do you need winter tires and/or AWD if you drive in snow?

[unclebilly]

Originally Posted by masraum

While All-weather tires are probably a huge step forward compared to older all season tires, my guess is that winter tires are probably also a step forward from all-weather tires. As has been stated, the difference is probably 1 your environment and 2 the compromise that you're willing to make.

So All weather tires are "good enough". But what if there's an appreciable difference in performance between those and dedicated winter/snow tires. If you had a wife, mother, kids driving in snow, and you could give them a margin of safety over the other 99% of drivers, and what it costs you is a second set of wheels, and swapping wheels/tires twice a year. Maybe some folks find that worth it and others don't.

On my cars, I fit the tires with the best dry grip and wet performance that I can find. I figure that means that I stop faster, have a better chance of avoiding an accident, etc.... But I know that there are folks that run "average" tires on their Porsches because those tires are "good enough" and likely cheaper.

If All weather tires are just as good, then why are tire manufacturers still making dedicated winter/snows?

I don’t think they have caught up to the technology yet. Nokian has been doing all weather tires since about 2000 when I started using them. At the time, they were the only show in town.

Michelin and Pirelli now offer them.

It’s obviously a unique compound that provides grip on ice and longevity on dry. With the recent HNBR shortage, it’s no wonder others haven’t got new compounds to offer - they are struggling to bind base materials for their normal compounds. The last 2 years have seen some real shortages in this space.

I put on a LOT of winter miles - I’d wager more than 3 of you guys put together. I used to run winter tires on some of our vehicles but find the all weather tires to be about as good and they last.

In my mind and based on thousands of miles of experience, winter tires are obsolete.

My wife has Nokians on her Cayenne. I’m have the new Pirelli weatheractives on my Cayenne. The Pirellis seem to be a bit better and are a new tire for this year.

[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by pavulon

Objective data doesn't lie. But thanks for sharing your mistaken beliefs.

You are confused. He didn't share a "mistaken belief". He shared personal experience and an opinion formed by that experience.

Your data is completely void of considering the ability of a driver to know how to handle the conditions with tires and/or vehicles that have differing ability.

Also: the "data" in the video was funded by a tire manufacturer. Get a clue! Remember when "scientific studies' funded by the tobacco industry "proved" that smoking was not dangerous? Do I need to connect the rest of the dots for you?

[dw1]

Snow tires (or good all-season tires) - yes

AWD - definitely not, In fact, FWD may be better, based on my experience.

Even a old VW beetle had great snow traction due to weight on the driven tires and high narrow tires to cut through the snow, but perhaps not the best directional control due to the light front end. Lot of fun, though.

[pavulon]

I'm not confused. In real winter conditions, winter tires > any other tires. But thanks for attempting to obfuscate this issue too.

edit: If anyone has any objective test results that contradict my position, please do post a link.

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

You are confused. He didn't share a "mistaken belief". He shared personal experience and an opinion formed by that experience.

Your data is completely void of considering the ability of a driver to know how to handle the conditions with tires and/or vehicles that have differing ability.

Also: the "data" in the video was funded by a tire manufacturer. Get a clue! Remember when "scientific studies' funded by the tobacco industry "proved" that smoking was not dangerous? Do I need to connect the rest of the dots for you?

[deckard]