If you live in an area that has winter seasons, you often have the choice to use an all-weather tires that has been approved for winter use or then alternating between snow tires or winter tires as they are also called and summer tires or all-season tires as they are most commonly referred as. If you alternate you have to change tires to winter tires before the snow arrives and then change back to all-season tires once the winter has passed and spring has arrived.
Changing tires is not difficult and is done quickly by a service station. The timing of change can however be a bit trickier and it often happens that people change too late, so that they are taken by surprise by a snowstorm and end up with all-season tires in winter conditions. This is a dangerous combination as the all-season tires are not approved for winter use and doesn’t have a rubber compound that can remain soft and flexible at low temperatures, causing it to get hard and lose a lot of its friction. The tread is also not optimized for snow and ice, so it is dangerous to try to drive with these tires.
All-weather tires can be used throughout the year and can manage on both dry and wet summer roads as well as on icy and snowy winter roads. This can be a huge advantage and can add safety. If the winter is long and harsh it might warrant the use of dedicated winter tires, if not then you have the option to only use one set of tires for the whole year.
For more information regarding all-weather tires or dedicated tires, visit: www.nokiantires.com