Why Snow Tires Can Be a Wise Investment

Why Change to Winter Snow Tires?
There are differences between all-season and dedicated winter tires and you'll need to match the tire to your winter driving needs. We've all experienced the challenges of winter driving on snow and ice, slipping and sliding in sometimes-uncontrollable situations. Most of us are just concerned with not getting stuck in a snow bank and not having an accident. If you can decrease this stress and feel more confident in your driving ability, that's good enough reason to change to snow tires every year.

The three key features that affect traction during the winter are a tire's tread depth, tread design and tread compound. All three factors must be present in order to increase traction in winter. Winter tires are designed with these features in mind and excel in colder temperatures, to give you more confidence and mobility.

As a matter of fact, many auto manufacturers recommend that four snow tires should be used for winter driving to stay in control. But when the roadway becomes icy, even snow tires may not provide sufficient traction. Under these extreme conditions it's a good idea to keep a set of tire chains on hand. And today's newer designs are easy to install and remove.

Tread Design
Tread designs involve many compromises in shape, function, materials or compounds. If a tread pattern is designed for mud and snow, it can't also be expected to be a high performance tire that gives great gas mileage. A tire designed specifically for off-road performance will not have a long tire life or yield high gas mileage. Tread design affects the performance of the vehicle to such an extent that one should know the differences in tire tread design and what they are capable of delivering. Asking your sales person for the facts and figures will help you make an informed decision.

Mud and Snow Traction
Mud and snow (M & S) tires have deep knobs in the tread pattern. They appear more aggressive and are designed for maximum braking and cornering traction under the worst driving conditions. This knobby-style tread design causes a bumpy and noisy ride in dry conditions. To obtain the best traction with mud and snow tires, they must be relatively narrow. Wider tread tires work better on dry surfaces, but have poor traction on soft surfaces. These types of tires are usually standard on trucks and off-road vehicles.

Tread Compounding
During the engineering of a new tread design, the first consideration is to develop a compound that will provide optimum handling with a minimum of performance compromises. Obviously, compromises in tread designs are unavoidable. A compound that offers superior snow and wet traction may not provide the dry traction of a high-performance tire.

In designing a tire compound, there are five basic ingredients that create each recipe. They are: rubber in a polymer form (the basis of all compounds), carbon black (the reinforcement to the compound - it affects the abrasion resistance, heat generation and traction characteristics), plasticizers (softens the compound and makes it more pliant), curing materials (gives elasticity) and ozone retardants. The primary goal is to minimize compromises to get the ultimate results. There are many recipes to choose from. Each tire is designed for a different road condition with different uses.

Changing rims may be an option for many of us. Using one set of wheels for both your summer and winter tires may be more expensive than you think. Mounting and balancing winter tires each time can cost at least $100 per year. Most snow tires last three winter seasons. After paying the bill, you'll probably find that a dedicated winter tire and wheel package is actually less expensive. Packages also simplify changing to and from winter snow tires, and you'll save time by just bolting them on.

What if you lease your vehicle? There are many cost considerations to think about. If you are leasing for three years, that's equivalent to the average life of a snow tire and is an excellent option. On the other hand, if your winters are mild and you signed a two-year lease, you may have to think twice. Just make sure safety is always in the forefront of your mind.

~Lauren Fix~