eBay Motors – Getting Your Winter Tire Game On Point
Hold out your hand, palm open and facing up. That’s about the area of your average vehicle’s contact patch, four points where the rubber literally meets the road, and all the grip that’s keeping you from sliding right off it. Never mind big brakes for shedding speed or clever all-terrain modes for climbing rocky hills, when it comes to maximizing the performance of your vehicle, getting the right tire picked out for your driving conditions is probably the single most important decision you’ll make.
However, there’s a great deal of choice out there, as well as a Tower of Babel worth of terms that aren’t what they seem. All-weather, all-season, all-terrain – no tire can actually do it all, and while it’s possible to get something that functions as a jack of all trades, you’re going to see compromises in some conditions. Happily, thanks to eBay Motors Canada, you’re at least going to have a straightforward time sorting out the tire options that can provide OEM fitment for your ride.
As for which kind of tire is going to get you the traction you need for the upcoming winter season and beyond, we’ve got you covered. Let’s dive in on tire terms and technology, and help you get a grip on your fall and winter driving needs.
Get Your Winter Boots On
For most Canadians, wintertime driving means snow, and not the fresh tracks on powder fun kind of snow. We’re talking slushy, crusty, ice-patch-hiding treacherous snow, the kind that laughs at all-wheel-drive badges and flips incautious crossovers into the ditch. Time to fight back.
Depending what part of the country you live in, you may want to consider either a snow tire or a winter tire, as they’re not quite the same thing. A dedicated snow tire does just what it says on the box, with sipes and grooves for handling deep snow and slippery conditions. If you happen to have a vehicle with proper four-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive, true snow tires will turn your car into a drift-smashing winter rig.
Winter tires, on the other hand, are meant to tackle winter conditions that include snow, but aren’t just limited to the deep stuff. If you’re more likely to face icy, deep-freeze conditions with dry, blowing snow, a winter tire may offer better cold weather grip on the ice. The last ace in the hole for both winter and snow tires are studded varieties, but be sure to check local regulations as to the laws around running those on the street.
The Last Tarmac Dance of the Year
Even though the already changing leaves are heralding back to school time and coming frosty weather, there’s still time for a back road cruise on a sunny fall day. If you’re a performance car enthusiast, you already know that getting a high-performance summer tire is the best way to make sure the next corner is getting carved up properly.
Extreme performance tires come in a couple of grades, the most aggressive of which do have some all weather drawbacks. Just the same way that a F1 car will run a different tire for wet or dry weather, the most extreme summer performance tires have fewer channels for shedding standing water, and do best when there’s a little more heat around. That’s great for the track, less so for a spirited drive.
For shoulder season driving, you’re probably best off taking things down a level. You’ll actually get more real world grip, and your machine will more secure for that rainy day commute.
The Myth of the All-Season Solution
Modern tire compounds have far more flexibility than the round black rubber circles of old, and can operate in various temperature and weather conditions. The first all-season tires were launched in 1977, and the idea was pretty tempting: why mess around changing tires with the seasons, when you could just stick with one set of rubber for the whole year?
For some lifestyles, modern all-season tires provide all the necessary coverage. If you live in a mild climate, it is possible to get away with an all-season tire as a year-round option. It won’t function as well as a dedicated winter tire when the snow starts flying, but if you tend to park the car until the roads are all plowed clear anyway, it’s not a bad choice.
Having said that, all-seasons should be properly thought of as three-season tires. Thanks to advancing modern tire tech, a performance-oriented all-season can offer nearly all the real-world grip you’d see out of a summer performance tire, but it’ll also be more flexible on those cold fall mornings or in a torrential spring downpour. It’s probably not the best choice for a lapping session at a track, but still it’ll give you plenty of backroad lateral grip.
The other consideration is all-weather ratings. Many provinces have seasonal rules about what kind of tires are required for driving specific routes based on the time of year. Even if the roads are clear and bone dry, you may legally be required to be running appropriate tires. Look for a symbol of a mountain, a snowflake, or the M+S (mud and snow) rating.
All-Terrain Vs. Off-Road Tires
For those with overlanding or offroad machines, your rig’s hiking books are probably already set up to tackle most winter conditions. Here, choosing a rugged all-terrain tire means you probably have a flexible all-rounder that can handle snow nearly as well as it can shrug off mud and sand.
Offroad tires are a level up for off-tarmac performance, at the expense of on-road noise and wear characteristics (as you’d expect from the name). With chunkier tread blocks and bigger contact patches, these will often come with the M+S rating you need for climbing those mountain passes. But there is a difference. If sub-zero temperatures are a regular occurrence where you live, a proper snow tire will perform better. It’s all down to the temperature range the tire’s compound is designed to work in. Winter and snow tires are made to stay sticky even when temperatures will make a all-round tire harden up like a hockey puck, so make sure you’ve picked out the right option for the winter conditions you’ll be facing. After all, your tires are all that’s keeping you on the road this winter.
