What Makes a Winter Tire a “Winter Tire”?

Posted On October 6, 2016
By Integra Tire Canada

We hear mixed messages about winter tires all the time. You don’t need winter tires. Yes, you must have winter tires. All-season tires aren’t winter tires. All-season tires are good enough in the winter.winter-tire-and-all-season-tire-tread Here’s the truth: most people don’t understand why they should remove their all-season tires and replace them with their winter tires when the weather starts to reach below 7°C. Some people even think that it’s ok to leave their winter tires on all year round.

To clear up some of these misconceptions, we’d thought we’d provide you with all the winter tire facts:

Winter tires are made with a pliable rubber that is created to stay soft in temperatures below 7°C. All-season tires will become rigid in cold temperatures and will make it harder for you to stop and to accelerate.

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Winter tires have a special tread design that is made to remove snow and ice from your tires. All-season tires have a different tread design that is made for dry pavement and warm, wet conditions.

Winter tires will be marked with a special snowflake and mountain symbol, meaning that they are a certified winter tires. All-season tires may sound like they are made to work in every season but only tires marked with the snowflake symbol are truly designed for winter weather.

Winter tires should always be installed in sets of four. Installing two all-season tires and only two winter tires could lead to uneven tire wear. This will decrease your ability to stop and accelerate in winter conditions, completely eliminating the benefits of having winter tires.

To save you money on your tire changeover, you should purchase a set of winter wheels. This will save your Integra Tire location time changing over your tires, therefore, saving you money each time you have them changed over.

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When your tires aren’t on your vehicle, they should be stored at room temperature on a tire rack. You can store them in a stack – one on top of another – but you will need to rotate them once a month to ensure one doesn’t deteriorate more than another. You should also ensure your tires stay dry while they’re being stored. For the safest tire storage, you can store your tires at an Integra Tire location.

If you have any questions about winter tires, the experts at Integra Tire and Auto Centres are always here to help!

Questions? Our Advisors are Happy to Help!

If you have questions about anything you've read in this resource page, contact your nearest Integra Tire dealer for more information. We are passionate in assisting our customers make the best choices to keep their vehicles in tip-top shape and keep their families safe.
Resource Tags: Automotive , integra tire , maintenance , mechanical , Tips , tires
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