Are your tires good enough to perform in winter driving conditions? Your life may depend on your answer.
With neither El Niño nor La Niña upsetting the world's weather patterns this year, forecasters are predicting more normal winter weather conditions across North America. In Canada, that means cold and snow.
And that means it's time to install winter tires on your car or truck.
If your vehicle is equipped with wide, high-performance tires, you won't need any convincing. One drive in a snowstorm, if you can move at all, is all it takes.
More likely, however, your car or truck has all-season tires, and you have driven on them for one or perhaps several winters―perhaps even surviving without a major incident. If so, you have been tempting fate. This winter, don't take that risk.
That's the message tire-makers are trying to get across. Contrary to what we were told when all-season tires made their debut almost three decades ago, they are not really ALL-season tires. That is, they are not optimum in all seasons, particularly in winter.
All-Season Tires Not Enough
Why this change in message? Because a lot has changed in the tire business in the last 30 years, and particularly in the last ten years.
When all-season tires were introduced, they offered substantially better performance in snow and rain than then-conventional summer tires, without significant compromises in dry-weather performance. Snow tires, with their deep treads and large, widely spaced lugs, were still better in deep snow, but they were noisy, wore quickly, and compromised vehicle handling in dry conditions, and on ice. That situation was aggravated by the then-common practice of installing snow tires only on the driving wheels―normally the rear at that time.
In winter climates like those found in much of Canada, where deep snow occurs occasionally, but dry or icy conditions prevail, all-season tires were a better compromise most of the time.
The rapid and widespread adoption of front-wheel-drive provided an additional reason for giving up snow tires, for people perceived that front-wheel-drive itself improved traction in winter conditions. (It does―but primarily from a standstill; once moving, it can, in fact, be disadvantageous).
Two significant things have happened since then. Competitive pressures for constant improvements in dry performance, ride quality, tread life, tread noise, and fuel economy, have forced all-season tire design to become less aggressive, particularly at the original-equipment level. Hence, today's all-seasons may not perform as well as their predecessors in snow―especially wet snow or slush, which tends to pack into and fill up the tread voids.
During the same time, conventional snow tires have given way to high-tech winter tires that perform better than ever in winter conditions, but also more than adequately in the dry, exhibiting few of the vices that used to characterize snow tires.
New Breed of Winter Tires
Bridgestone was the trailblazer for the new breed of premium winter tires in North America. Its Blizzak, a single-purpose winter tire that clawed its way through deep snow and stuck like glue on ice, quickly developed a cult-like following.
As might be expected, the success of the Blizzak created a new market niche that was quickly filled with competitors-BFGoodrich's Winter Slalom, Goodyear's UltraGrip, Michelin's Arctic Alpin, Pirelli's Winter Ice and Yokohama's Guardex, to name a few. Now many of those brands encompass a whole range of winter tires, including some biased for optimum performance on ice, and some designed specifically for SUVs.
As noted by Tony Mougios, Michelin Brand Manager in Canada, "Winter tires are designed to provide maximum traction in the colder temperatures, slush, snow and ice that parts of the country experience for three or more months a year."
Each employs its own unique technology to optimize winter performance, wear rate and NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) characteristics―and all are a generation advanced from snow tires of the past.
We have been able to test most of these tires, often back to back, in various depths of snow, on ice, and also on dry pavement. Our tests have brought us to conclude that we would happily rely on any of them to get us through a Canadian winter. There are differences, but they tend to be of degree rather than order of magnitude.
What is most important is the level of improvement they offer over standard all-season tires. Even at 20 km/h, in tests we conducted on an icy surface, the vehicles equipped with winter tires stopped from a half to a full car-length shorter than identical vehicles on all-seasons. That could be the difference between a safe stop and a bumper-basher at a traffic light. At higher speeds, those differences get more dramatic.
Similar improvements were apparent negotiating a loose slalom course―not unlike typical parking lot manoeuvres. Not only were the vehicles on winter tires measurably faster (by 10 to 20%)―an indication of the added margin of traction they provide―but they were noticeably easier to control.
Four Winter Tires, Not Two
One of the keys to that performance improvement was the fact that those vehicles were equipped with four winter tires, not just two. Because of the significant differences in traction between winter and all-season tires, it is imperative that they be installed on all four wheels. Otherwise, the two ends of your vehicle can experience different traction characteristics, resulting in potentially dangerous instability.
That applies whether your vehicle has front-wheel-drive, rear-wheel-drive, or all-wheel-drive. We tend to think of traction only as the driving force that gets us moving, but tires develop traction in all directions. It is necessary for cornering and braking as well as driving. Putting winter tires on just two wheels upsets that balance of traction between the two ends of the vehicle and increases the potential for a skid to occur at the end with the least traction.
