Having two sets of tires, one for winter and one for warmer months is the norm. However, shelling out money to buy the extra set since virtually all cars ship with one set of tires is an extra ownership cost most car owners wish to avoid.
Since regular three-season (or summer) tires will be hopeless in the snow and ice when winter sets in, most car owners consider leaving their winter tires on all year round.
After all, the loss of grip isn’t as profound as it is when you plow through the snow and ice in summer tires.
What’s the Difference Between Winter, Summer & 3-Season Tires?
Before we find out if this is a wise move, we first have to find out the difference between the four main categories of tires:
Winter Tires
Winter tires have deeper and denser tread patterns giving them a better biting edge that will come in handy when driving in snow.
In addition to giving more biting edge, the extra-deep tread provides grooves (sipes) that trap snow as the tire rolls. The trapped snow gets a better grip on snow than rubber hence increasing traction.
Apart from this, the rubber compound is very soft, making the tire flexible and pliable.
A flexible tire will yield more under the car’s weight producing a bigger contact patch with the surface. This increases grip.
Summer Tires
Summer tires are built with ideal dry conditions in mind. They are agile and less resistant to rolling motion. They provide perfect grip for cornering, braking, and acceleration as long as the dry road surface.
The compound on the tire is stiffer for better fuel efficiency and more precise control. However, it will soften when the temperatures go down to give better traction for control and improved braking distance on wet roads.
The tire will have fewer grooves to ensure that it puts as much rubber as possible in contact with the road. The tread will also be thinner than what you get on all other types of tires.
Summer tires will still hold their own after rain, but they might not be as efficient at clearing a dry contact patch. After all, most places in the world experience some amount of rain in summer.
Instead of the deep grooves in winter tires (sipes), summer tires have specially designed grooves that channel water away from the tire, minimizing the possibility of aquaplaning.
All Season Tires
All season tires are a significant tradeoff on all tire characteristics. They seek to offer the best of all worlds. In doing this, they will sacrifice some summer performances and winter performances.
Nonetheless, they are a good choice if you live in places with very mild winters. You won’t have to swap your tires, and your car will still drive well during the other seasons.
Most summer tires have chevron-like treads. The tread isn’t as deep as in winter tires nor as shallow as in summer tires.
3 Season Tires
Some companies prefer calling their all-season tires ‘3 season tires.’ This could be a more practical term than all-season since it’s very hard to create a perfect hybrid in winter and still handles summer conditions.
However, creating a tire that can handle the heat, rain, and occasional cold of summer, autumn, and spring is more practical.
Since the manufacturer doesn’t have to accommodate for winter performance, they can use stiffer compounds, better grooves for water drainage, and more rubber contact surfaces for better performance.
These tires also tend to offer a quieter, comfortable ride with good fuel economy.
ProTip: Manufacturers don’t claim any winter performance on three-season tires – and these tires don’t do so well in snow and ice.
Is it OK to Keep Winter Tires On All Year?
The quick answer is no. After looking at how different tires are optimized for different conditions, it’s clear to see that a winter tire is at a disadvantage if there’s no snow on the ground.
Here are the many things that could go wrong if you use winter tires all year round.
They Will Wear Out Faster
Winter tires have a more flexible rubber compound. This will wear out faster when driven on paved roads without snow protecting them. Moreover, the aggressive grooves make the tire tread more susceptible to tearing.
Since winter months are few, the tires are also designed to last less than summer or all-weather tires. Additionally, they don’t have as many protective additives against UV rays and heat since manufacturers don’t expect that in winter.
If you keep the tires on all year, chances are they will wear out by the time winter comes knocking again. You will pay more in replacements for avoiding replacing your tires on time.
Worse Handling and Performance
People drive differently in winter than they do in other seasons. You drive slower and don’t make hard maneuvers. While this is a necessary adaptation, winter tires sort of benefit from it.
The aggressive tread with more biting edges and sipes reduce how much rubber is in contact with the road. Moreover, the soft rubber compound makes them more pliable.
These are all bad things when there’s no snow. Less rubber reduces a tire gripping ability in summer. Pliable rubber makes tires yield more with any directional change. This leads to:
- Less grip when cornering
- Longer stopping distances
- Less grip when accelerating hence the possibility to do unplanned burnouts
- Your car will roll more in corners as the tires will yield more when cornering, giving a wobbly ride
- Your car will be unsafe at highway speeds
Apart from this, the extra tread on winter tires makes them very noisy on a paved surface. They could also make the car ride bumpier than it should be.
Decreased Fuel Efficiency
The extra tread and increased contact patch winter tires give translate to more rolling resistance. This means the car’s engine uses more energy to keep tires rolling at a given constant speed than it would with tires optimized for fuel efficiency (less contact patch and efficient tread.)
You will notice a dip in fuel economy if you keep your winter tires for longer than you should. While you might put this down for another problem, simply swapping your tires will make things better and help you save more money.
So, is it bad to drive with winter tires in the summer? Yes, it is. Your car will have less grip and be more uncomfortable, making it a hazard to you and other road users. Moreover, the winter tires will wear out faster, making it a waste of money and resources.
When Should I Change My Winter Tires?
Putting on and taking off winter tires on time will help you keep your car safe by adapting it to prevailing road conditions.
When to Put On Winter Tires
The answer varies depending on the type of tire you’re installing and the prevailing conditions.
Road safety regulators from different states recommend changing from all-weather tires into winter tires if you are consistently driving in 45F and below temperatures.
Note that the temperature is when you are on the road. For instance, if you commute early in the morning and go back home late when the temperatures are pretty frigid, you might have to switch tires sooner than people who drive around during the day.
