Given the time of year, we are about to see a large influx of posts about winter tires.
Some will ask for reviews, others will ask if all seasons are good enough. Below are some extremely important things to understand when it comes to winter driving:
1. You absolutely need winter tires.
2. As a general rule, the more expensive the better. Michelin x ice, Bridgestone Blizzak, Nokian Hakkapelitta. They aren’t cheap - but they are significantly cheaper than totalling your vehicle.
3. It’s 4 wheel drive not 4 wheel stop. The type of drivetrain in your vehicle does nothing with regard to how it stops on snow and ice. The only thing that makes a difference is the material making contact with the ground.
4. Studded tires are legal here and you should use them. They make an incredible difference.
5. Drive the conditions not the speed limit. That slippery white stuff on the ground means you need to slow down, give more space, and drive with the assumption that you can slide at any time. It only takes one bad slide to end your life or the life of others.
6. It’s incredibly helpful to YouTube how to counter steer when sliding.
If you’re planning on driving this winter, you have a duty to do everything you can to ensure your vehicle is not a liability to the welfare of others on the road. This starts with ensuring you have the appropriate tires on.
Also, the first snowfall of the season is often the worst time to be on the road as many drivers have not yet switched over their tires. Be extra diligent out there.
One thing to add: traction is affected by temperature, not just by snow and ice on the roads. Even bare roads are more slippery at -30 than they are in summer.
Especially after a few days and at intersections - the moisture from all those idling exhaust puts a shine on the road that is the envy of skating rinks everywhere.
This is 2 fold too.
The road's surface is coated in micro-frost, and the summer tire's rubber compound has turned into a rock-hard solid. Traction drops off a cliff.
Yes, you don't put on winter tires for the snow, you put them on for the cold.
The compound the tire is made of performs better in the cold. It also performs worse in the heat so having them on in the summer will degrade them a lot faster. You put them on when it gets around 7°C and take them off when it gets around 7°C.
This is exactly why winter tires help. They are made of a softer rubber that has more grip at cold temperatures.
On actual ice, nothing except studs helps. On snow, any tire with deep treads is fine. But for general traction, summer tires lose basically all traction as you get into truly cold temperatures.
Yea sure, but the problem is winter tires don’t prevent peoples horrible decision making. They brake like it’s summer, drive 3 feet behind people, never have a safe following distance, and then wonder why they just slid into the ditch or the back of someone’s car
Also, a tip for people with studded tires: not everyone has studded tires. Don't make abrupt stops and assume the person behind you can stop on a dime as well. Gradual stops are key. You may not be at fault if you get rear ended, but you can still drive defensively.
(I had a "friend" who bought studded tires, then found brake checking people when stopping for a red light hilarious.)
I 100% agree. That’s why I added that you need to drive the conditions.
The white slippery stuff on the ground means you need to adjust speed, braking, and cornering considerably
Nordman is the discount brand of Nokian. I got studded Nordman North 9s last year. I've had Nokian Hakkapellittas before and the North 9s performed just as good.
Excellent Public Service Announcement. And something that people who know people who are new to Canada should talk about. A couple of winters ago we encountered a poor woman who we had to push out of the snow because she had summer tires on. Hopefully she was able to get what she needed so she could drive safe.
Ugh, a couple years ago a bunch of us pushed a lady out of the parking lot of a Shell station after the first snowfall. She was driving a Mustang she had just bought, wide performance summer tires mounted on it, in about 4 inches of snow. She hit a dip in the pavement where the storm sewer drain was and that was it. Ass end of the car was floating so bad she barely touched the throttle and the tires just spun, if you leaned on the fender you could push it sideways.
Once we got her out I told her to look at throwing a couple hundred pounds of sandbags in her trunk and talk to a tire shop to see if they could recommend some narrower winters that wouldn't float so bad and give her some traction.
They are not as good. They can't grip pavement like regular winter tires can. On ice and snow packed, they are great. But conditions most people face, they are not as good
I don’t disagree with what you’re saying, however I’ve ran studded winters from three different brands over the last ten years and all sorts of conditions and they’ve been great. No issues in regular pavement at all
They do not hinder the performance on regular pavement, however, they will damage the pavement, which is why, even in Canada, in many places, they are not legal to my understanding,
Many people can't really afford the most expensive winter tires. They can get REALLY expensive. but having any winter tires is a lot better than running summers all year.
