Here in the Pacific Northwest, driving both last winter in BC and currently in the mix of snow, freezing rain and slush. I'm using the same three peaks rated all season tires as I was using in the summer, and driving the same routes as well.
Canada. BC and Alberta, the north bits. Wet mountain snow. -40 prairie winters. Have tire chains in my trunk. Have used them multiple times. Only -13c this morning but was -46c a month ago. Ya. I have done the winter driving thing. I did a bit of it this morning.
Personally I would be perfectly happy if everyone just ran those all-season mountain snowflake tires in the winter. Sure, they're not as good as a real snow tire, but they're actually pretty good overall and I'd have no problem throwing a set of those on my pickup and going over the mountain. For the kind of winter weather we routinely see west of the Cascades, this kind of tire is ideal.
But what really happens is we have a lot of people on summer tires or the crappiest of all season commodity tires. As long as you don't have to do an emergency stop or an evasive maneuver, they seem like they're adequate for Oregon weather. But I recommend everyone with such tires try a hard stop or turn (in a big parking lot of course) with these tires when it's sub-40F.
Yep. Though it does not snow a ton here in Western Washington, we go skiing in the Cascade passes. So I have deducted snow tires for our vehicles. They are the biggest difference maker in my opinion.
I have winter tires on because it’s the law 4-5 months per year but this isn’t the US. People in the north here use studded tires.
Driving with summer tires in winter is extremely slippery, tires makes much more difference than road prep!
This. Regulating seasonal snow tire/chain usage in areas with lots of snow/ice is imperative to reducing collisions and improving safety. That and decent infrastructure for clearing snow in a fairly timely manner.
All seasons can't and _wont_ cut it in some areas, and having tires that only work 3/4s of the year for traction is dicey at best.
Source: I drive a Miata in winter up in Saskatchewan
Too many people think that their all-season tires can do everything. They can do everything, but they don't have the dry grip that summer tires do in warm weather, and they don't have the aggressive siping, channels and the tread compound for ice and very cold air temperatures of winter tires. All season tires do everything far worse than their specialty counterparts do, and it demonstrates itself the most every winter.
I drive lightweight RWD sports cars all year round, and we get plenty of snow in Boston. Never have had an issue with winter tires, and sometimes I deliberately seek out empty unplowed parking lots just to have extra fun in.
Canadian perspective: This is very clear. Much more challenging is something like a multi-lane highway where the road markings have completely disappeared under snow. I'll be impressed when it can drive from Hope into the BC interior in winter in conditions that a human driver can handle with winter tires and possibly studs, but no need for chains.
It's similar to winter driving in some ways, but different in others. For example, you don't have to worry about burrying your wheels in winter driving and tread can make a big difference; summer tires are awful in snow. I drove a car with bald tires once in the snow and it terrifying trying to go up or down hills.
Sporty cars in the US are often sold with summer tires. I'm quite sure many consumers don't realize how much difference a good all-season or winter tire makes in snow.
Yep. I rock all season tires on my (not an i3) car as well. They’ll never be great in the snow, but I live in an area where snow is rare so that’s fine.
I can certainly imagine the “bicycle” tires must not be very good at all in the snow unless they’re the specialized winter version!
Winter tires are completely serviceable on dry pavement. I'm actually pretty surprised to read that people in the midwest don't regularly switch tires in the winter. The importance of winter tires comes just as much from their behavior in cold temperatures as it does from the different tread pattern. All-season tires use harder rubber compounds that lose nearly all their grip in the cold.
I run winter tires until lows in my area are mostly above freezing, regardless of whether there's any snow on the ground.
We use snow tires during the winter. But in the US, summer tires are sold as "all season," and handle poorly in snow. We're not required to use snow tires in our region, and they salt the roads heavily, to the detriment of my bicycle.
Over the past few decades of living in this region, folks have pretty much settled on "needing" AWD to drive in snow, and then gaining relatively little benefit, while insisting that "all season" means that they don't need snow tires.
I asked my mechanic about it. His take: "They should stop salting the roads, folks should get snow tires and learn how to drive."
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