The types of tires put on your car are way more important than you might think
Many car buyers look for all-wheel drive (AWD) vehicles, believing that power to all four wheels is a synonym for sure-footed grip. However, the types of tires you equip on your beloved ride can have much more of an impact on grip and safety in inclement conditions than a vehicle’s AWD system.
Tire types can dictate whether your vehicle handles as well as it should, regardless of FWD, RWD, or AWD
AWD doesn’t mean you can’t lose traction while cornering or climbing hills in the snow. It does multiply the amount of mechanical grip you can expect from a front-wheel drive (FWD) vehicle. However, it doesn’t mean your car’s traction is infallible in adverse conditions.
Granted, AWD can help your vehicle get unstuck after the snow says no more. However, a FWD vehicle with snow or winter tires is much better suited to driving in wintertime conditions than an AWD vehicle on all-season tires or, worse yet, summer tires. Winter tires have deep grooves to channel snow and slush. As a result, a set of winter tires can help you corner and, more importantly, stop in cold, slippery conditions.
According to Tire Reviews, an AWD vehicle on all-season tires isn’t as well-suited for stopping in the snow. A FWD car on snow tires stops sooner, despite not having mechanical power at all four tires. However, that’s for spirited course driving. In terms of practical road driving the AWD vehicle on all-season tires labored to corner or stop as quickly as the FWD car with winter rubber.
Similarly, Consumer Reports conducted a braking test with one AWD Honda CR-V and various tire types. Testers put all-season and winter tires on the SUV and stopped from 60 mph. On snow-covered pavement, the winter tires prompted a stop at about 310 feet, over twice as much as the vehicle can do with all-season tires on dry pavement. However, the same SUV with all-season tires required a staggering 668 feet to stop in the snow.
On the other hand, a set of grippy performance tires will serve you much better in a corner-carving weekend drive in the summer than a set of all-season tires. However, performance tires tend to require more time to gather heat and gain friction in colder climates.
At the end of the day, seasonally appropriate rubber is the most important factor for snow driving. Moreover, good equipment isn’t a license to drive foolishly. Always slow down and take care in excessively wet, snowy, or icy conditions.