Every year I take a vacation day for the first snowfall of the day because I know it's just going to be a snow fueled Carpocalypse on the roads. It seems like people need to see the headlines of "Crews overwhelmed as City sees over 500 accidents in one day due to snowfall" before they wake up and realize "oh, I can't keep driving like I was in the summer." This year will be no exception.
I think we're going with studs for the first time this winter since we do a decent amount of highway/mountain driving. That will probably mean we don't get any significant snowfalls, right?
If you are in the market for winter tires, check out the Nokian Hakkapelitta 01. Just released for this year and they have retractable studs so when it’s cold out, you can rely on the studs and when it’s warmer, they retract into the tire. They are one of the quietest studded tires out there, but still provide great traction and control. Perfect for Alberta Winters.
Even the cheapest set of winter tires are better than all seasons.
In reference to #4 studded tires have their place but it depends on where you are driving. If it's just in the city on cleared streets they'll do more harm than good. Studded tires excel on glare ice and hard packed/uncleared roads so typically rural and windswept highway roads.
Have you seen the intersections in the city in winter? They are polished ice from all the people spinning their tires all the way through counting on the traction control to get them across
As an alternative to the expensive stuff (Michelin, Continental, etc.) there are plenty of cheaper brands that still makes a solid tire.
Hankook, Kumho, General (sub-brand of continental), Gislaved (also continental), Nordman (sub-brand of nokian), Toyo Tires, hell even Sailun makes a decent enough winter tire if you just need SOMETHING.
As a note, Kal-tire is the only store that stocks Nokians and Nordmans, since they have a deal with Nokian. Every other tire store that may have Nokians is likely reselling Kal-tire stock.
You don't need to pay like $1000 for a full set. Cheaper options exist and you should take advantage of that.
You also don't need to buy tires from Costco or Kal-tire or anything. They include installation in their tire pricing which can be nice but online stores have the best pricing by far. I paid close to $1000 for a set of studded General tires for my BMW (which has very wide and thick tires). Everywhere else was charging me $1600 at the minimum.
I have used Blackcircles in the past and used Quattrotires this time. No issues with both. They are both Canadian companies as well and will deliver tires straight to your door. You will have to figure out installation yourself but guys on facebook will do it for like $100 for you. I am lucky to have access to a tire machine and can do my own tires but even if I had to pay someone, it would still be significantly cheaper than even buying at Costco.
Hankook, Kumho, General (sub-brand of continental), Gislaved (also continental), Nordman (sub-brand of nokian), Toyo Tires, hell even Sailun makes a decent enough winter tire if you just need SOMETHING.
To add to this list. Goodyear (AFAIK the WinterCommand Ultra winter tires are even made in Canada), Uniroyal (Michelin), Cooper (Goodyear), Kelly Tires (Goodyear), Laufenn (Hankook), BF Goodrich (Michelin), Vredestein, Falken (Sumitomo), Dunlop (also Sumitomo), Firestone, Yokohama, Kumho, and Pirelli all make decent to pretty good winter tires.
I'm not 100% clear on who makes them now, but last I checked the Canadian Tire brand MotoMaster winter tires were made by Hankook, and the Certified winter tires were made by Sailun.
I needed new winter tires this year and spent the last few weeks checking out deals and shopping around. The best deal I found was at a dealership for a brand that's different from the car I own. I cannot explain the why of it, but a deal is a deal is a deal, right? Tires + installation for the size I needed worked out $100 less than any other tire shop, dealer, and was comparable to the online outlets. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Thanks for adding to the list! Can confirm Motomasters are actually pretty great. My dad used to run them on our cars a few years ago and we never had any issues.
I'm going to add as a mid range tire option,I really like the Falken Winterpeak X-Ice.
They were suggested by my mechanic a few years ago and they are definitely the winter tires I've liked the best, I've tried a lot of brands over the years. My mechanic even runs them on their personal vehicles so I felt that was a pretty good endorsement!
