We are all familiar with the common all-season tire and the tire industry has been producing summer and winter tires for years. But, maybe you have heard someone talk about all-weather tires? Are they winter tires? Are they meant to be driven all year? Are they better than all-season tires? These are likely the first questions you have when learning about all-weather tires.
The quick answer is that all-weather tires are intended for colder climate areas that experience a full winter season. The tires provide better traction in cold temperatures than an all-season tire.
Any of us driving around Steger, New Lenox, Schererville, and Crown Point know, the Chicago and Northwest Indiana suburbs may not see the crazy snow we once did all winter long, but we do all experience very cold temperatures, ice-covered roads, and months of outside temperatures below freezing. During this season, we get scared about our children driving on them, and unfortunately many will experience an accident due to the inclement weather. But we are Chicagoans and we pride ourselves on handling the snow and crazy windchill.
While we may pride ourselves on being strong enough to handle the extremely low windchills around -20 degrees, it’s very difficult for our tires to handle the same temperature variances seen in the Chicagoland area. Steger, New Lenox, Schererville, and Crown Point all require our tires to operate in a very large temperature window. This is what led to the design and production of all-season tires. All-season tires solved the issue and provided a tire that won’t wear out quickly in the summer heat and handle the cold of winter.
The tire industry achieved success with all-season tires by developing and incorporating additives to help the rubber better handle seasonal temperature changes. But all-season tires have always performed better in the summer than in winter.
Much of the Midwest, think Kentucky or Kansas, is fine with all-season tires because it’s not often these areas experience temperatures below 15 degrees and snow is an anomaly. The tire manufacturers heard enough feedback and consumer concerns to realize they needed to develop a new tire segment to help us Northerners.
All-weather tires are intended to give the same benefit as all-season tires; you can use the same tire all year long. They separate themselves from all-season tires by drastically increasing their snow and ice traction along with great wet traction. These added features come from the physical design of the tire’s tread pattern and the additives used in the tire’s rubber.
The most difficult engineering aspect of all-weather tires is developing a rubber compound that can handle operation well at -10 degrees and won’t experience excess wear once the temperature rises above 80 degrees. At low temperatures, below freezing, the challenge is the rubber needs to stay flexible. Tire manufacturers have developed different compounds to help winter tires be incredibly flexible at below-freezing temperatures. The tire industry can easily handle the cold, but consumers are now expecting them to provide tires that provide more than just winter traction.
One all-weather tire that has proven excellent not only in testing but also from consumer feedback is Michelin’s Cross Contact 2. Michelin’s engineering developed a tire with an eye-catching tread design plus an aggressive tread sip configuration. The additives created for The Michelin Cross Climate 2 are what really push the ability of the tire. The Michelin Cross Climate 2 is truly a tire anyone in New Lenox and Steger, Illinois, or Schererville and Crown Point, Indiana can use all year round.
What all-weather tires give the Chicagoland area is safety. By decreasing the stopping distance on wet, icy, and snowy roads, tires like the Michelin Cross Climate 2 will help prevent vehicle collisions and the off-road adventures some find themselves on when they take a corner too fast and hit black ice. All-weather tires are not the cheapest option, but they will always provide a safe tire during all four seasons.
If you’re interested in getting some all-weather tires for yourself, give the friendly team at Scott’s U-Save today to discuss the right choice for you and your vehicle, or buy your tires online and save!
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