Choosing the Right Tires
Which tires are best for your application depends on your specific circumstances. In areas where dry snow, ice, and "hardpack" are the norm, an ice tire is likely to be the best choice. But where wet snow and slush are more common, a broader-range winter tire is probably better.
Whatever tires you choose, make sure they are designated for use in "severe snow" conditions―identifiable by a pictograph depicting a snowflake inside the outline of a mountain on at least one sidewall. That designation signifies compliance with a new international standard adopted by the tire industry in 1999, in large part because of the efforts of Transport Canada.
Compliance with that standard is based on actual performance testing. The conventional "M & S" (mud & snow) designation is based only on the void-to-rubber ratio of the tread design.
Contrary to conventional thinking for dry pavement conditions, on snow and ice, narrower tires tend to provide better traction. If your vehicle has wide, low-profile tires, you may want to consider narrower, higher-profile winter tires.
If so, consult with your tire dealer to ensure that the rolling diameter of the tires remains the same―otherwise speedometer error will result, and the operation of your ABS and Vehicle Dynamics Control Systems may be affected. Ensure, too that the new tires' Load Rating is at least the equal of that for the tires they replace.
Minimize the Tire-Changing Hassle
The downside of using winter tires is the need to change them in the spring and fall. Mounting winter tires on a separate set of wheels, so the effort to change them is no greater than that of a routine tire rotation, can minimize that hassle.
Both as a means of saving money and of protecting your expensive alloy wheels, you may wish to mount your winter tires on regular steel wheels. Doing so will also let you match their size with that of the tires, if you choose to use a narrower tire.
When selecting that extra set of wheels, make sure the "offset"―the position of the centre of the wheel with respect to the mounting face―is the same as on the originals. Otherwise you may have clearance problems, and you run the risk of upsetting the vehicle's steering feel and characteristics.
Can You Afford to Drive Without Winter Tires?
If you regularly encounter ice, unplowed snow, or slush in your daily driving, your need for winter tires should be obvious. But if your driving is on well-ploughed, paved roads, good all-season tires may serve your needs adequately most of the time.
The question you have to answer is, "Is most of the time good enough?"
"Most of the time" is not when you get in trouble. It is the exceptional circumstance when trouble occurs, and that is the circumstance you must be prepared for.
Even the effectiveness of safety features such as ABS, traction control, and vehicle dynamics control are limited by the grip the tires can provide. Can you afford to have less than the best available?
Your life may depend on your answer.
With neither El Niño nor La Niña upsetting the world's weather patterns this year, forecasters are predicting more normal winter weather conditions across North America. In Canada, that means cold and snow.
And that means it's time to install winter tires on your car or truck.
If your vehicle is equipped with wide, high-performance tires, you won't need any convincing. One drive in a snowstorm, if you can move at all, is all it takes.
More likely, however, your car or truck has all-season tires, and you have driven on them for one or perhaps several winters―perhaps even surviving without a major incident. If so, you have been tempting fate. This winter, don't take that risk.
That's the message tire-makers are trying to get across. Contrary to what we were told when all-season tires made their debut almost three decades ago, they are not really ALL-season tires. That is, they are not optimum in all seasons, particularly in winter.
All-Season Tires Not Enough
Why this change in message? Because a lot has changed in the tire business in the last 30 years, and particularly in the last ten years.
When all-season tires were introduced, they offered substantially better performance in snow and rain than then-conventional summer tires, without significant compromises in dry-weather performance. Snow tires, with their deep treads and large, widely spaced lugs, were still better in deep snow, but they were noisy, wore quickly, and compromised vehicle handling in dry conditions, and on ice. That situation was aggravated by the then-common practice of installing snow tires only on the driving wheels―normally the rear at that time.
In winter climates like those found in much of Canada, where deep snow occurs occasionally, but dry or icy conditions prevail, all-season tires were a better compromise most of the time.
The rapid and widespread adoption of front-wheel-drive provided an additional reason for giving up snow tires, for people perceived that front-wheel-drive itself improved traction in winter conditions. (It does―but primarily from a standstill; once moving, it can, in fact, be disadvantageous).
Two significant things have happened since then. Competitive pressures for constant improvements in dry performance, ride quality, tread life, tread noise, and fuel economy, have forced all-season tire design to become less aggressive, particularly at the original-equipment level. Hence, today's all-seasons may not perform as well as their predecessors in snow―especially wet snow or slush, which tends to pack into and fill up the tread voids.
During the same time, conventional snow tires have given way to high-tech winter tires that perform better than ever in winter conditions, but also more than adequately in the dry, exhibiting few of the vices that used to characterize snow tires.
New Breed of Winter Tires
Bridgestone was the trailblazer for the new breed of premium winter tires in North America. Its Blizzak, a single-purpose winter tire that clawed its way through deep snow and stuck like glue on ice, quickly developed a cult-like following.