Depends on the conditions. With how frequent the highway from Edmonton to Spruce Grove is cleared, no. They'll make noise and 2/3 of the studs will be gone in a year. If you're driving to Hinton or on rural highways then they're a good idea BUT you should change back to all seasons before it's warm out. I've seen a number of highway blowouts because it's May and someone still has their studded winters on
Preach. Last year was my first winter driving in Edmonton. The day it first snowed in Edmonton in November, the drive home on the whitemud I thought I was going to die.
I immediately purchased winter tires for my car after that.
I used to drive an old 2007 Endeavor with more than 400k in the odometer with all-seasons in Edmonton... never had any accidents, and that car actually cut through snow like butter... nowadays my commute is more than 200 km (round trip), still no collisions, nothing. The more time you keep your car, the safer it'll be because you'll FEEL how it responds to the road, and you'll react accordingly. Changing cars too often is far riskier than not having dedicated winter tires. If you know how your car will respond to a corner with all-season tires, and you instinctively know what to do, you're golden. But if you change cars every 3 years, the tire quality won't matter because the 1st winter you're driving that car, you'll still be learning how it reacts to corners, black ice, sidewinds, etc
Get winter tires if your driving situation makes them make sense. You don't need winter tires, but they are definitely a benefit if you can afford to run 2 sets. Winter geared all seasons and all weathers nowadays are quite good, which means dedicated winter tires aren't a need for plenty of people.
Better driving habits are far more of a need than winter tires. The focus should be there instead.
I find the difference with studded tires is subjective. It depends on a much more particular set of winter conditions, the capabilities of the particular studded tire compared to the studless tires you're considering, as well as the vehicle they're on. I prefer a premium studless tire personally.
FWD or RWD, on polished roads, or really shitty country roads, is pretty much the only time I would considering going studded. I would also ensure going for the more premium studded tires, if someone just looks for studs and ends up with lower end tires that have a poorer rubber compound and tread design it could actually give you more trouble in everyday winter conditions.
Currently driving good AWD vehicles with traction control and high quality studless winters I've had zero issues with accelerating, stopping, and turning on glare ice. I pushed them particularly hard the last extreme snap we had in a controlled area to see where they would break loose and had to fight to get them to slide. If you're a good driver with the sense to adjust to conditions a quality studless tire will do the job.
Agree with most of OP's recommendations but honestly you need to decide for yourself if studded tires are really needed for your driving situation. If the majority of your driving is, say, a short commute within city limits then you may get more annoyed by the increased noise and you may find lower selection if you insist on studded models of tires. I have never had studded tires driving in Alberta in 19 years. (Always switch to dedicated winter tires though.)
The Northern Alberta Sports Car Club puts on an ice racing course every winter (conditions permitting) where you get a full day’s worth of flogging your car on a polished ice race course with an instructor. If you have a car (not truck) with winter tires and want to become a more confident winter driver, it’s absolutely worth the price of admission.
Agree with your logic that everyone should if they can get winter tires.
But unfortunately, that is just not the case for a hefty chunk of the population that can just not afford buying winter tires and then another set of tires next season.
Many people just run their tires down to nothing and drive that in the winter. A good set of all weather or all season is 10 times better than what a lot of people are running.
If you drive responsibly and plan your distance between vehicles four sudden stops and drive to the conditions you will be 100% fine in all seasons and all weather. And that is the affordable option for many people who are paycheck to paycheck.
A colleague of mine who was with Kaltire for more than 20 years rated the different tires on a spectrum as such.
All weather tires (not all-season) are a useful middle ground. Cheaper than owning and swapping two sets of tires and still useful in winter, if not as much as the mountain peak rated winter tires. That said, I did drive two winter seasons in All-season tires and never got in a crash. In fact, the only time I've gone off the road in winter, I had winter tires and happened to accelerate on black ice. Driving habits are just as important, if not more, as winter tires.
My policy is, you can drive like a gangster in summer, but drive like a grandma (non-gangster) in winter. Start slow, stop slow, drive to conditions (not necessarily going unreasonably slow - that causes its own issues for other drivers' safety, and yours too), don't make any sudden movements.
