14 Jul WHY YOU SHOULDN’T USE WINTER TIRES YEAR-ROUND
Winter tires are specially designed for cold temperatures and winter precipitation. Once it gets warm, you won’t need deep tread depths to handle snow or biting edges for traction on ice. Here are some specific reasons why using winter tires year round is not recommended.
Faster wear on warm, dry pavement – the tread rubber of winter tires is considerably more flexible than that of all season and summer tires. That same pliable tread rubber that adds traction in winter will wear down quickly in warm temperatures. Summer and all-season tires are built to withstand warm temperatures, providing long wear life.
Decreased performance – In warm weather, winter tires won’t provide the same handling capabilities as summer or all-season tires. Imagine if you needed to make a quick maneuver and your tires were soft and squishy. You won’t get the crisp response from a winter tire in warm weather. Winter tires need that flexibility to handle ice and snow, but it’s not as useful in warm weather.
The specialized compounds and tread designs of winter tires are not designed for optimal warm climate performance and wear. Generally speaking, the softer tread of a winter tire will wear out faster in warmer temperatures. If you keep winter tires on your vehicle after winter has come and gone, you will have to replace them sooner than had you removed them for springtime.
That’s why using snow tires year round is more expensive than mounting them seasonally. The sooner they wear out, the sooner you have to replace them.