Sunday 6 November 2011
"Should I get winter tires?"
My answer is an emphatic YES. I'm going address a few key questions below. Read on.
I realize some people can't get winter tires, because a) they can't afford them, b) they don't have storage space for another set of wheels, and c) they simply don't believe in them.
I know I couldn't afford them when I was a starving student in University. I got by with all-seasons, drove very carefully, and didn't go out in very snowy conditions.
The best alternative for people who can't afford a set of winter wheels is to either find used tires that are cheaper, or to not go out on very snowy days or freezing rain conditions. You account for your own safety, as well as that of other motorists.
The best option if you can't afford 2 sets of wheels is to purchase an "all-weather" tire like the Hankook Optimo 4S (sadly, Crappy Tire is the sole seller of this brand, so there's no price flexibility) or the ultra-premium Nokian WR brand.
The difference between an "all-weather" and an "all-season" tire is that the former has a snowflake symbol, which means that it meets acceptable performance specs for winter driving, but can also be driven on year-round. The thing with these tires though, is that they wear faster because the rubber compound is a bit softer in order to be good in winter, so you MUST be religious in rotating them every 10,000 km to 15,000 km to maximise their lifespan and maximise your investment.
So What's the Difference Between Winter Tires and All-Season Tires?
To me, the difference lies in 3 key areas:
1. The rubber. All-season and summer rubber gets hard like pucks when the weather gets cold, like 7 degrees C or colder. Hockey fans know that pucks glide very well on ice, and they don't provide very good grip during a November Rain when you need to brake, or trying to accelerate in snowy conditions. Winter tire rubber however, is designed to stay grippy and pliable even when it's cold. Grippy and pliable means enhanced traction, braking and acceleration.
Try this test: Pour some water on your all-season tires, and rub with your fingertips. Do the same with winter tires, and you will feel the difference in the rubber and the grippiness.
2. Tread Pattern. Winter tires have bigger tread blocks with zig-zag-like sipes that help enhance snow and ice grip. All-season tires not only get hard like pucks when cold, but they don't have these sipes. Winter tire tread is also designed in a way that when driving, it clears snow from the treads as the wheels are turning to help enhance traction.
3. Well-Built Shoulders. Just like how women like men with good shoulders, winter tires have better-designed, blockier grips on the tire shoulders, which helps you navigate turns and highway ramps safer under snowy conditions.
There Are So Many Brands! What Brand Should I get?
The cheapest winter tire brand is still better in winter than the best all-season tire, but I'll summarize my thoughts on this question below.
PROS of Cheap Winter Tires
- Price
- Greater measure of safety vs. running with all-season tires
CONS of Cheap Winter Tires
- They ride harsh and loud, which could drive some people crazy because you get what you pay for
- They may not last as long
- Less re-sale value
- In really thick snow, better, pricier brands out-perform them in braking and traction because of better rubber compounds and more R&D in tread design
******
PROS of Brand Name Winter Tires (i.e. Michelin, Toyo, Bridgestone, Pirelli)
- Strong R&D/technology, with state-of-the-art tread designs and rubber compounds
- Quieter, smoother ride, with better handling
- Longer tread life
- Strong re-sale value
CONS of Brand Name Winter Tires
- Expensive! You are paying for the premium brand name and advertising to get peace of mind
The good news is that there are brands out there that bridge the gap between good price and excellent performance and ride. You just need to do your research and talk to friends and neighbours. I've listed some brands below to consider depending on your budget and on my personal experiences:
Good ultra-premium Brands if you have the money:
- Michelin X-Ice
- Toyo Observe G-02 or Toyo Garrit
- Bridgestone Blizzak
- Any Pirelli
- Nokian Haakaapelliita (the gold standard)
The best bangs for the buck:
- Hankook iPike
- Gislaved Nordfrost 5 (my personal choice for my cars)
- The Canadian Tire brands
- Firestone Winterforce
- General Altimax
- Any Uniroyal brand
The cheapie brands that could do the job:
- Nexen Winguard (from Walmart)
- Kingstar W404 (made by Hankook)
- Semperit Speedgrip
- Triangle Snow Lion
- Infinity Winter Hero INF-049
RIMS/WHEELS
You may need to buy wheels too. I say avoid buying steel rims from chain stores like Costco and Canadian Tire, because the rims they sell are meant for multiple applications. You want to buy a rim that matches your vehicle's bolt pattern and is "hubcentric." Hubcentric just means that the wheel is an exact match with the centre bore diameter on your wheel hub. You can get hubcentric wheels from your dealer or from a specialty tire shop, and they fit best, reduce vibrations on the highway and will reduce the strain on your wheel nuts.