This is because morning temperatures could dip below 45F while day highs remain above 50F.
If you have summer tires, change to winter tires sooner. Swap as soon as temperatures consistently drop below 50F.
When to Take Off Winter Tires
Your winter tires should come off in early spring. Once again, temperatures will determine how soon you should change. If you are changing into all-season tires, do so when temperatures stay above 45F every night.
If you have summer tires, hold off until the temperatures go above a consistent 50F.
Remember to take the unique weather conditions in mind when changing tires. For instance, if you live in an area with frequent late freezes, you could hold off on the swap until the freeze is over. Your local weather forecast should also come in handy when making the call.
Are 3 Season Tires Good For Winter
Three-season tires are a compromise of the different conditions your tires will face throughout spring, summer and autumn. They are not optimized for winter in any way.
While they might have some mobility in the snow, they won’t give you grip close to what you will get from genuine winter tires. This makes them dangerous and inconvenient, especially if you live in an area where it snows heavily in winter and the temperature consistently dips below 45F.
However, if you live in places with mild winters where the temperatures are consistently above 50F, you could make do with 3 season or all-weather tires.
ProTip: Local authorities in such areas don’t even mandate the use of winter tires. However, they might encourage people to buy and install 3 season tires when winter comes by.
Are All-Season Tires OK for Winter?
All season tires are only good for very mild winters. Most manufacturers have stopped naming their tires all-season and switched to 3 season names. This is to avoid confusion.
While all-season tires will fare off better in winter than summer tires, there are nowhere near as good as dedicated winter tires.
Only people in the tropics or places with very mild winters should buy and use all-season tires all year round.
How Many Years Do Winter Tires Last?
While the life expectancy of your winter tires will depend on how far you drive, the quality of tires, and your prevailing winter weather conditions, manufacturers seem to estimate four seasons’ worth of use out of winter tires.
That’s around four years on average.
This is a very general estimate. The actual rate at which your winter tires wear out will depend on:
- Whether you take off your winter tires at the right time
- How many miles do you drive per month
- Whether you mainly drive on snow or ice-covered roads or a mix of snow and frozen roads
- Whether the snow patch is consistent in your place
Your tread and tires will wear out faster if you drive more on freezing roads than on snow. The same applies if the snow melts away, exposing the paved road surface.
Drivers who do longer distances in their winter tires either because they drive more or experience long winters will also have to replace their tires sooner.
How to Take Care of Your Winter Tires
Taking good care of your winter tires will also improve your tire’s longevity. Here is a look at what you should do to prolong their life.
Remove Them At the Right Time
The first step to taking good care of your winter tires is ensuring that you take them out on time. Running your winter tires once the temperatures go up and there is no more snow on the road is dangerous and makes them wear out faster.
Keep Them Inflated to the Right PSI
Just like any other tire, you need to keep them inflated to the correct PSI. Don’t underinflate or overinflate your tires. You can get the correct inflation figures for your vehicle in your user manual or on a sticker in your driver’s door jamb.
How to Store Winter Tires
Caring for your winter tires doesn’t stop once they are out of your car. There’s more to a tire’s lifespan than how many miles you drive on them. Here are some pointers that should come in handy.
- High temperatures wear down tire rubber. Don’t leave your tires in a very warm or hot environment.
- UV rays will decompose the rubber compound on your tires faster. Keep them off direct sunlight.
- Ozone and oxygen oxidize rubber. Find a way to reduce how much of these your tires are exposed to
- Any salt or debris carried over from summer could start chemical reactions that degrade the tire faster.
With these tips in mind, we can formulate a couple of steps you should follow when storing your winter tires.
- Clean the tires thoroughly to get rid of all the debris you gathered throughout winter
- Let the tires dry out at room temperature.
- Identify a cool indoor room to store the tires. Basements or an air-conditioned garage will work ideally compared to the outdoors or an unattended storage shed.
- Get an air-tight tire storage bag and place each tire in one. Alternatively, you could wrap the tires in trash bags, remove as much air from the bag as possible and seal it.
- Store your tires in a cool and dry place. This should be away from water heaters or radiators.
Signs That It’s Time to Replace Your Winter Tires
Just like regular tires, you should replace your winter tires as soon as they age. The tire replacement pointers that apply to all-weather or summer tires still apply here.
The most important is the date from manufacture and tread depth.
Your tire should be no older than five years after manufacture. Moreover, the tread depth should be within acceptable tolerances. Luckily, many manufacturers include a treadwear marker on their tires.
It’s a horizontal rib running across prominent grooves. The tire is due for replacement when this horizontal rib is flush with the rest of the tread and groove in the tire.
How Much Do Winter Tires Cost?
Winter tires will cost you anywhere between $80 and $600 per tire, depending on the quality and the size of the tire your car needs.
Unless you want to be pulling your all-season or summer tires off your original rims, you might also have to get a new set of rims to go with your winter tires.
Getting new rims might cost more, but it makes swapping tires easier, increasing the chances of switching your tires on time. Moreover, the switch will be more effortless, and you can even do it yourself at home.
The investment will pay off after a couple of years. Just don’t go for fancy rims. You can even get steelies for your winter tires.
ProTip: Keeping the number of times you mount and unmount your tires to the bare minimum is suitable for your tire’s wire bands. This is why getting extra rims might be a good idea.
Bottom Line
Installing and taking out winter tires on time makes your car safer and easier to drive. It will also increase the lifespan of your winter tires. Moreover, since this makes your car safer, you might get better insurance rates and rebates when purchasing your following insurance.