As might be expected, the success of the Blizzak created a new market niche that was quickly filled with competitors-BFGoodrich's Winter Slalom, Goodyear's UltraGrip, Michelin's Arctic Alpin, Pirelli's Winter Ice and Yokohama's Guardex, to name a few. Now many of those brands encompass a whole range of winter tires, including some biased for optimum performance on ice, and some designed specifically for SUVs.
As noted by Tony Mougios, Michelin Brand Manager in Canada, "Winter tires are designed to provide maximum traction in the colder temperatures, slush, snow and ice that parts of the country experience for three or more months a year."
Each employs its own unique technology to optimize winter performance, wear rate and NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) characteristics―and all are a generation advanced from snow tires of the past.
We have been able to test most of these tires, often back to back, in various depths of snow, on ice, and also on dry pavement. Our tests have brought us to conclude that we would happily rely on any of them to get us through a Canadian winter. There are differences, but they tend to be of degree rather than order of magnitude.
What is most important is the level of improvement they offer over standard all-season tires. Even at 20 km/h, in tests we conducted on an icy surface, the vehicles equipped with winter tires stopped from a half to a full car-length shorter than identical vehicles on all-seasons. That could be the difference between a safe stop and a bumper-basher at a traffic light. At higher speeds, those differences get more dramatic.
Similar improvements were apparent negotiating a loose slalom course―not unlike typical parking lot manoeuvres. Not only were the vehicles on winter tires measurably faster (by 10 to 20%)―an indication of the added margin of traction they provide―but they were noticeably easier to control.
Four Winter Tires, Not Two
One of the keys to that performance improvement was the fact that those vehicles were equipped with four winter tires, not just two. Because of the significant differences in traction between winter and all-season tires, it is imperative that they be installed on all four wheels. Otherwise, the two ends of your vehicle can experience different traction characteristics, resulting in potentially dangerous instability.
That applies whether your vehicle has front-wheel-drive, rear-wheel-drive, or all-wheel-drive. We tend to think of traction only as the driving force that gets us moving, but tires develop traction in all directions. It is necessary for cornering and braking as well as driving. Putting winter tires on just two wheels upsets that balance of traction between the two ends of the vehicle and increases the potential for a skid to occur at the end with the least traction.
Choosing the Right Tires
Which tires are best for your application depends on your specific circumstances. In areas where dry snow, ice, and "hardpack" are the norm, an ice tire is likely to be the best choice. But where wet snow and slush are more common, a broader-range winter tire is probably better.
Whatever tires you choose, make sure they are designated for use in "severe snow" conditions―identifiable by a pictograph depicting a snowflake inside the outline of a mountain on at least one sidewall. That designation signifies compliance with a new international standard adopted by the tire industry in 1999, in large part because of the efforts of Transport Canada.
Compliance with that standard is based on actual performance testing. The conventional "M & S" (mud & snow) designation is based only on the void-to-rubber ratio of the tread design.
Contrary to conventional thinking for dry pavement conditions, on snow and ice, narrower tires tend to provide better traction. If your vehicle has wide, low-profile tires, you may want to consider narrower, higher-profile winter tires.
If so, consult with your tire dealer to ensure that the rolling diameter of the tires remains the same―otherwise speedometer error will result, and the operation of your ABS and Vehicle Dynamics Control Systems may be affected. Ensure, too that the new tires' Load Rating is at least the equal of that for the tires they replace.
Minimize the Tire-Changing Hassle
The downside of using winter tires is the need to change them in the spring and fall. Mounting winter tires on a separate set of wheels, so the effort to change them is no greater than that of a routine tire rotation, can minimize that hassle.
Both as a means of saving money and of protecting your expensive alloy wheels, you may wish to mount your winter tires on regular steel wheels. Doing so will also let you match their size with that of the tires, if you choose to use a narrower tire.
When selecting that extra set of wheels, make sure the "offset"―the position of the centre of the wheel with respect to the mounting face―is the same as on the originals. Otherwise you may have clearance problems, and you run the risk of upsetting the vehicle's steering feel and characteristics.
Can You Afford to Drive Without Winter Tires?
If you regularly encounter ice, unplowed snow, or slush in your daily driving, your need for winter tires should be obvious. But if your driving is on well-ploughed, paved roads, good all-season tires may serve your needs adequately most of the time.
The question you have to answer is, "Is most of the time good enough?"
"Most of the time" is not when you get in trouble. It is the exceptional circumstance when trouble occurs, and that is the circumstance you must be prepared for.
Even the effectiveness of safety features such as ABS, traction control, and vehicle dynamics control are limited by the grip the tires can provide. Can you afford to have less than the best available?
Your life may depend on your answer.
