What is the difference between winter and all-season tires?
Are you looking for a set of tires for the winter? You should consider getting a set of tires specifically for winter instead of just all-season tires. What is the difference between winter and all-season tires? Winter tires will actually be much better in snow and on ice, and we can tell you why.
How is snow tire tread different?
The tread is the easiest difference to spot when it comes to snow tires. The tread itself is typically thicker and deeper, the tread cuts have less of an angle, and you will also find a multitude of score marks across the tread. This is all designed to get superior grip on the snowy and slick surfaces.
There is a drawback to having this kind of tread. It’s significantly louder on pavement. Through driving it on winter pavement will not cause harm to your snow tires in any way, it is something that you should at least expect.
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Is the rubber in snow tires different?
The tread certainly helps, but that isn’t the biggest difference. The biggest difference between winter tires and all-season tires actually comes down to the compound. Snow tires use a much softer compound that is designed to get much more grip in cold temperatures.
All-season tires are designed with above freezing temperatures in mind. Even when it’s simply cold, and the roads are clear, your all-season tires are going to get less grip than winter tires purely because of the compound used.
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Can you use winter tires all year?
Here’s the catch, the reasons they don’t use snow tire compound on all-season tires is because the snow compound cannot handle warm temperatures. As it starts warming up, it’s best to take those snow tires off and replace them with some all-season tires. The snow tires can be stored until the next season.
Warm temperatures do not damage the snow tires, so storing is not a problem. What damages them is driving on them in the warmer months. The tread will wear off much quicker and in extreme heat. Also, with the tread being super soft, you will find that the tires tend to squish in the heat, giving you less response.
Read More: Winter car maintenance in Alberta