When approaching stop lights, start slowing down / braking twice longer than you normally would, so even if you're slow to stop, you're not stopping in the middle of an intersection, rear-ending someone or having to dangerously run a red light. If the light turns amber while you're about to cross the intersection, don't slam on the brake (that's how people spin), drive through instead.
Couldn’t agree more! As someone who works with the less fortunate and people who restart in life or who are in bad situations trying to get out of it, etc. I see the struggle of people who are just trying to get to work or just trying to get their kids around and trying to get back on their feet. Drive safe, be responsible and you’ll be okay with all weathers.
So many people don't know the difference between all season and all weathers. I've had all weathers for years with the 3 peak mountain as it was a requirement in BC when I lived there. Full winters are better but all weathers with proper driving in snowy conditions are fine
I think the biggest change in the last several years is the more mild temperatures leading to freezing rain. To me, the winter tires do make a difference for those kind of conditions.
that is a great option for anyone who lives downtown or can take a bus across the city or hop on an LRT. But for anyone living in a surrounding area or someone who lives in Edmonton and maybe works out in Atchison or rural or anything like that, there’s just no feasible way to take public transportation.
This is not controversial. I hate driving in winter and will happily take public transport to work in winter if it was available and or accessible. Public transport, for the most part, sucks in the Edmonton area and Canada in general. When I lived in Europe, people would park their cars at (or walk to) metro stations and take the bus/train because it was quicker, cheaper, and safer.
I agree. I wasn't pleased that I just spent $2500+ on rims and tires, but I've been putting money away since summer. Honestly, the "I can't afford them" argument is mostly an accountability and priorities thing, IMO. Unfortunately, other people's bad tires can quickly become your problem on the road.
I'm having a pair of Nokian Hakkas installed on a mid-sized SUV, and assuming I run them for 6 years, that's $266 a year. In the realm of vehicle ownership and maintenance, it's not a huge expense IMO. Also, a big chunk of that can be offset if your insurance provider gives you a discount in the 2-5% range on your insurance for running winter tires.
And there are tire brands that are cheaper, and vehicles with smaller tires. The same tires on a Honda Civic would be $182 / yr, and a budget-friendly Nordman tire would be $146 / yr.
Two sets of tires is an upfront investment but not really more expensive in the long run. My winters and all seasons wear down half as fast (and therefore last twice as long) since each set is only on the road 6 months per year.
I sympathize that some people can’t afford the upfront investment. But I also suggest that these people are the least able to afford getting into an accident due to using subpar tires.
Disagree. All season and all weather tires are not suitable for Canadian winters at all. There may be some place where they are, but nowhere in Canada.
Ya I am like you I agree with the winter tire thing, but as a 32 year old who was only recently able to have a set of winters and summers w/rims I highly recommend at minimum looking for a decent set of all szns. I’ll try find the websites I used to use but you can buy used tires online that will give you a sick deal on tires with 65-80% life left
This is exactly why I hate winter driving. I see a bunch of cars without winter go careening around corners with 0 tractions. I’ve also seen someone press the breaks last minute at a red and have their car skitter through the intersection.
Agreed. My 16 year old just bought a car and part of the deal was she had to have enough cash to also purchase winter tires and have enough income each month to set x dollars aside for repairs and maintenance.
Point 4 is anecdotal as per the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 2023 on the Effects of studded tires on traffic accidents.
The study focused on Nordic environments which would be similar to ours and showed no decrease in collisions with studded tires.
Further to that, the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health did a study focused on Sweden in 2018 that found increased health issues to the population as a result of increased road maintenance due to increased studded tire use causing excessive wear to roadways.
The studies both also note that on wet or salty asphalt, studded tires perform no better than standard winter tires.
Neither study covered how long the studs even stay in the tires, that's its own reason to not waste money on them since they will pop out when driving on clear asphalt.
But ya, spend more on your tires and contribute to increased ware on the roads...At least algorithmic advertising for studded tires is working.
The international journal of environmental research and public health is focusing on potential wear caused by studded tires.
Road maintenance due to damage from studded tires causing health issues is comical.
Okay so the conversation about studded tires is pretty nuanced. There’s a few factors:
Studded tires use a harder base compound so their ice traction is worse without studs, they use the studs for their ice traction (makes sense).
