11 Sep Winter Tires Vs All Season Tires For Vancouver, BC
There’s much to be considered when choosing tires once Winter comes into town. Your choice of tire will be depending on your city’s climate and Provincial laws.
So, let’s take Vancouver, BC for example. We live in a beautiful city with luscious greenery and majestic mountains. Predominately, our forecast calls for rain from November until May every year. Once Winter sets in, we usually see snow in the mountains or higher elevations but mostly wet raining surfaces in the lower mainland areas. Winter tires? Who needs them right! Well, this is where a bit of research will help you determine your best tire choices.
Are Winter Tires Required in BC By Law?
Our ICBC and Provincial laws state that we are required to have driving tires with the “markings of M + S (mud + snow ready) tires or a symbol of a snowflake or mountain snowflake from Oct 1st to March 31st. So, what does that mean?
That means, your current all season tires are fine, right? Well, yes and no. All season tires are designed to give you a stable ride all year long but only if you have at least 3.5mm of tread depth or more. Otherwise, they are useless during a heavy rain and even with a few inches of snow. So, you must have adequate tread depth for safety and for insurance purposes. Same with winter tires, they must be at least at 40% tread to be able to perform in our unpredictable snowy weather.
Which Tires Are The Safest Choice?
We hear stories about highway patrol turning drivers away from the hwy to Whistler because they don’t have winter tires on. Well, it is mainly because residents are heading up the mountain “snowammegaddon” roads with bald all season tires or even worse with summer tires (normally seen on high end luxury vehicles). Try this and of course, you’ll be denied passage. Your tires do not have adequate grip to make it up elevated roads. Even drivers with snow tires may not realize that their tires might be too worn out and not have the traction tread to attack the snowy/wet roads ahead. Remember our 2016/2017 amazing winter? We had snow from October to almost April and Vancouverites were scrambling to get winter tires.
So, why wait?
Snow tires or tires with the symbol of snowflake/mountain flake tires are a better choice when winter arrives here in Vancouver. Winter tires are better made to drive through our months of rain and cooler weather. Don’t forget we have the hidden roads with “black ice” and this is a dangerous road to be driving on without proper tires. Our insurance claims during winter seasons have been off the charts in the past decade or more.
Winter or All-Season Tires? The Verdict
In summary, if you choose to keep riding on your all season tires and save on the cost of purchasing winter tires, ask yourself is your safety and the people around you worth the savings and possible headaches in the future? If you can’t afford winter tires or have storage issues, there’s always a sale in your neighbourhood store and ask them if they can store your tires.
Or at the very least, if you don’t need winter tires, go see your local auto mechanic and see how good your current tires and brakes are before the winter season starts.
Here at SHOP4TIRES, we don’t just want to sell you tires. We want to build a friendship with you, help you to do more during the festive season and keep you safe on the road. Come see us for an honest opinion on your tire needs and we’ll help you choose and save on the best brands out there. We carry many tire brands from Michelin, Continental tire, Goodyear, Maxxis tire to Lanvigator tires and more. Come visit us or call us for more details.
Drive safe my Vancouver!