Should I Use All-Season Tires or Have a Set of Winter Tires?

How much thought do you give your car’s tires? Tires impact vehicle control, fuel efficiency and passenger safety. With your life and the life of those on the road around you on the line, it’s important to make sure that your vehicle has the right tires for the situation.

What Are the Differences in Tires?

There are three main tires to choose from: summer, winter and all-season. The rubber compound, which makes up tires, varies between all three of these categories to best serve their purpose.

Winter Tires

For climates that get snow, winter tires are an extremely valuable investment. These tires provide better traction at lower temperatures, which helps prevent the car from spinning out and potentially causing an accident. A study conducted by the Quebec Ministry of Transport found that a vehicle’s stopping distance was 25% better in the winter season with winter tires opposed to all-season tires.

Summer Tires

For many, summer tires are seen as an unnecessary and expensive luxury to all-season tires. Also known as performance enhancing tires, compared to all-season tires, summer tires are better suited for the hot driving conditions and won’t wear out as fast as all-season tires.

All-Season Tires

All season tires do their best to cater to all conditions; however, do not provide the same level of control and handling offered in summer tires and the traction and safety that comes with winter tires. Despite not providing optimal in cold or warm climates, all-season tires can be great for moderate climates, in which you don’t experience drastic weather changes.

It’s important to consider that because of their higher tread, for the colder months, all-season tires will wear out faster in summer tires than actual summer tires as well.

What Are the Right Tires for You?

When choosing the right tires for you, it’s important to consider the climate you live in and your performance needs. Take Canada, for example, with a climate that offers intense winters, rainy falls and a hot few months during the summer season, winter tires can greatly increase your safety in the winter months and depending on your performance expectations, all-season or summer tires can be used in the warmer months.