Originally Posted by
zachateseverything
Yeah, a true snow tire will be significantly better than an all-season, four-season, all-weather or similar tire in the winter. If you're in an area that gets lots of snow they make a huge difference. they're also going to get you better stopping distance in cold temps even if the roads are clear.
There are two features that make any snow tire work. The first is tread compounding. Snow compounds have much lower glass transition temperatures than all-seasons or summer tires. That means the compound will actually be able to generate some good grip when it's freezing out. The downside is that the compound isn't nearly as stiff as an all-season tread cap so you're going to lose some cornering stiffness and handling performance. It's also going to wear really fast in warm temperatures.
The other feature is the tread pattern. You're going to have deeper sipes and more of them. What actually grips on a snow covered surface are the edges of the tread elements. Snow on snow traction is much higher than rubber on snow traction so tire companies design their winter treads to compact the snow into the tread pattern and use that to push off of the snow on the road. The downside to increased sipe density is again a softer tread, this time from geometrical stiffness.
With most snow tires my expectation is that max dry performance in moderate temperatures will be down but steering feel might actually be better than your all-season or summer tires.
Other tips for winter tires, do minus sizing (down an inch rim diameter, up an aspect ratio, and down 10mm section width). A narrower tire is generally better for wet and snow traction. Going down on rim diameter and width while increasing the section width keeps the tire OD about the same so you don't throw off your speedometer. The other thing you'll want to try on the really bad days is dropping your tire pressure a couple PSI. You'll get a much longer footprint which helps with straight-line grip in bad weather. Smaller rim diameter tires are also usually a lot cheaper.
If anyone is interested in a set of Goodyears or Dunlops hit me up. I have a limited number of 25% and 35% off discount codes for tires purchased on the corporate website. Tires would be drop shipped to your preferred dealer for installation. Depending on where you live, the Goodyear truck could even come to your house to do a mobile install.