Cold Weather Tire Testing

Just finished watching this tire testing video.

Impressive facility!! Can't imagine the expense to build that thing. 

I don't get snow or even much below freezing in South Texas but it does get cold enough to notice the fall-off of the summer tires I usually run.  This video was very interesting because it tested tires of several categories at several temperatures on both dry pavement, wet pavement, and snow! 

I think the biggest takeaway for me is that a GOOD all season is really good! I wanted to try those Michelin Cross Climates as soon as i saw them because they look cool and seem to perform to a high standard. Too bad they're $180/pc in the size i checked and I don't get enough actual weather to justify them. Oh well. 

Up here in the inland Northwest, a good M+S tire is practically a requirement in the winter and early spring. It’s doubly so for me, as I tend to get off the beaten path quite often...

 The big thing now is AWD/4WD.   They still slide off the road on their All-Seasons.

All seasons are a compromise. After trying them up here in the north East I have found that they do nothing really well. 
 

We generally say that they suck in all seasons. 

In reply to dean1484 :

Funny about that.

For much of my driving life, I've always run dedicated summer and winter tires.

That stopped in 2014 when I got a new Fiesta, and continued onto a Focus, and now a Fusion.  Running the all seasons in the snow here in SE MI has been really good.  Really, really good.  I have no intention to get snow tires for our cars, now.

Even more interesting- while they are not the super sumer tires (I fully agree)- but they are far more than competent driving on ramps at entertain speeds.  Sure, I'll never autocross them- as they would just get torn up.  But when you want to remember how a car from 30 years ago did the same thing on "summer tires"- it's astonishing how competent these new cars with "compromise" tires are.

In reply to alfadriver :

since NHTSA mandated stability control for all new vehicles sold in US after 1/1/2012, every vehicle has a pretty highly-refined slip control system.  i'm not surprised that OE all-seasons are OK.  I'm still spending the $ on winters because i like having the larger performance reserve.

I'm sure all seasons are fine in a Texas winter. Meanwhile us rustbelters... uhhh - different story. 

In reply to AngryCorvair :

I honestly expected to hate them, to the point of even finding a set of wheels I have to put snow tires on the Fiesta I had.  But I seemed to be able to avoid any intrusive control on the vehicle.  Saves me a lot of space and money on the cars.  

I honestly have never seen issues that makes me think I need higher performing tires that I used to get quite often.  And since way more of the time we spend on cold but dry roads here in SE MI, they wore out pretty quickly.  I only got Blizzaks once becuase of that.

fidelity101 said:

I'm sure all seasons are fine in a Texas winter. Meanwhile us rustbelters... uhhh - different story. 

Like I've posted a lot over the last 5 years, they work just fine for me in SE Michigan.  Not the best of the best, sure.  But good enough.

I got through a Pennsylvania winter or two without snow tires on my 2015 Focus, and it had the "sport" wheels (not ST) with low profile tires. They weren't *good* per se, but I didn't crash. Then again, they also wore out before 30,000 miles and I had to buy new ones before returning it at the end of the lease.

I'm sure all seasons are fine in a Texas winter.

Actually, summer tires are basically year-round tires here. 

One interesting thing about the testing was that it showed the all-seasons all actually stopped better near freezing than they did at 50f!  

There's really not a good answer to these questions where I live, in North Georgia. There is too much snow, and too much traffic, and all of it is too close to my driveway, for me to feel comfortable using summer tires year round.

Conversely, I don't know anyone here who runs two different wheel/tire pairs on their daily car. I am sure there are people exist, but most of us don't fall into that category.

So I do generally run "high-performance" all season tires with a M+S rating year round.

It is a compromise. You don't have to be drag racing to perceive the difference in traction vs. summer tires. Dropping the clutch at 2,500 rpm, or stopping hard in a summer rain, will let you know that you're not on true performance tires.

I'd love to see a 200TW tire on this snow comparison.  I feel like its another 10+ seconds beyond the "summer".

Only made that mistake once, never again.

The way I look at tires on my daily is, I WANT the extra grip available for snow.  For many reasons.  It rarely ever happens here, but its cheap insurance to know that I can get where I need to go even when the roads are not cleared.

Given that, since I don't want to run snows year round, I might as well run a grippy summer tire the other 10 months of the year :)

In reply to AngryCorvair :

Odd thing.  If both rear wheels a sliding equally,like on a frozen lake, no stability control.

 At least it was that way on my '13 Fiesta.   Haven't had a chance to really test the FiST.

Here, all-seasons are enough for the city, but once into the plains or mountains they are only useful for cold clear days. Every car I own has (at least) 2 sets of wheels with summer and winter tires. Its a lot of space, but is not optional in the mountains.

