October 28th 2005
All of us in the automobile repair business are facing the same question we hear every year:
” Will my all season tires be safe enough for this winter?”

Firstly, of-course, we have no idea what kind of winter we are going to get, but snow and ice are definitely on the menu.
About the only people who will be able to manage with so-called “all season” tires this year are those who just bought a
new car with brand new tires and who don't HAVE to go out until the storm has passed, never go skiing and don't have
a winterized country cottage that they visit every weekend.

So-called "all-season" tires are really a compromise; they’re passable if you're willing to stay home when the roads are
covered in snow and ice. But a lot of people need to use something superior.

That’s because tires have changed significantly in recent years. They're much more custom-built, even on family sedans.
From cars to minivans to SUVs, many of today's vehicles come with wide, low-profile tires that only a few years ago would
have been be found only on the high performance cars.

Unfortunately, both performance and all-season tires tend to lose their grip at approximately minus 15C.
In cold climates and on icy roads, they just don't work like the new generation of soft-compound winter tires.

There have been major advancements in both construction techniques and rubber compounds.

Remember when snow tires used to be noisy and hard-riding and were a disaster on dry pavement?

Today, all major tire companies market special compound winter tires with refined tread patterns that grip just as well
as studs, while offering a smooth ride and competent road-holding on bare roads.

They have names like Bridgestone Blizzak, Goodyear Alpin, Michelin X-Ice and Yokohama Guardex.

The practice used to be to install winter tires only on the end of the car where the drive wheels were located, but front wheel
drive almost dictates that motorists should fit four snow tires if they want to drive as safely as possible.
This gives the vehicle a similar grip at all four corners.

With front-heavy, front-wheel drive, you've got all this extra braking ability and traction in the front so that adding just two
winter tires on the front means that the back end has a very strong tendency to lose traction and have you facing the way
you came very quickly indeed.

On the Transport Canada Web site, the federal government agency stresses that winter tires should be installed in sets of
four to help maintain control and stability in slippery conditions.

But what tires to look for?

Both Transport Canada and the Rubber Association of Canada recommend motorists choose tires marked on the sidewall
with the pictograph of a peaked mountain with a snowflake inside it.

Doing so ensures the tires have the traction necessary for use on ice and snow at low temperatures.

The Transport Canada Web site lists brands of tires that meet that severe-duty specification.

Most of us can't sit home until the ploughs go by. If that's the case, an investment in winter tires could head off
a serious, life threatening collision or major vehicle damage, or both.

Again in our shop we often hear such arguments as: I've got antilock brakes (ABS) or I've got a sport-utility or I've got
four-wheel-drive. Therefore, I don't need winter tires.

These features are fine, but any vehicle will grip better with tires specifically designed for cold and ice.
And most SUVs and pickups come with tires that my do well in sand and situations where you want "flotation,"
but that may be the opposite of what you want during an icy Canadian winter.

Studded tires do offer excellent traction on ice if they are in good shape, but they are noisy and wear the pavement.
Most provinces do not allow studs at all, or only allow them during the winter season.
Winter ice tires work just as well as the best studded tires, so I would avoid the hassle of studs.

The most elegant answer, if you can afford the initial investment, is four steel wheels, to replace your glamorous and
fragile alloy wheels.

Firstly, the cost of winter and spring changeover becomes minimal, secondly the two sets if tires will last twice as long and
last but not least, a tire that has had its bead stretched on a tire mounting machine multiple times will eventually begin to
lose air pressure and will have to be reinflated from time to time.

Some motorists buy used rims from auto recycling yards.

Others look to the want ads at this time of year, since people sell their vehicles or return them on lease and then sell their
used winter tires.

Sometimes, you can save money and improve grip by going "minus one." Say your car comes with high-performance tires
and wheels in the 16-inch size. A tire or auto dealer can cross-check wheel fitment and you may find that the base model of
your car comes with steel wheels in the 15-inch size that are less expensive to buy (same for the tires).

How can a narrower tire improve road grip? The rule of thumb from experts is that a narrower tire will cut through rain, snow
and slush and bear down on the road better than a wider tire, which will tend to float up and over, losing grip in the process.

And there may be one more technical breakthrough about to arrive in tire technology which will make articles such as this
entirely irrelevant.

This year, the Goodyear Tire company is offering a new kind of tire that uses three different types of compound molded into three
different tire patterns, all on the same carcass. The Company says that these “Tripletred” tires will last up to 130,000 Kilometers
and will give ice performance similar to that of a pure winter tire.

If this technology proves to be as good as it sounds, then we may be back to an all season tire that actually deserves its name.

Note: Latest test by Consumer reports rates the Triple Tread as the outstanding choice in an "all season" tire,
but doesn't think it's much good for real winter conditions.