Tire Question -- All Seasons Vs. Snow Tires?

[nachoman]

I've spent my life avoiding driving on ice and snow but perhaps I can shed some light here:

first, you current tires may not be worn. Tires have little wear strips between the treads. If the treads wear down to the wear strips, your tire needs to be replaced. Or you could use a tire tread gauge or a penny <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=51">http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/ ... ?techid=51</a><!-- m -->. If the tires are wearing on one side more than another, they need to be replaced, and there is likely a mechanical problem on your car that needs to be repaired,

Second, if you are driving on ice, the only thing that will help are studded snow tires or tire chains. Normal tires will get zero traction on ice, and even with 4 wheel drive 4x0=0. Snow is okay for good regular tires as long as it is not packed hard, provided you slow down and leave extra time for accelerating and braking. The snow has to be soft enough to compress under the weight of the car and "squish" up between the treads in order to get traction.

People in southern arizona like to drive to the mountains when it snows. These are people who rarely drive in snow, and load up the family SUV for a day of fun. The common mistake they make is assuming a 4-wheel drive high center of gravity SUV is the perfect snow driving vehicle. As a result, they continue to drive 75 miles per hour through the snow, hit an icy patch and lose traction on all wheels, get a little sideways, and then roll when the car reaches dry pavement again.

Since you live in a wintery area, I would suggest buying rims and snow tires for any car that you will regularly drive in the snow. You don't want to drive with the snow tires on when there is no snow on the road - it ruins the pavement and wears out your expensive snow tires. If you have them mounted on separate rims, you can keep them in your garage and put them on only when there is snow.