Funfact: despite being a mile-high, Denver is mountain-adjacent in plainsland, not actually in the rockies proper. Once in the mountains, colorado Traction Law requires 4wd, awd, or snowflake tires, 5/8 tread depth, plus chains present in your car. 

All-seasons are called no-seasons by my local car-friends, but are still popular with Trucks, SUVs, Subarus and So Many Jeeps, whom I often assist out of ditches. Driven slowly, they are usually enough to get you there in snow, if the ground is flat. On an incline/decline? Stay home. 

Rant aside, I am getting very tempted by some of the new all-season tires just in the narrow use-case of performance driving on dry roads in sub 35 degree temperature... whats the closest thing to a true cold-weather "200tw" dot sticky?

In reply to Nugi :

Monday it's supposed to get below zero for the first time this year but within a month the high temp for the day will still be below zero. The low around minus 30 - 40.   Or colder. 
 

Dio you know what 40 below feels like?  And that's actual. Add some wind chill and it's really brutal!    Cold causes your eyes to water and those tears will freeze!  
 

Now put rubber on snow and ice in those conditions.  Decent all seasons will slide like bald tires in torrential rain. 
 

Sometime around the middle of November the Blizzacks go on  and stay on until daytime temps are near 50. Then we switch to all seasons.  Summer tires are for track use only. 

iceracer said:

 The big thing now is AWD/4WD.   They still slide off the road on their All-Seasons.

 

All cars have four wheel brakes and front wheel steering.

In reply to frenchyd :

The nice thing about when it gets really cold is that ice gets grippy, which is kind of an odd thing on the face of it.  (Same effect that keeps ice skates from working when it's too cold)  Of course that's also the only nice thing.

That said I feel way more comfortable driving on a snowy road than a cleared one when it is cold.  With snow you know what you are getting.  A clear road might have ice on it that you can't see, and snow has more grip than ice.  This really makes me appreciate what they do further north where it does get cold enough on a regular basis that salt doesn't work: they don't plow the roads, they just grade them, and leave them at that.

In reply to Knurled. :

The really scary part is when there is a light dusting on top of ice. 

In reply to Knurled. :

For us in the rust belt, the scary temp is the temp that salty water freezes.  That's a pretty interesting commute.  Still, the all-season tires that come on my Fords have been pretty darned effective in that weather.

the narrow use-case of performance driving on dry roads in sub 35 degree temperature... whats the closest thing to a true cold-weather "200tw" dot sticky?

Video didn't test below 35 but it sort of seems like the summer tire might...still be the way to go?! See, this vid was interesting! 

Knurled. said:

In reply to frenchyd :

The nice thing about when it gets really cold is that ice gets grippy, which is kind of an odd thing on the face of it. 

Yes there is a point where the pressure of your car on the ice is not enough to compress it into water and you will actually have a lot of grip.

I hope to never experience this temperature. 

Vigo said:

the narrow use-case of performance driving on dry roads in sub 35 degree temperature... whats the closest thing to a true cold-weather "200tw" dot sticky?

Video didn't test below 35 but it sort of seems like the summer tire might...still be the way to go?! See, this vid was interesting! 

It'll depend on the tire, but I'd say a not-super-aggressive summer might be the best bet.  The slightly less aggressive ones are usually ok to drive without damaging them down into the high to mid 20s.  And at least some still have good grip at low temps.  At 35* and wet, the Conti ECS still has a heck of a lot more grip than a set of Blizzaks.  At 35* and dry, it's not even a comparison between the 2. 

Once it gets too cold for summers to work properly, a set of performance winters (usually different tread compound than standard winters, higher speed rating, stiffer sidewalls and a bit stiffer tread design) are probably the best bet.  I can't imagine most all seasons doing any better. 

ProDarwin said:

Knurled. said:

In reply to frenchyd :

The nice thing about when it gets really cold is that ice gets grippy, which is kind of an odd thing on the face of it. 

Yes there is a point where the pressure of your car on the ice is not enough to compress it into water and you will actually have a lot of grip.

 

I hope to never experience this temperature. 

It's a cool feeling when you're on icy hardpack with good snow tires at a few degrees below 0.  You go to kick the tail out, knowing that you're on a "slick" surface and realize that after giving it a bootful of throttle, the rear end isn't sliding all that much and despite the drifting, you're still accelerating at a non-sustainable pace. 

ProDarwin said:

Knurled. said:

In reply to frenchyd :

The nice thing about when it gets really cold is that ice gets grippy, which is kind of an odd thing on the face of it. 

Yes there is a point where the pressure of your car on the ice is not enough to compress it into water and you will actually have a lot of grip.

 

I hope to never experience this temperature. 

If it ever does, hope that you drive on hard snow pack instead of ice.  It's a lot "stickier' than ice is.  Makes walking almost like walking on packed salt.