Slippery winter roads require the use of winter tires, also known as snow tires. The use of all-season tires should always be avoided as they are not approved for winter use and they are not able to provide much grip or traction during the winter season. The key is to have tires that are approved for winter use and there are only the winter tires, which come as studded or non-studded and the all-weather tires that are approved. Which type of tires you will choose for your vehicle will depend on what you feel will give you the best safety and performance for your vehicle.
Basically, all vehicles that operate on our roads during the winter season should have approved tires when you are driving in winter conditions. Winter conditions should not only include snow, ice and slush, but also low winter temperatures. The reason why you need to include low temperatures is that the rubber compound used in non-winter tires, such as all-season tires, isn't optimized for low temperatures and will turn hard at low temperatures. When you don't have a flexible tire, the tires can't conform to the road surface and the rubber won't get pressed into its micro-cavities. This phenomenon adds a lot of friction that is necessary for safe driving both during winter and summer. In a similar way if you use winter tires in summer temperatures, the tires will become too soft and will also alter the performance and the tires will wear out faster than intended.
For slippery roads during the winter, you will need to have either winter tires or all-weather tires. You will need the combination of both added gripping particles or studs combined with a well-designed tread that can handle slippery surfaces. Without a good combination of these two, you will not have the best grip during slippery conditions. During the wintertime when driving in slippery conditions be it on snow or ice, you definitely want to have the best possible tires to ensure that you have the best performance, control and safety when driving.
When you purchase premium winter tires or all-weather tires you can expect that the properties are good and that they will place high in the various tire tests performed by the various motor magazines. It is good to check the tire tests to see what tires perform the best on the conditions that most represent the area where you mainly drive. Often the studded tires perform the best during winter conditions, but they are not allowed to be used in all the states or provinces in North America. Even if they are allowed in your state or province, it will put some limitations if you plan to travel across state borders. This can cause some problems, why it might be better to choose some really good non-studded tires that will have more or less the same performance even on ice as the studded tires.
For more information on finding the best winter tires, visit: www.nokiantires.com
