All-Season vs. Winter Tires Guide

Taking care of your vehicle’s tires is the number one way to ensure your vehicle can take care of you. Not only does that mean keeping up on proper maintenance and replacements but also knowing when to use all-season vs. winter tires. Learn more below so you can be prepared for all seasons. Which option is best for your needs? Find out below with our Orchard Park team.

• All-season vs. winter tires
• Winter tire storage information
• Tire pressure in winter

The Benefits & Drawbacks of Winter Tires

Can you use winter tires all year round, and will all-season tires perform well in the winter? No, all-season tires don’t perform all that well in the winter. Winter tires are designed with your safety in mind when battling the weather. On the other hand, while you can use winter tires all season, we wouldn’t recommend it for a variety of reasons. When you’re driving around Buffalo and West Seneca, you should know all the useful information to note. Take a look below to better understand the pros and cons:

Advantages

• Unique Rubber Compound: Many all-season tires are made of a rubber compound that can freeze and get brittle when temperatures drop. Winter tires utilize a special rubber compound that stays flexible during the cold to ensure you’ve got maximum grip.

• Specially-Designed Tread: You’ll often notice the grooves in a winter tire are different from an all-season tire and that’s because they’re specially designed for winter driving. The grooves reduce the amount of snow and ice build-up so you’ve got better traction when driving in inclement weather.

• Biting Edge Design: In addition to the ability to reduce snow and ice build-up, winter tires also have a biting edge design that digs into deep snow and ice to allow your vehicle to easily drive in winter conditions.

Disadvantages

• Wear: If temperatures climb back up and the roads are dry, driving with winter tires can cause significant wear on the tires, meaning a decreased lifespan.

• Swapping Out: Can you use winter tires all year round? While you can drive on a winter tire during the summer, it’s not recommended so you’ll have to have a second set of summer tires to swap to when the weather gets warmer.

Winter Tire Storage Information & Tips

Given that you don’t use your winter tires all year round, it’s important to know the best winter tire storage tips and tricks. Like:

• Store Clean Tires: It may seem obvious, but you’ll want to clean your tires before you put them in storage. Storing tires without cleaning them could lead to corrosion, shortening the lifespan of your tires. Make sure you cover your tires after you clean them.

• Clean & Temperature-Controlled Storage: You’ll want to keep your tires in a clean and temperature-controlled space so that they don’t experience increased wear. Additionally, you’ll want to stack your tires and rotate them occasionally to avoid any spots or unusual deformities on your tires.

• Tire Pressure: Your tire pressure in the winter will almost always drop as the cold temperatures cause air to become less dense in your tires. We recommend you add the correct tire pressure to your tires when they’re still cold as you don’t want to have low tire pressure when you’re driving.

• Tread Wear: Just because you have winter tires doesn’t mean you won’t experience tread wear. It’s best to regularly inspect your tire tread wear to ensure you’ve got the proper tire tread for when roads do become hazardous.

Check Your Tire Pressure in the Winter with Robert Basil Buick GMC!

Now that you know more about all-season tires vs. winter tires, it’s time to brush up on the proper tire maintenance. At Robert Basil Buick GMC, we work to help keep your vehicle in peak condition, no matter the weather. Reach out to our service center team, or schedule a service appointment and we’ll get you back out on the Blasdell roads as soon as possible! If you have any questions about all-season tire performance in winter or if it’s possible to use a winter tire all season, feel free to contact us and we’ll be happy to assist you.