I will admit, for many years I never bothered with snow tires. I just used all seasons all year round. It seemed pretty safe to me and since I managed to avoid any accidents, I never saw the need for the extra expense.
For some reason, one year when I traded cars I also decided to spring for extra rims and snow tires. The difference surprised me.
Sure, maybe it wasn’t as much fun. Not as much slipping and sliding and heart pounding excitement, but as you get a bit older you can use a little less wear and tear on the heart. And the vehicle I put them on was also all wheel drive, so that made a difference as well. But I felt much safer on the highway. I still wasn’t setting and speed records on the highway, but I was driving with a bit more confidence in winter weather, simply because I felt the car would largely stay where I wanted it to be. On the road and in the right lane.
Although I will say that I have heard from some unnamed source that the combination of all wheel drive and winter tires make it really hard to do donuts in a parking lot late at night. At least that’s what I’ve heard.
They aren’t the answer to everything. With the type of winter weather we tend to get around this area with snow and rain mixed and layers of ice forming on the roads, there is only so much winter tires will do. But they do make a difference, at least in my mind.
But I guess we’re at the time when they should be put on. The warmer temperatures during the first part of the month had me not even thinking about it. You don’t really want to be using winter tires when the temperatures are too warm. But in the back of my mind, I knew it was coming.
Now we’re starting to see things like flurries in the forecast. And there has already been snow in some parts of the country. We may live in a relatively mild area, but we still get winter weather.
I guess it’s time to get ready for it.
