Exploring All Season Tires and Winter Tires
To decide whether to go for all season tires or winter tires, you should have a good understanding of the difference between the two.
If you are confused about whether to mount winter tires or continue using the all-seasons tires, you need to find a better understanding of the two to make a decision. Here is what you need to know about all season tires and winter tires.
What Are All-Season Tires
All-season tires, as the name suggests the tires work well in almost all seasons. This means they perform well in summer, fall, spring, and mild winter weather conditions. When the all-season tires are manufactured, they are designed to work well in all types of temperatures that alternate throughout the year.
The tires can offer a smooth drive all through the seasons when the sun is very hot, during the wet spring conditions, and when there are light snows in the winter. However, you should know that all-season tires are not designed to handle extreme winter weather conditions.
You should use winter tires for extreme conditions such as heavy snowing and ice blocks on the road. All season tires are best for moderate weather conditions and do not guarantee safety and smooth performance in extreme winter. You should avoid cheap all weather tires in all cases during the winter season.
What Are Winter Tires
Just as the name suggests, winter tires are the type of tires that are designed to perform best during the winter season. During the manufacturing process, winter tires are designed with a rubber tread that is normally tough and with the right tread depth to pave the way through heavy snowing or icing blocks that could form on the road during the winter season.
Winter tires are also designed with unique patterns, and their edges are made in a biting nature to enhance the required traction in the extremely cold temperatures experienced during the winter season.
Can All-Season Tires Be Used As Winter Tires?
Suppose you live in areas that experience extreme winter conditions. In that case, the answer you are looking for is no. most drivers prefer winter tires for better performance than all-season tires during the winter.
However, you should know that sometimes you can use all season tires as winter tires if your budget does not allow you to change between the two types of tires. In these cases, you will need to use your best driving skills and have patience while driving because carelessness may result in a safety hazard for you and your vehicle.
Using cheap all weather tires is not recommended for winter conditions and will cost your safety and damage your cars. You should be aware that insurance companies do not cover loss resulting from a poor choice of tires for extreme weather conditions.
The insurance companies will consider this case a loss resulting from carelessness; therefore, you will cover the loss by yourself.
Another factor determining whether you can use all-weather tires as winter tires is your driving habits. If you are very rough with driving, using all-season tires in the winter will only put you at more risk. However, if you are a careful driver and have the proper driving habits, all-season tires can also serve you as winter tires.
The quality of all season tires can also determine if you can use them as winter tires. Good quality all-weather tires are designed to be strong enough and have the right features to withstand winter conditions.
On the other hand, poor-quality all-weather tires are not manufactured with the right features to handle the harsh winter weather conditions.
Recommendation On Decision Making
Regardless, it is always a good decision to use winter tires if your location experiences extreme winter conditions. This is recommended to avoid relying on the benefit of the doubt for your safety and your vehicle when you use all-weather tires as winter tires.
You should always prepare yourself financially to avoid buying cheap all weather tires instead of winter tires if the winter season finds you financially unstable.