All-Season Tires Inadequate for Winter, According to the Tire Rack · 12/21/2006
All-season tires, which are standard equipment on about 80 percent of new vehicles, do not provide adequate traction on packed snow and ice, according to a demonstration conducted by the Tire Rack.
The Tire Rack gauged traction on ice by measuring the number of seconds it took for test vehicles to accelerate from a standstill and drive 60 feet across a hockey rink without spinning the wheels. The ice tests showed that winter tires beat all-season tires by 18% to 25%, and summer tires by 38% to 47%.
“All-Season tires are a compromise intended to provide acceptable traction and performance traits under the widest variety of possible conditions,” said Matt Edmonds, vice-president of the Tire Rack. “Drivers falsely assume that this includes sufficient traction for winter weather, but as these tests clearly demonstrate, this is not the case.”
Tire Rack experts also pointed out that four winter tires are always better than two (even with front-wheel-drive cars) and that features such as antilock brakes and traction control don’t actually improve tires’ traction, but only help prevent drivers from accelerating and braking beyond their tires’ traction limits.
Uh oh. New tires for me.
— Rim & Tire Wholesalers