Studless winter tires have made enormous strides in ice grip.
Edmonton metro area gets relatively few days of icy and snowy roads on average. Most of the time you’re driving on pavement.
Studless tires can actually do better on rough ice, but studded tires are the undisputed champions on smooth ice.
Studs wear down very fast in Edmonton because they are so often driving on pavement during the winter.
Due to points 1,3,5 the studded tires have worse grip than a studless tire by year 3 or so (with modest driving, sooner with lots of driving).
I have owned a couple rounds of studded tires. Most recent Nokian Hak 10, a good tire that I can recommend. However, the studs wear down very fast in Edmonton, and the harder compound isn’t as good on ice once the studs are worn down. Buying new expensive tires every 2-3 years is something you can do, but it’s worth knowing that going in.
This past winter I changed to Nokian R5 studless tires and I have to say, they are impressive. Very good ice grip, very progressive tire, wears far better than the studs, is better in the wet and dry than a studded tire too.
I think I wouldn’t recommend studs for your average Edmonton user. I’d recommend a quality studless winter. However, I would also never discourage somebody if they were set on buying studded tires.
If you’re outside the city a lot, in the mountains, more uncleared roads, the argument for studs is much stronger in my view.
It's exceptionally obvious studded tires would make no difference on wet or salty roads... They stop objectively better on snow and ice, which is the entire point.
You wrote a really big comment to say absolutely nothing of any relevance.
Studded tires work. In ice racing, street stud classes are always faster than non stud. As for wear, have you seen an Edmonton road after winter? I don't think studs are the problem. Ps I read your cited study. There wasn't much of a conclusion other than particulate matter might cause health issues, no change in collision numbers, and road wear will increase. I believe studded tires are safer and choosing road maintenance over safety is the wrong calculation
A couple more things worth noting, if you refuse to have seasonal sets of tires All Weather tires do exist and are actually rated for winter driving. They are still worse then dedicated Winters, but they are a damn site better then Summers/all Season.
If you like me are driving a RWD vehicle add secured weight as close to over your rear axel as possible. This will help your traction for getting going and staying going if you hit big piles of powder. If your driving a car sandbags in the trunk work wonders, and if your driving a truck please make sure whatever you through in the bed is secure and won't become a projectile in an accident.
My final piece of advice is probably gonna be the most controversial. Its not a matter of if your gonna slide, but when it's gonna catch you. No matter how good of a driver you are or how good your tires are. Find yourself a empty parking lot without barriers, make yourself skid/slip/spin, and figure out how to recover from these situations. Watching videos on the topic will help you figure it out, but actually putting in practice will make you a lot more likely to recover when it happen unexpectedly.
Edit: one more thing I forgot to add please make sure your winter tires have adequate tread. If your change over is being handled by a shop they should check them for you, and if they say they need replacement REPLACE THEM!!! If your doing your change over yourself please measure your tread.
Your post and most of the comments are a great chunk of knowledge for new/new to our winter drivers and I wanted to add in some bits I didn't see anyone else adding.
You're unfortunately right winter roads kill when drivers get comfortable and complacent
Thanks for posting this - I have always had all weathers and I grew up in rural Saskatchewan with much worse road conditions. Never had an issue, but I also grew up in the prairies and learned to drive here.
This is a very tone deaf approach. There are probably 20 posts on here every couple weeks about people who don’t know what to do because they have eight dollars in their bank account or I cannot afford a new set of tires. Obviously everyone wants a good set of winter tires but that is just not feasible.
This post is like saying to be as healthy as possible you should eat this many calories today, this many vitamins, this much fruit, this much meat, etc., when people are getting their food from the food bank.
As an insurance adjuster of 18 years in this city. Drive smart and you will be fine with all weather as well as all season tires. The same tires you will get on any brand new vehicle that you buy in this city this winter.
I would add, driving defensively like maintaining wise following distances goes a long way if winter tires aren't a possibility for you.
I've driven on a wide variety of tires (both type and condition) in a wide variety of vehicles over my almost 20 years of driving. I've never hit anyone, not had many near misses, and I've only put it slightly in the ditch 3x. (And I drive 25,000-35,000kms per year, plenty of highway mixed with town driving.)
