Winter tires Versus All-Season Tires - Which is right for you?
Are All-Season tires good enough for winter?
The answer depends on where you live and what kind of driving you do. In general, are you having to drive in cold & snow? If you are, then you want winter tires. All-seasons are made of a hard compound that doesn't perform well on ice and snow.
Winter tires are very soft and make a huge difference in your control, and your ability to stay safely on the road. We all know that snow tires are designed to reduce your stopping distance, which greatly reduces winter accidents.
Do I really need Snow tires?
- All seasons - If the temperature outside rarely drops below freezing, and you face little snow, which is often slushy when it comes anyway you can look at the all seasons marked by "M+S", meaning Mud & Snow. In particular you should look at your tire for good amounts of siping, which are the little groves on each pad on the tire.
- Winter Tires - If the temperature drops below 5 F (-15 C), you will want the specially designed rubber compounds of snow tires which stay soft in these cold temperatures. You'll also be seeing enough snow & ice that you'll know you got your moneys worth out of your winter tires.
Who has the best tire Prices?
We recently compared 5 online tire shops who all carried the same tire, and report the prices below:
| Costco | Walmart | Sears | Discount Tire | Tire Rack |
|---|
| Tire Price | $147.99 | $161.00 | $154.81 | $146.00 | $131.00 |
| Shipping | Free | Free | Free | Free | $15 |
| Installation | $14.00 | Free | Free | $16.00 | ~$15.00 |
| Total: | $161.99 | $161.00 | $154.81 | $162.00 | $161.00 |
Read the full tire price comparison here
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Q: Can I mix Winter Tires and All Seasons on my Truck?
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Q:Can I mix all season tires with winter tires on my truck? I was thinking about having 2 winters on the back and all seasons on the front.
A:The short answer is no, but it needs a bit of an explanation. The problem with mixing tires comes from the tires having slightly different actual size. Even though you would have bought the same tire size for all your tires, the all seasons and winter tires will have slight variations in their dimensions from their tread wear, and that they are different makes and models.
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