subject: Snow Tires versus All-weather Tires [print this page] For everyone, winter is best known for the snow that it brings. The sight of the first snowflake flowing, is the first signal that everything will eventually turn white and fuzzy. Many will contend snow is a wonderful sight to behold, unless you are a driver.
Snow causes roads to get slippery. Slippery roads means less traction for car tires, which makes roads even more dangerous. With less friction between the road surface and the car's tires spins outs, fishtails or the ability to stop can occur in the regular performance of your car. This particular fact has made accidents more likely to happen during the winter than the summer season.
Markedly decreased traction is also caused by tires that freeze during winter. Because outdoor temperatures can go well below freezing, the tires usually follow suit. Since regular tires will be stiffer than they usually are, less of the tire's surface gets into contact with the road surface, thereby decreasing traction even further.
Snow Tires Versus All-Weather:
Snow tires have a smaller tread, which makes water pass through the tire more easily, thus preventing hydroplaning on wet surfaces. This allows the car's tires to provide greater traction compared to all-weather tires, which have bigger, wider treads and thus are not optimally suited for snow-covered surfaces.
Moreover, snow tires are much softer than regular, all-weather tires, making them more resistant to freezing temperatures. Their rubber composition is modified to achieve this effect. Because tires are softer, a larger part of it gets into contact with the road surface, thus increasing traction.
The story doesn't end there. Snow tires must also be inflated to the appropriate pressure to maximize friction and minimize wear and tear. Most drivers are familiar with how much pressure they should have on their tires, but very few are well-versed with how pressure and temperature affect each other.
As temperature falls, a car's tire pressure also follows suit. Gases inside the tires loose volume when they are exposed to lower temperatures, thus causing the pressure that they exert on a car tire's walls to go down too. Thus, it is important to check tire pressure as often as you can, especially since Ontario winter temperatures can vary widely.
As a side note, it is also worthy to note that checking a car's all-wheel (or 4-wheel) drive is a good idea, if your car has one. A car's AWD can come in handy during extreme situations where the roads are hopelessly slippery. Checking your car's AWD even before the winter season comes will allow you to ensure that you can rely on that AWD feature if and when you need it.
Snow-covered roads are usually sprinkled with generous amounts of road salt to keep the roads clear of ice . The downside of this practice is that road salt may come in contact with a car's metal parts, which will then catalyze the rusting process, it is wise that the undercarriage be treated for weatherproofing that will reduce salt damage.
