Snow Tire vs Regular Tire.

 

Snow tires which also known as winter tires have tread patterns specifically designed to dig down and bite into snow and ice, plus they are made from softer rubber compounds that retain their flexibility in cold weather, which allows the tire to better conform to the surface of the road. 

Meanwhile, regular tires tend to get hard and brittle in cold temperatures. As a result, winter tires keep a better grip on snowy and icy surfaces than regular all-season or summer tires. Grip is critical and not just to avoid getting stuck but to ensure that the car can stop and steer. 

Life-saving safety technologies such as antilock brakes, electronic stability control and all-wheel-drive cannot do their jobs if the tires can’t maintain their grip on the road surface.

All-seasons tires for car.

All-season, which also known as all-weather tires are designed to cope with all sorts of conditions, including dry roads and rain, but they are not optimized for any one condition. They are generally made from harder materials that don’t conform to the road surface as well in low temperatures. 

Implementing snow tires just on the drive wheels of the car.

Putting just two snow tires on the car is a bad idea. If you have a front-wheel-drive car and put snow tires on the front only, the back wheels won’t have anywhere near as much grip as the front wheels. This will make the car much more likely to spin out while braking or cornering. Likewise, if you put snow tires just on the back wheels of a rear-wheel-drive car, the wheels that do the steering won’t grip as well as those that provide the power, so the car may not respond when the steering wheel is turned. It will simple plow straight ahead. Therefore, it is better to always install snow tires as a full set of four. 

It is not a good idea to leave the snow tires on all year.

Snow tires tend to be noisier, plus the softer compounds from which they are made means they will wear out faster, especially in warm weather. Wear is critical, because winter tires rely on their deep tread to dig into snow and ice. As soon as the snow is gone for good, remove your snow tires and reinstall your regular tires.

Since you are savvy enough to use snow tires, you don’t need to stick with the all-season tires that came with your car for the rest of the year. You can choose a “summer” tire that will provide better handling, better traction in the rain, or a smoother, quieter ride. 

Sources from Aaron Gold, - About.com Guide.