Winter separate or same tires year round

[junits15]

I've always heard that, don't always get it though. Wouldn't more tread bite into the snow better and get more grip.

I think of it like using fingers...wouldn't grabbing a tool with 5 fingers be a lot stronger grip than grabbing a tool with 2 fingers?

Its funny you mention this, I did some reading on this subject last winter and tire rack tested this exact thing. I thought the same thing, it made no sense that people recommend narrower tires. Tire rack found that wider tires grip better in the snow, its exactly what you'd expect. More friction = better grip. The thing that matters far more than width was compound, a wider snow grips better than a skinner snow all the time, both of those tires outperform any width all-season tire.

We’ve had the oddest winter this year. Snowed decent maybe twice. This week has been mostly 40s and Sunday/monday will be high 70s. That seems to be a trend the last few years. Which is why I’m considering this. Winters aren’t the best idea when it’s like that, but I’m also not going to switch tires daily for the drastic changes of winter/spring

Same here, it was 20 yesterday and now its 50 again. This winter was uncharacteristically mild. I'm not a fan of it to be honest, i like the snow.

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[MAGS1]

I've always heard that, don't always get it though. Wouldn't more tread bite into the snow better and get more grip.

I think of it like using fingers...wouldn't grabbing a tool with 5 fingers be a lot stronger grip than grabbing a tool with 2 fingers?

you actually want taller and narrower to cut through the snow. You also want a snow tire that will pick up snow in the sipes. Snow sticks to snow and provides some additional grip. But ideally you want to cut through it with a taller, narrower tire.

 

[sdskinner73]

Its funny you mention this, I did some reading on this subject last winter and tire rack tested this exact thing. I thought the same thing, it made no sense that people recommend narrower tires. Tire rack found that wider tires grip better in the snow, its exactly what you'd expect. More friction = better grip. The thing that matters far more than width was compound, a wider snow grips better than a skinner snow all the time, both of those tires outperform any width all-season tire.


Same here, it was 20 yesterday and now its 50 again. This winter was uncharacteristically mild. I'm not a fan of it to be honest, i like the snow.

We are opposites. If I never saw another snow flake again, I’d be happy lol

 

[Qcman17]

My car is a 3 season car so I have stuck with all season DWS06+ and am very happy with the summer grip and especially the cool weather spring and fall performance. With them I can get it out early and keep it out longer as it gets colder again. I can't speak to use in the snow since the car has never seen any. But I understand they can handle some snow too.

 

[sms2022]

you actually want taller and narrower to cut through the snow. You also want a snow tire that will pick up snow in the sipes. Snow sticks to snow and provides some additional grip. But ideally you want to cut through it with a taller, narrower tire.

Narrow tires concentrate more weight on a smaller surface area which increases grip in a lot of winter situations. I believe wide tires are better for packed snow or to float over snow but on ice or slush they suck

 

[Juggernaut]

I've always heard that, don't always get it though. Wouldn't more tread bite into the snow better and get more grip.

I think of it like using fingers...wouldn't grabbing a tool with 5 fingers be a lot stronger grip than grabbing a tool with 2 fingers?

You want narrow tire in snow, hell even my truck has stock size all terrians. I watch people try to get up the mountain back road all the time with their wide no sidewall tires. All they do is slide off the side.

All seasons do not even come close to a dedicate winter tire. I run drag radials in summer and snow winter tires in winter. I also have a set of ps4s but I barely use them.

 

[junits15]

Narrow tires concentrate more weight on a smaller surface area which increases grip in a lot of winter situations. I believe wide tires are better for packed snow or to float over snow but on ice or slush they suck

This is a myth, rolling friction is directly related to contact area. Rolling friction is traction. You're increasing force per unit area, but not increasing the force when you go to a smaller tire.

In many scenarios a wider tire is better, the times where it isn't better its identical to a narrow tire. If your surface has ice on it, and you run two tires one wide and one narrow, the wider tire will have a higher coeffecient of rolling friction. That directly increases the traction you as the driver experience. Also when you're at a dead stop you're dealing with static friction, and static friction is actually not impacted at all by contact area. So you're no better with a narrow tire than you are with a wide one.

When you go to a smaller tire, you increase the force per unit area but you're also reducing the area, those two things cancel each other out.

The only way to increase traction without going to a wider tire is to add weight over the axle. Think about how people rave about the traction their SUV has, that's because it weighs like 2.5 tons.

