DON’T WANT TO BUY SNOW TIRES? HERE’S AN ALTERNATIVE TO CONSIDER
For drivers who live where there’s not much snow, ‘all-weathers’ may suffice
Every November, every Canadian who owns an automobile ponders the same question: Do I or don’t I?
Install snow tires, that is. Oh, I know that in some jurisdictions — Quebec, most notably — it’s illegal not to have your car riding on “snows” past Dec. 15. And that anywhere north of the 50th parallel sheer survival would seem to dictate that there really isn’t a much of a choice. But those of us in more moderate climes — Victoria, Vancouver and the Greater Toronto Area — well, we’re the 40 per cent or so of Canucks who fool themselves into thinking that, yes, we can get another winter out of our worn-out Michelin all-seasons.
Maybe it won’t snow much this year. I have four-wheel drive.
Bill Gardiner, master mechanic and a Motoring TV icon who now represents Kal Tire, has heard them all. And like pretty much every expert, yours truly included, Gardiner still recommends people should have two sets of tires — full snows and a set of allseasons or performance summer tires that are rotated every fall and spring.
For those who still need reminding, the recommendation to go full snows in winter months is not just a matter of tread patterns.
Kal Tire’s testing — which we have sampled — reveals that even a winter tire with 75 per cent of its tread worn has a shorter stopping distance on snow and ice than a new all-season tire. I’ll repeat that because it’s such a startling revelation: a snow tire that’s quite literally on its last legs will still generate more traction on snow and ice than a brand-new all-season tire.
Why? Because the other advantage of snow tires is that their rubber is specially optimized for traction below 7 C. The change in rubber — silica and other compounds are added to make the rubber more compliant at low temperatures — is as important, if not more so, than the tread pattern.
That’s why Motor Mouth’s recommendation remains to have separate sets of tires for summer and winter. Indeed, when you’re buying a new car we suggest you buy snows as part of your sale.
But let’s say your car is a little older and you only plan on keeping it for a few more years. You need a fresh set of rubber and you really don’t want to fork over the big bucks for two sets. Well, there’s a (fairly new) alternative and it’s aimed at the cost-conscious Canadian who still wants to optimize their safety during the upcoming deep freeze.
They’re called “all-weather” tires and they really are markedly different than all-season tires. They enjoy the official mountain peak designation, which means they are legal in any jurisdiction — again, notably Quebec — where approved snow tires are mandatory. For another, their tread compound — i.e. the rubber formulation — is a lot closer to winter tires than all-season tires.
Finally, most — if not all — have more aggressive tread patterns than summer tires. Indeed, as Gardiner points out, Nokian’s new WGR4 “all-weather” inside tread pattern is almost identical to the famed Hakkapeliittas, while the outside portion — the part of the tread that will have to deal with high cornering loads in the heat — is summer oriented.
By Gardiner’s estimation, allweathers offer 80 per cent of the winter traction of full snows and 80 per cent of the tread mileage of all-seasons. That’s backed up by Consumer Reports’ recent review.
In braking tests, all-weather tires stopped almost as quickly from 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) as full snows and were a marked 12 feet (almost four metres) better than all-seasons. Perhaps more importantly, the best — in CR’s testing, Michelin’s new CrossClimate — are truly great all-around tires, offering excellent wet and dry road braking and handling, excellent winter traction and, for the costconscious buyer, a tread life CR rates at a more than respectable 75,000 miles (120,000 kilometres).
In Canada, at least, all-weathers are the true all-season tires.