Like Night and Day

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That was how the guy who sold me my snow tires described the difference between driving with snow tires or all season tires.

I have never had snow tires before and, given that I do a lot of driving, I decided maybe it was time I tried them. I bought them 22-December-2006 and got to try them out during the freezing rain that fell that evening. I have Yokohama Ice Guard tires. They were the best quality Winter tires the tire shop had – given that they were significantly cheaper than the lowest grade tires the auto dealership would sell me, it was a no brainer to go with them.

I have to confess, that I see no difference between driving with snow tires and all seasons. Maybe if I could do a side by side comparison (rather than relying on my memory from last Winter) I might notice a difference. On ice, there is very little traction. If there is snow on the road, the wheels still slip. Granted, it is better than driving on bald tires.

Is the difference Winter tires and all seasons like night and day? Hmmm ... I think the difference is more like noon and midday.

Image nabbed from here.

Comments

RennyBA said…
I like winter tires best when it's icy and it's a must on Norwegian roads you know. But people tends to more and more use all season tires, at least on bigger cars and truck.
Wishing you a lovely end to your week:-)
February 02, 2007 9:40 AM
Anonymous said…
I have no idea about tires,but im sure were using common tires coz there`s no snow in my place.and my hubby is requesting for winter tires so we can go to snowy places for skiing and our small kid for sled :)
February 02, 2007 12:14 PM
KayMac said…
Clueless on tires but this is my first year w/ 4-wheel drive...I like it!
February 02, 2007 4:46 PM
Barbara said…
When I first moved up north (to Washington, DC, from northern Florida), I made a big deal about buying snow tires and getting them on in time for the first snow and then taking them off again in the spring. It seemed like I was forever shlepping tires into and out of my trunk. After a couple of seasons, I came to realize that not only does it not snow much in DC, but the tires really don't make a difference. It's the idiots on the road that are going to cause you to have an accident, not the absence of some heavier tread!
February 02, 2007 5:57 PM
Raquel said…
Oh wow, cool. This is my first time I heard about winter tires. For information, we don't have snow in my place. Aside from that, its my first year driving on the road too.
February 02, 2007 11:39 PM
Anonymous said…
MOI said:

We have them on our Nissan Pathfinder but I really don't know how they are different or better. Like you said, I'd have to test it out the same day and conditions with the same car and that's impossible!
February 03, 2007 10:44 AM
tin-tin said…
ummm... i can't comment on that. i have no idea. hahaha :)
February 03, 2007 9:53 PM
Ancilla said…
sorry, no idea about this...
February 04, 2007 10:59 AM
Richard said…
rennyba: Quebec wants to make them mandatory. As my post says, I have not observed a noticeable difference. Maybe it is different if I was driving on thick, packed snow. I just don't know.

ghee: I thought it snowed in northern Japan (of course, I have no idea which part you are located in).

kaymac: my dad had a 4WD way back and he liked it a lot for winter driving as well.

barbara: idiot drivers are definitely the major cause of accidents.

raquel: snow tires are supposed to improve traction (ability to grip the road) in the winter. Congratulations on driving!

MOI: doing side-by-side comparisons is for most people impractical. So we go by the recommendations of “professional” who claim the difference is like night and day.

tin-tin: you can always comment, just make something up :-)

ancilla: like tin-tin you can just make something up. Maybe you have different difficult driving condition
February 05, 2007 6:42 PM
TorAa said…
Wintertyres are mandatory in Norway from Nov 1st to April 1st. And the depth of the patterns have a minimum requirement. We every winter have real problems with trucks coming up from south with worn out summertyres. They block the roads at first sight of ice and snow and causes awful accidents and kilometers of traficjams.

The rubber consistence are different in summer and wintertyres. Softer and harder so to say.
It's not only the pattern that are different. Just ask your dealer.
February 07, 2007 8:11 PM
Richard said…
toraa: I know the tires are different. The province of Quebec is considering making them mandatory. But, as I said, I have not observed any significant difference.
February 12, 2007 5:29 PM
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