cars parts are up there.

But if you think this new law is putting undue demands first write to your law makers, then get organized to rally such a demand, here in Colorado and U.S. we use Triple A Service (AAA) towing us up to 100 miles for free but a yearly cost of about $70, try talking to others.

Does that mean Americans can get ticketed for a law used for Canadians.

Answer 14

I agree with your views on all-season tires, not that Quebec is going to care what either of us think about the subject.

When I first moved to Colorado (15 years ago), and I wasn't used to driving on snow/ice, I tried a couple of different winter tires.  My favorite was the Bridgestone Blizzacks, and I think you would be happy with them.  They are a studless snow tire which grips ice well.

My favorite Blizzack story involves me driving to work one morning in less than desireable conditions.  The roads seemed fine, but I went slow anyways.  When I got to the parking lot and stepped out of my car I hit the ground hard.  The roads and the parking lot were covered with about 3/4 of an inch of black ice, and I had no idea until I tried to walk on it.

Those tires gave me perfect traction on pure ice.

The downside is they were a bit expensive, and I learned to drive safely with all-season tires.

Answer 15

I would agree.  A good all season tire should give you no problem.  Worse case is you can buy chains for the really bad days.  Ok now for some good info.  Go to www.Tires.com.  I use this as a resource when purchasing tires locally.  Sometimes they do have a better price but there info is great.  Follow all there promps and you can compare several tires in all categories including snow ratings.  This is better then going to your local tire store and believing whatever they tell you so they can dump there inventory.