When you can see your breath in the air, it’s the proper time to consider installing your winter tires. No matter what vehicle you drive, whether it’s a sedan, minivan, light truck or an AWD SUV, you need greater control in the cold winter months.
Not Just For Snow and Ice
Most people mistakenly believe that winter tires are designed ONLY to provide us with better traction on snow or ice-covered roads. However, winter tires are also designed for cold conditions. They are fabricated with weather-suited rubber compounds to offer us enhanced cold-weather traction. When the temperatures begin to fall below 7 degrees Celsius, the effectiveness of all-season tires drops off sharply. This is due to the fact that tires begin to harden and as a result lose their grip and traction even without snow or ice present. The colder it gets the less effective they become so we need to install winter tires for optimal traction.
Winter Tire Traction Technology
Most drivers are aware that tire treads are affected by temperature levels. In lower temperatures, the stopping distance of winter tires is significantly better than all-season tires regardless of surface conditions. This is because winter tires combine flexible rubber compounds with small tread blocks and hundreds of small cuts called “sipes” in the tread itself. The sipes are designed to keep the tire constantly flexing and biting at the road surface in order to maximize grip, even on dynamic and unpredictable surfaces.
Is AWD/4WD Drive Enough For Winter Driving?
If you are like most people, you probably believe that if you drive an AWD or a 4WD vehicle, it doesn’t really matter if you have winter tires or all-season tires in winter. What you don’t realize though is that AWD/4WD helps, in most part, with the acceleration and movement of the vehicle. Stopping and maneuvering your vehicle is not really better if it’s an AWD or a 4WD vehicle instead of a two-wheel drive. What influences the amount of grip and traction, is not the number of driven wheels but the quality of your tires.
To help you stay safe this winter, at Norlang Auto, we offer you reliable and affordable winter tires to suits your vehicle and your budget.