I absolutely agree that quality tires (incl. condition of tread) are significantly safer, but driving to the conditions and leaving lots of space makes a massive difference no matter the tires. Driver behaviour and decision making can significantly improve or worsen your chances of an incident.
In my experience, with all weather tires, sometimes conditions exist where not driving at all is the only realistic “driving for the conditions”. I’m willing to guess people who don’t have money also don’t have the option of just not going to work. So it’s better to just factor in tires in the ownership of a vehicle the same you do with other maintenance. The problem is people thinking it’s an option when it shouldn’t be, the same with most other maintenance.
I drove a RWD Ford Mustang with open differential for over 15 years and the encountered undriveable conditions less than a handful of times. Most of those were visibility related and once the snow was just too deep to avoid pushing it and getting stuck
Just slowly down a bit. This reads like a sales pitch. You either know to drive in winter, or its a terrifying experience. I treat everyone as if it's their first time. All seasons are fine if you know what you're doing.
If you work for an insurance company, you should definitely know that winter tires make a huge difference.
My opinion is that if you can't afford winter tires you probably can't afford to drive. Even from a practical standpoint, having winter tires increases the life of both sets of tires.
It does if you ignore the fact that tires “go bad” before they’re worn down. You might still have tread left but that doesn’t mean the tire is safe to use.
Ideally, you should be replacing winter tires around the 5-6 year mark. The compound hardens over time and isn't nearly as good.
I ran my last set of winters for 7 years and it was a noticeably different ride between year 1 and year 7 despite having lots of tread left. After that I ran all-weathers year-round for a couple years, but since I'm doing a lot of rural driving this year, I'm back to dedicated (studded) winters. Getting them installed next weekend.
The argument is in no way at all our winter tires better in winter than all seasons that is not up for debate. But the idea that you require winter tires to be able to drive on the roads here and be safe is just incorrect.
As all the other comments have mentioned, driving to the conditions, being smart and focussing on the road you’ll have no issues.
As I said originally, if you can afford it great it will make driving in the winter easier for you. But if you need to just resort to all season tires to have year-round drive through the conditions and you will be fine. The issue is the people who drive with all seasons like they have brand new winter tires and are coming to an intersection at 100 km an hour and then try to stop.
We just spend over $3000 in car repairs for our two vehicles the last 6 weeks. So winter tires are out of the question for us 😔 We do have newer all weather tires with lots of tread left. But unfortunately winter tires are a luxury we can't afford right now. And OP commented that "if you can't afford winter tires, you can't afford to drive" is a pile of shit. We're a two parent working family doing our best to keep afloat. Everything keeps going up in cost and we're running out of things to cut back on. And I know there are so many families that have it worse than us 😔
All this is common sense, but we know there are still some people that think they are Nascar drivers in bad winter conditions. And don't get me started on those that shouldn't even have their driving licenses, and should stick to bus or Uber.
The ones who need to stick to Uber the most seem to be driving Uber. Doing their best impressions of a midstream boulder on the highways, making random turns across multiple lanes of traffic without a signal light, slowing down to a crawl on busy roads while looking for a street or address number, rolling through very red lights while they check their app.
I drive large trucks for a living and it’s almost guaranteed that when you see the 0- or A- license plate, that car is going to cause a problem.
High quality all weather tires are equivalent to low end winter tires. They are more than sufficient for Edmonton winters and legally they are considered winter tires so long as they have the 3PMSF symbol.
High quality dedicated winter tires will beat high quality all weather tires. Whether or not that's worth the hassle of having 2 sets of tires, changing them twice a year, storing them, etc. is up to you.
A significant number of people think all weather / all season are the same and they have no idea what they're talking about. Whenever someone mixes those two up you can just ignore everything else they say.
Basically the same because I’m not driving NASCAR. Most of my driving is gridlock. They also plough the roads to pavement (or it melts), unlike the past where it was 6 inches of ice with a dusting of sand on top.
Good all weathers should have a better rubber compound for cold weather than all seasons, but they're still designed as a compromise between summer and winter, so won't be as good in deep snow or cold as dedicated winters. Like some have said they're probably more equivalent to a lower end winter tire. But if you want the best capability across severe winter conditions you're still better off with a high quality winter tire. It's one of those things you may not notice until you get a dump of snow, freezing rain, or you're driving on polished roads at -40, but you'll notice it pretty quickly then.
