if you love somebody get theme these
November 4th, 2005Remember the Easy Spirit commercial with the ladies in heels playing basketball?
We get the same sense of absurdity when we think about the tires that most Americans are on as they head into another winter. Ever notice how the first cars in the ditch are SUVs and AWD cars followed by the occasional FWD car? Here’s why:
Ironically, many light trucks and SUVs come on tires that are ill suited in the snow. Their rubber compounds must be hard to withstand the weight of your average SUV when loaded and not fall to shreds at the first sign of rough pavement. In addition, SUV tires are wide for better traction in sand and mud and to give them that butch look mom’s prefer. Unfortunately this is the opposite of what you want for ice and snow traction; narrower is better. When you combine this with the fact that most SUVs have lots of torque and are rear wheel drive without traction control until 4 wheel drive is engaged, it’s easy to understand why they become so unweildy in the winter and are eager to exit the roadweay backwards.
An increasing number of cars – especially sport sedans- come from the factory on ‘3-season’ tires. Such tires are designed under the assumption that the car will not be driven in the snow or even at temperatures below about 40 degrees F (below that temperature the rubber becomes hard and slippery). In the case of a car that’s available with front wheel drive as standard and all wheel drive as an option, testing shows that the all wheel drive increases the chances that the tail will side out and reduces cornering and braking grip. (Click here for proof).
The so-called ‘all-season’ tires on most cars are not designed to be driven through deep snow or ice (in fact in most cases they’re particularly bad on ice). To be called an all season, a tire simply must exceed a 25:75 ratio of channels:blocks. Arranging these blocks for long wear, hydroplaning resistance or low noise reduces traction in the snow, and using a rubber that last upwards of 30,000 miles severly reduces grip on ice. (Click here for more on the shortcomings of ‘all-seasons’ during the winter season).
Regardless of what you drive, if you encounter snow or ice we suggest a tire with the ‘mountain with snowflake’ symbol signifying the tire has been tested in winter conditions and meets certain minimum standards. (And in fact testing as shown that you’re best chance for avoiding an accident is to drive a rear wheel drive car with traction and stability control and these ‘mountain on snowflake’ tires).
Don’t see yourself changing from summer to winter tires? Don’t sweat it – unless you take your car to the track or regularly drive your cars til the tires cry out for mercy, an H or V rated ‘European winter’ tire will be suitable for use throughout the year. (The BMW CCA’s technical advisor also advocates this). Such tires give up less than 10% in the dry to other tires but gain you about 30% in the winter – a worthwhile tradeoff in our eyes. In fact there has been a recent trend towards so called ‘dual season’ winter tires or ‘performance’ winter tires that offer as more grip in the dry than an all season. We’ve been runnning these year round on a half dozen cars and the drivers can’t tell there’s anything different about the cars until it turns snowy or icy.
So as we see it there are 4 basic categories of tires:
no M&S logo on the tire means it’s unsafe below 40 degrees
a M&S logo means it might be capable in light snow but not on ice
a mountain on snowflake symbol with an H or V rating can be used year round if you encounter heavier snowfall or icy conditions
a mountain on snowflake symbol with a Q or S rating – particularly Multicells such as most Bridgestone Bizzaks or a tire with a name ending in ‘Ice’ – should be used in the winter only; they wear quicky and grip poorly on dry or warm days.
Feel free to contact us for a list of suggested tires based on your specific car, budget, driving style, and road/weather conditions.
NOTE: Just because your car passes safety inspection doesn’t mean its ready for winter. In fact most mechanics don’t suggest replacing tires until they’ve reached the legal minimum – 1/3rd what is required by safety and tire experts. Click here for more information.