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Auto Guide January 18-24, 2017
To Snow Tire, Or Not To Snow Tire? BY JOHN M. VINCENT
Winter has already arrived in some parts of the county, and with it comes a decision: Do I need snow tires, or are my regular tires good enough? The answer depends on where you live and your travel plans, plus the condition and type of your current tires. “If it’s cold enough to see your breath, it’s time to start thinking about winter tires,” says Justin Hayes, a product manager with Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations. Deciding when to put your snow tires on is a bit of a balancing act, you don’t want to have them on too early, as you don’t want to give up any dry pavement performance. However, if you’ve seen the crowds
at a tire shop when there’s snow in the forecast, you know that waiting too long can leave you unprepared for the weather.
But My Car Has All-season Tires They’re called all-season tires, but experts will tell you that they should be called “all-but-one season” tires. All-season tires give you some inclement weather performance when they are fairly new, but they don’t have the technology or tread design necessary when the weather really gets rough. All-season tires are really a compromise of several tire traits.
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They need to have good dry weather “If your car is equipped with performance, have grip in the summer tires, we would recommend rain, be quiet enough that you can switching to a winter tire,” says Hayes. carry on a conversation with your Bridgestone and others now produce passengers while you’re driving, and lines of winter tires with sports cars provide maximum fuel economy. and performance cars in mind. Adding exceptional snow and ice performance simply asks too much How Are Snow Tires of the tires. Different? If your car has summer tires or Delivering Quality British Motor Carsare Since 1938 Winter tires different than high-performance tires, you’ll defiall-season or summer tires in a numnitely want to get winter tires if you’re ber of ways. The rubber compounds going to head off into the snow. used in the part of the tire that While performance tires are great in warm, dry weather, they simply don’t contacts the road is formulated to stay flexible, even when the weather perform well in winter conditions. gets colder, to maximize grip. Tread If you are even able to get a car with Delivering Quality British Motor Cars Since 1938 summer tires going in icy conditions, see TIRES on page 13A good luck getting it stopped.
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Delivering Quality British Motor Cars Since 1938