Narrow tires don't really cut through the snow like we've heard, I think this misconception happened because people want more sidewall to resist potholes, if you size down a rim you end up having to pick a narrower tire to get more sidewall on that smaller rim while maintaining overall wheel height.

 

[sms2022]

This is a myth, rolling friction is directly related to contact area. Rolling friction is traction. You're increasing force per unit area, but not increasing the force.

In many scenarios a wider tire is better, the times where it isn't better its identical to a narrow tire. If your surface has ice on it, and you run two tires one wide and one narrow, the wider tire will have a higher coeffecient of rolling friction. That directly increases the traction you as the driver experience.

Also when you're at a dead stop you're dealing with static friction, and static friction is actually not impacted at all by contact area. So you're no better with a narrow tire than you are with a wide one.

The only way to increase traction without going to a wider tire is to add weight over the axle.

Narrow tires don't really cut through the snow like we've heard, I think this misconception happened because people want more sidewall to resist potholes, if you size down a rim you end up having to pick a narrower tire to get more sidewall on that smaller rim while maintaining overall wheel height.

disagree. Check this out
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/own...snow-and-ice-a-comprehensive-test/ar-AA1jUjP9

Anecdotally I can tell you living in Michigan and having driven through multiple 20+” snows, ice storms, and slushy mess, you don’t want a wide tire unless it has very, very deep tread blocks and you’re in a heavy truck. My best traction vehicle was a Chevy avalanche on 235 section tires. Never got stuc

 

[Sketcham]

On my daughter’s 2013 6cyl, she rode winter force Firestones in our VT winters with 120 lbs of kitty litter in the trunk. Made it safely through college and grad school.

 

[junits15]

disagree. Check this out
https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/own...snow-and-ice-a-comprehensive-test/ar-AA1jUjP9

Anecdotally I can tell you living in Michigan and having driven through multiple 20+” snows, ice storms, and slushy mess, you don’t want a wide tire unless it has very, very deep tread blocks and you’re in a heavy truck. My best traction vehicle was a Chevy avalanche on 235 section tires. Never got stuc

https://www.motor1.com/news/696279/wide-vs-narrow-winter-tires-explained/

These guys have better testing IMO and found the opposite to be true, i'm more inclined to side with this because it aligns with the math

 

[PoCoBob]

My Mustang stays in the garage when it snows so I can't answer your question. But I do have winters and summers for my SUV and I always laugh when people talk about the extra expensive having two sets of tires. Since you can only have one set of tires on the car at a time your summer tires aren't being worn out while they're in storage. If you can find an extra set of rims that you can mount the winters on and swap them over yourself it's a no brainer to use real winter tires in the winter.

 

[sdskinner73]

My Mustang stays in the garage when it snows so I can't answer your question. But I do have winters and summers for my SUV and I always laugh when people talk about the extra expensive having two sets of tires. Since you can only have one set of tires on the car at a time your summer tires aren't being worn out while they're in storage. If you can find an extra set of rims that you can mount the winters on and swap them over yourself it's a no brainer to use real winter tires in the winter.

This is my first time owning 2 sets of wheels at once. But I agree, the wear and tear is equal time considered. I also drive like 20-24K miles a year. So they get a few years and get replaced anyways.

 

[Crew4991]

If you already have a spare set of tires ready to go on another set of rims, then just rotate them out.

I personally daily drive my mustang convertible year round in Colorado and have 2 sets of of the same 19 inch rim (so 8 OEM wheels). One set has Pirelli all season tires and the other set has the Pirelli winter tires. Super easy swap in fall/spring. I might be weird though... probs overkill and not something most people are willing to spend on.

 

[robvas]

https://www.motor1.com/news/696279/wide-vs-narrow-winter-tires-explained/

These guys have better testing IMO and found the opposite to be true, i'm more inclined to side with this because it aligns with the math

the actual test says otherwise

"The narrowest tire performed the best in acceleration testing, but did the worst when it came to braking. And for lap times, the middle 225 section-width tire performed the best."

so the second narrowest tire did the fastest lap times, and the widest didn't do the best at anything

aaaalso the narrowest tire isn't even the same tread oattern

 

[Mach VII]

Narrow vs wide snow tire debate - take your hand and try to cut thru water, first time hit like a slap and next like a knife. Which works best?

Weekend ride, I have company vehicle as a daily.

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