Rudy@tirerack
Vendor
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- 93
Greetings forum members,
Its October and cold weather will be moving in soon. I though I could answer some questions some of you may have regarding how to get the best traction in cold weather, snow and ice.
So my Civic has all season tires I am good to go right? Maybe and Maybe not. An all season tire is designed to provide basic traction in LIGHT snow (2-3 inches), They will also provide grip in colder weather. So if I live in Nashville TN and I see some cold days and a couple light snowfalls a year an all season tire works pretty well. However they are often not enough if you live in the snow belt.
I run Summer performance tires - Summer tires become hard and will provide very little to no snow traction. So even when there is no snow and just cold you need either winter tires or all season tires. If you are going to have 2 sets of tires why not get a winter tire so you have best snow traction.
Why are winter tires better? Good Question. A winter tire needs to have tread depth, tread compound and tread design. Tread compounds of winter tires are specially designed to stay soft for conditions even below 0 F. The compounds also have special items molded into the compound. A couple of examples are fiberglass and metallic bite particles. These work as mini studs to scratch and claw on ice and packed snow. Also some compounds like Bridgestone Blizzaks multi-cell compound works as a sponge to wick up the water that forms between the tire and the packed snow or ice. Then you have tread design. Winter tires have smaller tread blocks with many more cuts in the tire referred to as sipes. Modern designs you zig-zag or 3D sipes. These give the tire many more biting edges to grip.
Is a Snow tire that much better in snow versus an all season? Absolutely Yes!! If you have not tried a modern snow tire recently I think you will be shocked as to how much traction they provide.
Another common question is can I run 2 snow tires on the front of my car? I say no. You should always have 4 matching tires so grip levels are even between the front and rear axel. When running 2 snows it is very easy to spin out resulting in loss of vehicle control. Not a good situation to be in.
Click the following link for Winter Tire Tech Center: http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=CR8&url=winter/tech/index.jsp
I will watch over this thread so if you have any questions on Tire Rack products or just general questions. I will answer them if I know the answer.
Its October and cold weather will be moving in soon. I though I could answer some questions some of you may have regarding how to get the best traction in cold weather, snow and ice.
So my Civic has all season tires I am good to go right? Maybe and Maybe not. An all season tire is designed to provide basic traction in LIGHT snow (2-3 inches), They will also provide grip in colder weather. So if I live in Nashville TN and I see some cold days and a couple light snowfalls a year an all season tire works pretty well. However they are often not enough if you live in the snow belt.
I run Summer performance tires - Summer tires become hard and will provide very little to no snow traction. So even when there is no snow and just cold you need either winter tires or all season tires. If you are going to have 2 sets of tires why not get a winter tire so you have best snow traction.
Why are winter tires better? Good Question. A winter tire needs to have tread depth, tread compound and tread design. Tread compounds of winter tires are specially designed to stay soft for conditions even below 0 F. The compounds also have special items molded into the compound. A couple of examples are fiberglass and metallic bite particles. These work as mini studs to scratch and claw on ice and packed snow. Also some compounds like Bridgestone Blizzaks multi-cell compound works as a sponge to wick up the water that forms between the tire and the packed snow or ice. Then you have tread design. Winter tires have smaller tread blocks with many more cuts in the tire referred to as sipes. Modern designs you zig-zag or 3D sipes. These give the tire many more biting edges to grip.
Is a Snow tire that much better in snow versus an all season? Absolutely Yes!! If you have not tried a modern snow tire recently I think you will be shocked as to how much traction they provide.
Another common question is can I run 2 snow tires on the front of my car? I say no. You should always have 4 matching tires so grip levels are even between the front and rear axel. When running 2 snows it is very easy to spin out resulting in loss of vehicle control. Not a good situation to be in.
Click the following link for Winter Tire Tech Center: http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=CR8&url=winter/tech/index.jsp
I will watch over this thread so if you have any questions on Tire Rack products or just general questions. I will answer them if I know the answer.