Why Do You Need Winter Tires?

Winter tires are an important part of vehicle safety.

Posted On October 4, 2022
By Signature Tire

Winter tires are important to install on your vehicle when you live in our harsh Canadian climate. Installing four winter tires on your vehicle will boost your confidence when driving on snowy roads and make the roads safer for everyone. Some people may believe that all-season tires are suitable to drive on during the winter, but they do not offer the same benefits as a winter tire. Find out why winter tires are best for your vehicle in the winter months:

Winter Tires Have Special Rubber Compounds

Winter tires are made with a special rubber compound that will stay softer than an all-season tire in temperatures below 7°C. The soft rubber compound of a winter tire will help you grip the snowy, icy road better than an all-season tire. Winter tires also give you a greater stopping distance than an all-season tire on winter roads and will help you accelerate faster on snow and ice compared to an all-season tire. When the average temperature begins to regularly drop below 7°C, we recommend getting your winter tires installed at your local Signature Tire location.

Winter Tires Are Designed to Extract Snow

Sipes are unique slits that are part of the tire design. A tread pattern is the name given to the sipes’ design. Winter tires have a special tread pattern that helps to enhance the amount of contact your tires have with the road while also removing snow from the sipes. Winter tires are also designed with a deeper tread to help increase your traction in snow. In comparison, all-season tires have a distinct tread pattern that is not suitable for snowy weather and may lead to snow accumulation in your sipes, which may decrease your tires’ traction.

Certified Winter Tires Have a Mountain Snowflake Symbol

You can determine whether or not a tire is a certified winter tire by checking if it is embossed with a mountain snowflake symbol as shown below. All-season tires will not have a mountain snowflake symbol on them since they will not be winter certified.

Three peak mountain symbol that you would see on winter tire.

Winter Tires Should Be Installed in Sets of Four

Winter tires work best when used on all wheel positions, regardless of whether your car is front-wheel or rear-wheel drive. Mounting only two winter tires reduces some of the traction, stopping, and cornering benefits that a full set of four winter tires offers.

When snow tires are installed only on the front wheels, you risk losing rear tire grip when stopping or turning on icy roads; this is due to the fact that the rear wheels will have less traction than the front wheels, which could cause you to enter a rear-wheel skid.

But wouldn’t it be sufficient to simply put winter tires on the back wheels of your car, especially if it has rear-wheel drive?

In a vehicle with rear-wheel drive, the front wheels steer and the back wheels deliver power; therefore, any attempt to guide the car in the direction you want to drive on winter roads will be more challenging if your rear tires can grip the road, but the front tires can’t. For the best traction on winter roads, we recommend always installing four winter tires.

Consider Purchasing Winter Wheels

Purchasing a set of winter wheels for your winter tires can save you time and money. Having a set of wheels for each of your sets of tires will save the tire technician time changing over your tires, therefore, costing you less money on each of your seasonal tire changeovers. It will also decrease the amount of time that you’ll need to leave your vehicle at your local Signature Tire for the tire changeover. Lastly, getting a set of winter wheels will also keep your all-season wheels in better shape. You can save your all-season wheels from the destructive sand and salt that is all over the roads in the wintertime.

Purchasing four winter tires and winter wheels for your vehicle will help you get better traction and increase your safety. With our unpredictable Canadian winters, it is always important to think about your safety first, and winter tires are one of the best ways to keep yourself safe on the road all winter long.

Our team at your local Signature Tire location can help you find the best winter tires for your vehicle. You can also save on your new set of four winter tires now; visit our rebate page to check out which tires you can save on today!

Questions? Our Advisors are Happy to Help!

If you have questions about anything you've read in this resource page, contact your nearest Signature Tire dealer for more information. We are passionate in assisting our customers make the best choices to keep their vehicles in tip-top shape and keep their families safe.