Modern winter tires do a terrific job for Kitchener drivers in a wide range of ON winter conditions. First of all, below 7.2 degrees Celsius regular tires become hard and inflexible. That means they don’t provide the road grip Kitchener drivers need. Even if you don’t live somewhere in ON with a lot of snow but it still gets below 7.2 degrees in the winter, it is vital to understand that you will be safer with winter tires. Read on to find out the 3 reasons you will fall in love with winter tires this year 2021.
Reason #1: Winter tires are made for driving on snow or ice
In addition, they are specifically designed to more effectively move snow and water. That’s the key to traction on ice, packed snow and wet roads. They use a micro-pore compound that allows the tire to bite into ice and snow. They also use wider grooves that run around the circumference of the tread to expel snow from the tire better. The lugs and grooves on winter tires have a special shape that throws the packed snow out of the tread as the tire turns. The tread is then open when it comes back in contact with the road and can provide good traction for Kitchener drivers.
Winter tires also have a lot of sipes. Sipes are thin slits in the tread. The edges of the sipes grab ice and packed snow to provide tons of vigorous traction for Kitchener drivers and to expel water and slush out of the tread. Winter tires have a rounder casing to cut into the snow’s surface.
Reason #2: More grip means more traction
The treads on regular summer tires can actually get packed with snow instead and become very slick. Winter tires offer 25% to 50% more traction for drivers than all-season tires. And when it comes to vital stopping power, all-season tires take 42% longer to stop than winter tires. Sometimes that’s the difference between getting home safely or spending the night in a snow bank.
Winter tires provide so much more traction for Kitchener drivers than all-season or summer tires, there’s a huge difference between the traction at the front and rear ends of the vehicle if you only put winter tires on the drive wheels.
For example: if you take a corner on an icy Kitchener road and the vehicle rear end starts to slide out, essentially the rear is trying to pass the front because it’s going faster. If you have high traction winter tires only on the front, they are going to be much more effective at transferring cornering grip and stopping power to the front wheels. This will actually cause the rear end to whip out even more.
That’s why tire manufactures instruct dealers that they must install winter tires on the rear wheels as well whenever they put winter tires on the front end of any vehicle. It’s a major safety concern. At Techline Motors in Kitchener, we strongly recommend that winter tires be installed on all four wheels on rear wheel drive vehicles as well. The front tires do most of the steering and braking work, it only makes sense that Kitchener drivers provide the front end with the best traction possible.
Many modern cars have traction control and anti-lock brakes so drivers may not think it is vital to have winter tires. But you need traction to accelerate, steer and stop. The tires provide the traction so that the traction control and anti-lock brakes have something to work with.
Reason #3: Car insurance discounts
You may be qualify for insurance discounts if you install winter tires. It is certainly motivating for some drivers. Popular car insurance companies often attract customers by offering discounts to drivers who get their own winter tires. Such as CAA, Intact and Morris Insurance. These insurance companies will have policies which requires you to have winter tires on from November to April. These offers are incentives to get drivers to switch on winter tires during snow days and keep accident rates low during the winter. Contact your local auto insurance companies for more details. Techline Motors are not affiliated with any insurance companies.
Conclusion
Look for tires at Techline Motors with the symbol of a mountain with a snowflake in it. This means the tire complies with the severe snow standard.
So when the Kitchener temperatures drop below 7.2 degrees, smart drivers will make sure they have a set of four winter tires for maximum performance in snow, packed snow, ice, wet and dry ON roads. Your Techline Motors tire professional can help you find the right winter tire for your vehicle and driving needs.
Visit our promo page for winter tire discounts and rebates