Speaking of wheel nuts, if you run steel rims, you may need to get a different set of wheel lug nuts to be compatible. Toyotas and Lexus for example, requires open wheels nuts for steel rims. Check with your tire shop or dealer.
How Do I Save Money Buying Winter Wheels?
1. Buy used by asking around, looking online on car forums, kijiji and craigslist
2. Ask a tire shop how small a wheel and tire size you can go and still drive safety compared to your original wheels (most times you can go smaller to save money on tires and wheels). For example, 2006-2011 Honda Civics have P205/55R16 as the original tire size, but one can downsize to P195/65R15 to save money. Your speedometer just reads differently, up to 3% different, but don't speed just to be safe!
3. Shop around, ask people how they like their winter tire brand, and comparison-shop
4. If you are leasing or buying a new car, negotiate with your salesperson to see if they can throw in a set of winter tires and wheels, or give you a substantial discount on a new set.
5. Realize that the cheapest winter tire is still better than the best all-season tire in snow. You may just have to buy the cheapest brand and then deal with a loud and harsh ride when the roads are dry
If I'm Buying Used, How Do I Make Sure I'm Getting Something Good?
1. Ask questions like why are they selling? How old are the tires? Have they ever been repaired due to a puncture?
2. Confirm the age of the tires and don't buy something older than 4 years or if you see little cracks on the sidewall and treads. You can find out the manufacture date of a tire by looking on the sidewall for a DOT Number. It should end with a 4-digit code, like -2307, or -0809. The first one means "23rd week of 2007," and the other is "8th week of 2009."
3. Measure the tread, and my personal recommendation is to not buy a winter tire with less than 6/32" of tread (new is around 11/32") unless you just need them for a winter season. You can buy something called a "tire depth gauge" to measure tread depth.
To conclude, you gotta get winter wheels. Getting a separate set of wheels make better sense because you're not gonna be paying $80 to $100+ twice a year to get tires unmounted/mounted/balanced, plus you don't let the salt and winter dirt damage your stock wheels, which could drive down the re-sale value of your car, or get you in trouble come lease return time.
Drive on, and drive safe this winter....
My answer is an emphatic YES. I'm going address a few key questions below. Read on.
I realize some people can't get winter tires, because a) they can't afford them, b) they don't have storage space for another set of wheels, and c) they simply don't believe in them.
I know I couldn't afford them when I was a starving student in University. I got by with all-seasons, drove very carefully, and didn't go out in very snowy conditions.
The best alternative for people who can't afford a set of winter wheels is to either find used tires that are cheaper, or to not go out on very snowy days or freezing rain conditions. You account for your own safety, as well as that of other motorists.
The best option if you can't afford 2 sets of wheels is to purchase an "all-weather" tire like the Hankook Optimo 4S (sadly, Crappy Tire is the sole seller of this brand, so there's no price flexibility) or the ultra-premium Nokian WR brand.
The difference between an "all-weather" and an "all-season" tire is that the former has a snowflake symbol, which means that it meets acceptable performance specs for winter driving, but can also be driven on year-round. The thing with these tires though, is that they wear faster because the rubber compound is a bit softer in order to be good in winter, so you MUST be religious in rotating them every 10,000 km to 15,000 km to maximise their lifespan and maximise your investment.
So What's the Difference Between Winter Tires and All-Season Tires?
To me, the difference lies in 3 key areas:
1. The rubber. All-season and summer rubber gets hard like pucks when the weather gets cold, like 7 degrees C or colder. Hockey fans know that pucks glide very well on ice, and they don't provide very good grip during a November Rain when you need to brake, or trying to accelerate in snowy conditions. Winter tire rubber however, is designed to stay grippy and pliable even when it's cold. Grippy and pliable means enhanced traction, braking and acceleration.
Try this test: Pour some water on your all-season tires, and rub with your fingertips. Do the same with winter tires, and you will feel the difference in the rubber and the grippiness.
2. Tread Pattern. Winter tires have bigger tread blocks with zig-zag-like sipes that help enhance snow and ice grip. All-season tires not only get hard like pucks when cold, but they don't have these sipes. Winter tire tread is also designed in a way that when driving, it clears snow from the treads as the wheels are turning to help enhance traction.
3. Well-Built Shoulders. Just like how women like men with good shoulders, winter tires have better-designed, blockier grips on the tire shoulders, which helps you navigate turns and highway ramps safer under snowy conditions.