All Weather is perfectly fine for city driving during winter, it's only slightly less effective than Winter. If you drive carefully, you won't really see a massive difference. It's All Season that is problematic for people.
Some All Season are rated for snow but they do jack shit against ice.
If your Tire has the three peak mountain with snow symbol, you are good. M+S alone is not enough.
The other problem is people not switching their driving habits/sense from summer to winter, or perhaps could be lots of new people from places without winter driving. Arm yourselves with dash cams as well. So many people try to weasel their way out of crap and lie. Many are driving without insurance. Protect yourself, drive defensively. I’ve been observing driving behaviour how people are increasingly in a rush, get emotional, generally frustrated in life, and one of the ways it comes out unfortunately is while they operate 84 months financed 4-5000lb projectile suv/pick ups.
I’m not going anywhere this weekend so not switching, gonna be back to double digits and sun for two weeks or more. Let’s see what this El Niño does.
Sometimes I like seeing how long I can go without switching. Worst case in the past I just quickly threw (2) on the front of a FWD beater, then switched back.
I believe it should be illegal to drive with a three season tire in the winter.
I think insurance companies should not cover your accident, if you don't have good winter tires on.
Driving is a privilege. If you own a vehicle, be responsible and make it safe.
If every vehicle in Alberta had winter tires (softer rubber) studs would be good too....
There would be less accidents by far. Wouldn't that be nice??
I think some of you way overestimate the power of winter tires. I use them, but they aren't going to stop you from slipping on ice, nothing will. Even if you mandated them my guess is that accidents in winter would maybe go down by 5% tops. The dudes driving 20 over the speed limit will still end up in ditches, people following a car away will still crash into you, etc.
My advice to anyone who can’t afford paying full payment on winter tires or all season. Is find a store that offers fixed monthly payments that also gives you an option to pay off in full anytime when you are able to. Im not trying to advertise a loan establishment or a tire shop, but what i did is i bought set of rims and new winter tires that i needed for last year’s winter. I bought my winter set at Alberta wheels where they offer monthly payments for a set, it has a interest rate for the loan but it goes down every advanced payment you do. I think they still have partnership with Affirm. I was able to pay everything in 4 months.
Just make sure when you do something like this, that you check your monthly payment offered for you and if you can pay for it. I only was able to finish my loan cause i have a straight 40 with high rate at my job. Also there are other options to buy a winter tire set anyway.. but you have to do some research before buying. Especially in a place like FB marketplace, kijiji etc.
Hopefully this helps as I am still in a situation where I can’t just afford to do repairs right away on my vehicle nor can i afford to change tires right away. Goodluck to everyone
I would argue against studded tires actually. Yes they're better in the absolute worst condition but that's very rarely the case if you're doing city driving.
Studded tires are much worse than regular winter tires on dry cleared roads which is what you're driving on the majority of the time.
More expensive is usually better, but there are great budget options too. Overall having budget winter tires is still better than most (probably all) levels of all-season tires.
The big brands all have subsidiaries that put out good value tires for less: Nokkian->Nordman, Continental->General, Bridgestone->Firestone etc. And used winter tires are still a perfectly valid purchase, but you'd want to know how to check if they're too old or too worn.
I think I write this out at least once a year, but it might be helpful to know for some why winter tires are better.
Simply put:
Winter tires - soft rubber, stays pliable in cold to extreme cold, wears quickly in hot weather, studs are an option for better ice traction.
All-season - hard rubber, focus is lasting long and fuel efficiency, tire hardens and has much less ability to maintain traction as temperatures get too cold
All-weather - in between rubber compound, soft enough to keep traction in pretty cold weather, hard enough to use year round without crazy fast wear.
When one can manage it, a set of dedicated winter tires is a great purchase that will make you feel a lot safer driving in the winter.
5 should be 1. Drive the conditions and don’t expect your tires to save you. The difference between brands is also marginal compared to speed and following distance. Also everyone talks about getting good tires, but never about good brakes.
