Why Buy Two Sets Of Tires?

[Rx330driver]

Im just curious, not being in the snow belt and all. But why do people have two sets, that they change into in the winter (snow tires) and then change them out again in the summer? why not just have the snow tires all the time. Just curious as to what is "wrong" with having snow tires on all the time and whether it affects driving performance outside of snow.

[SW03ES]

Snow tires are made of different rubber compounds and are not as smooth, quiet, nor do they handle nearly as well as all season or summer tires. Snow tires would be extremely punishing to ride around on all year long. Think of it this way, do you wear rubber snow boots in the summer?

All season tires are a combination of characteristics of winter and summer tires, but they do niether as well as dedicated tires.

[new2mud]

Until the introduction of the Nokian WR, this was true. The WR is a unique tire that allows the tire to remain on for all seasons, without ill affect. It still maintains the awesome extreme winter rating (designated by the Snowflake/mountain symbol).

It is commonly known that "all-season" tires are horrible in the snow, at least compared to a dedicated snow tire. Yet most snow tires will wear extremely rapidly on dry pavement. Add to this the fact that a typical "good" tread pattern for snow involves large tread blocks to enable siping to work effectively, and you have a recipe for squirminess and poor handling response on dry roads.

BTW, I live where there is an average of over 29 feet of snow per year--this issue is very real to me!

[Lexusfreak]

Until the introduction of the Nokian WR, this was true. The WR is a unique tire that allows the tire to remain on for all seasons, without ill affect. It still maintains the awesome extreme winter rating (designated by the Snowflake/mountain symbol).

It is commonly known that "all-season" tires are horrible in the snow, at least compared to a dedicated snow tire. Yet most snow tires will wear extremely rapidly on dry pavement. Add to this the fact that a typical "good" tread pattern for snow involves large tread blocks to enable siping to work effectively, and you have a recipe for squirminess and poor handling response on dry roads.

BTW, I live where there is an average of over 29 feet of snow per year--this issue is very real to me!

SW is correct......winter rubber compounds have the ability to be much more flexible in extreme conditions & have a completely different treadblock set up specifically for the different conditions many of us see in the snow regions of North America (ice, snow, slush etc). The result is much better traction & more importantly better braking than all season (some call 3 season) tires. A more harsh ride & reduced fuel economy (one always get poorer fuel economy in the winter anyway) is the down side.

The Nokian WR is a very good balance between AS & winter (sever snow rating right on the sidewall) but by their very design they are quite a bit more noisy than most AS tires......there is no getting around that (just look closely at the tread pattern). The good news about the WR is you can get it in an H speed rating! B)

My wife & I personally do not have the $$ nor the storage space for 2 set's of tires each....that is why we both have the Goodyear Triple Treads on our Subaru's......I will consider this tire (or it's replacement which should be coming soon as the WR has been available now for a number of years) when replacement time comes.....at least for the wife. ;)

More info here on the WR...

http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/hl/nokian.htm

[new2mud]

A more harsh ride & reduced fuel economy (one always get poorer fuel economy in the winter anyway) is the down side.

The Nokian WR is a very good balance between AS & winter (sever snow rating right on the sidewall) but by their very design they are quite a bit more noisy than most AS tires......there is no getting around that (just look closely at the tread pattern).

I've got WRs on my 1LS and tire noise is unobtrusive, and ride harshness has not been impacted. Much better responsiveness on dry roads than other snow tires.