There Are So Many Brands! What Brand Should I get?
The cheapest winter tire brand is still better in winter than the best all-season tire, but I'll summarize my thoughts on this question below.
PROS of Cheap Winter Tires
- Price
- Greater measure of safety vs. running with all-season tires
CONS of Cheap Winter Tires
- They ride harsh and loud, which could drive some people crazy because you get what you pay for
- They may not last as long
- Less re-sale value
- In really thick snow, better, pricier brands out-perform them in braking and traction because of better rubber compounds and more R&D in tread design
******
PROS of Brand Name Winter Tires (i.e. Michelin, Toyo, Bridgestone, Pirelli)
- Strong R&D/technology, with state-of-the-art tread designs and rubber compounds
- Quieter, smoother ride, with better handling
- Longer tread life
- Strong re-sale value
CONS of Brand Name Winter Tires
- Expensive! You are paying for the premium brand name and advertising to get peace of mind
The good news is that there are brands out there that bridge the gap between good price and excellent performance and ride. You just need to do your research and talk to friends and neighbours. I've listed some brands below to consider depending on your budget and on my personal experiences:
Good ultra-premium Brands if you have the money:
- Michelin X-Ice
- Toyo Observe G-02 or Toyo Garrit
- Bridgestone Blizzak
- Any Pirelli
- Nokian Haakaapelliita (the gold standard)
The best bangs for the buck:
- Hankook iPike
- Gislaved Nordfrost 5 (my personal choice for my cars)
- The Canadian Tire brands
- Firestone Winterforce
- General Altimax
- Any Uniroyal brand
The cheapie brands that could do the job:
- Nexen Winguard (from Walmart)
- Kingstar W404 (made by Hankook)
- Semperit Speedgrip
- Triangle Snow Lion
- Infinity Winter Hero INF-049
RIMS/WHEELS
You may need to buy wheels too. I say avoid buying steel rims from chain stores like Costco and Canadian Tire, because the rims they sell are meant for multiple applications. You want to buy a rim that matches your vehicle's bolt pattern and is "hubcentric." Hubcentric just means that the wheel is an exact match with the centre bore diameter on your wheel hub. You can get hubcentric wheels from your dealer or from a specialty tire shop, and they fit best, reduce vibrations on the highway and will reduce the strain on your wheel nuts.
Speaking of wheel nuts, if you run steel rims, you may need to get a different set of wheel lug nuts to be compatible. Toyotas and Lexus for example, requires open wheels nuts for steel rims. Check with your tire shop or dealer.
How Do I Save Money Buying Winter Wheels?
1. Buy used by asking around, looking online on car forums, kijiji and craigslist
2. Ask a tire shop how small a wheel and tire size you can go and still drive safety compared to your original wheels (most times you can go smaller to save money on tires and wheels). For example, 2006-2011 Honda Civics have P205/55R16 as the original tire size, but one can downsize to P195/65R15 to save money. Your speedometer just reads differently, up to 3% different, but don't speed just to be safe!
3. Shop around, ask people how they like their winter tire brand, and comparison-shop
4. If you are leasing or buying a new car, negotiate with your salesperson to see if they can throw in a set of winter tires and wheels, or give you a substantial discount on a new set.
5. Realize that the cheapest winter tire is still better than the best all-season tire in snow. You may just have to buy the cheapest brand and then deal with a loud and harsh ride when the roads are dry
If I'm Buying Used, How Do I Make Sure I'm Getting Something Good?
1. Ask questions like why are they selling? How old are the tires? Have they ever been repaired due to a puncture?
2. Confirm the age of the tires and don't buy something older than 4 years or if you see little cracks on the sidewall and treads. You can find out the manufacture date of a tire by looking on the sidewall for a DOT Number. It should end with a 4-digit code, like -2307, or -0809. The first one means "23rd week of 2007," and the other is "8th week of 2009."
3. Measure the tread, and my personal recommendation is to not buy a winter tire with less than 6/32" of tread (new is around 11/32") unless you just need them for a winter season. You can buy something called a "tire depth gauge" to measure tread depth.
To conclude, you gotta get winter wheels. Getting a separate set of wheels make better sense because you're not gonna be paying $80 to $100+ twice a year to get tires unmounted/mounted/balanced, plus you don't let the salt and winter dirt damage your stock wheels, which could drive down the re-sale value of your car, or get you in trouble come lease return time.
Drive on, and drive safe this winter....
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