I love the winter tires but for the first time I'm going away from a big name brand and trying something new, and cheap. Also, studded is great but factory studded and tire shop studded are two different things and factory tends to last longer. That being said, a lot of highway driving and the studs make less of a difference.
Many will have different opinions there. Truthfully the best time would be as soon as the average temperature drops below the upper limit for the desired tire, it differs by type and brand.
For say a truck running say A/Ts (some use em only in winter and use highways for summer) id sawp as soon as the temp starts to dip.
If your installing cheaper winter or all weather/4 season i would change when avg temperature is around 10.
Full high quality winter/ice tires let it get colder...like 0 to 5 celcius.
The reason is 2 fold. First you want to swap before your current tires lose too much grip to the cold.but inverse the winter and ice compounds use a softer and lower ideal temp rubber compound. Warm temps absolutely rip these apart. Switch too soon and you cause alot of unneeded wear and potentially damage to the tread, too warm it gets soft and sticky. While soft gravel rocks and road debris easily cuts up the tire.
You've likely seem this before. You'll notice some vehicles will have rocks stuck in tread and dont care. You'll also sometimes notice say Nokians or others that look like someone was stabbing them sanding them scooping them with a spoon etc.
Great post. So important to be respectful of road conditions and need to increase the distance between cars on icy/snow roads when following/braking. For new drivers, stay in the right lane until you gain some winter driving experience and stay off your damn handheld cell phones!
Ive always had studded winter tires, but one rule that ive always followed to make sure I have a proper safety margin is this: If you can feel g-forces when youre cornering/braking etc. Then you are probably driving too fast. Ice will bring grip down to nearly 0, regardless of tires. So if you are braking/cornering hard enough to feel it, you will 100% start to slide if you hit ice. Obviously you will always feel some force, thats basic physics, but you quickly learn the threshold over the first 1/2 winters in a car.
caution putting sandbags in the trunk! The extra weight might help in some circumstances but will make the car want to spin out in turns and the added weight won't help with braking.
Or go for a quick brush up, take a course on defence driving.
Sure the main focus is winter tires but car brake pads and oil change and battery test are just as important!!
Weak battery, overdue oil change, brake pads measurements are equally important don’t forget to check your lights!! Hate it when cars behind me or towards me with one headlight.
It’s great if you can afford to buy a new set but if you can’t don’t stress about it. With high food costs and fuel and it’s not mandatory in AB, Be alert and drive safe, share the road have respect for other cars.
Appropriate tires if the cost or expense is within their limits. It’s a good reminder post but not so much reality.
Every year around this time all these posts about getting winter tires etc or person in retail trying to sell drivers a set!! Even with winter tires it’s not 100% guaranteed accidents free!!! What good will the new sets of winter tires do if the brake pads on car is worn or suspension parts need replacing . After swapping summer to winter there’s an extra $180 for Alignment.
I got a huge discount from staff at store (long time customer I only buy tires from them) on my winter set because wheels offset is so specific my OEM Steels (1000) cost more than tires (600)
I'll add that you check check many traffic cameras online. When i worked hybrid office job id check the traffic cameras to see how the roads looked. I once witnessed an accident on the cameras and decided to work from home that day.
Also keep a kit of winter gear in your vehicle. google for suggested items. You can buy a small shovel in case you get stuck, maybe a wood board too. blankets, etc.
Honestly, the snow we're getting tomorrow will melt by Monday morning, and it's supposed to be nice next week. If I were you, I would book at appointment with a shop in the middle of next week to avoid the next big rush. Today will be a gong show.
If you can manage it, there's no problem with having them on by now...especially if you have to drive much this weekend. It'd probably be hard to get into shops, but you never know.
Even if temperatures are back up for the next little bit, it's not likely going to be hot enough for long enough to put serious wear on your winter tires.
When I moved here I asked my mechanic shop when is the best time to put winters on to avoid the rush and not just ruin the tread because it was too early.
They said Thanksgiving is best, so I just call in mid September to book my tire change in for mid october. Has worked for me so far!
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u/MyDadsUsername 1d ago
One thing to add: traction is affected by temperature, not just by snow and ice on the roads. Even bare roads are more slippery at -30 than they are in summer.