What Are The Best Winter Tires And Why You Should Get Them in 2021!

Winter tires are a must this season! Winter Is coming and with it comes poor road conditions and slippery asphalt that is a safety risk.  Snow doesn’t help either, and with it comes a lot of slippery surfaces that are treacherous especially if you don’t have the right tires for winter.

It is a necessary evil really, but with proper precautions, it can be minimized if not prevented from being as dangerous as it can potentially be. Here are some tips on caring for your tires during the times when bad weather rolls around so that they won’t leave you stranded in the middle of nowhere or worse- trapped underneath your car!

What Are The Best Winter Tires

Winter tires are specially designed to have certain things that other ideal summer or all-weather tires do not. Winter tires are made with a lot of little “sipes” which can grip the surface even in wet conditions, it is actually one of the biggest differences between winter and regular tires.     

Sipes are basically tiny slits on the tire that will provide added traction on slippery roads. Think about if you’ve ever walked across ice- it’s kind of like how crawling feels right? It is really hard to get traction when your feet slip around while trying to balance yourself against an almost frictionless surface, but having crampons or studded shoes make getting footing easy since they dig into the snow.

If you plan on going through snowy areas, having a good set of winter tires is a must.  There are many types of winter tires to choose from depending on your needs.

The first thing you have to ask yourself is what do you need out of a set of winter tires. It is a common misconception that all-season tires are good enough for driving in the snow, but this isn’t so! All-season tires might be able to handle some snowy areas and some icy roads, but they will never perform as well on either surface as proper winter tires or 4X4 wheels would.  

In addition, all-season means that the tire was designed for year-round use on dry land. While it can technically handle light snow and/or ice, it just wasn’t designed with those conditions in mind and still performs mostly like a normal tire.

The Benefits Of Using Winter Tires

Winter tires are designed specifically for bad weather conditions to give you better traction on snowy, icy, or just plain wet roads. The key is that they have tiny “sipes” that will dig into the road whenever there’s contact between them and the ground. While it might not look like much, these sipes actually provide a lot of extra grips than regular tires would without them!

Since winter tires were made with snow and ice in mind, their tread patterns allow for breaking which becomes really helpful when traveling at high speeds to avoid accidents due to loss of control because of slippery asphalt. That being said, if you do skid out during your travels, winter tires will be more likely to grip and pull you back than a normal tire would.

What Are The Best Winter Tire Brands?

Winter tire brands come and go, but some of the most popular ones that you might see at your local shops would be Nokian (the first company to create winter tires), Pirelli, Michelin, Continental, Hankook, and more!

Nokian

Nokian is a reliable Finnish brand that can provide excellent traction even in driving rain or snow. Their specialty is studded winter tires which give them an edge over other companies because their sipes and tread patterns are designed for heavy loads and high speeds despite slippery conditions. However, there are disadvantages as well since they tend to be more expensive than other brands thanks to their quality engineering.

Continental

Continental is another reputable German brand that has been around for an enormous amount of time, providing excellent tires for high-speed driving in slippery conditions. They are also known for being one the first companies to use Continental Sculpture Technology which basically means that their treads have grooves that can give you extra traction when they’re spun fast enough!

Michelin

Although not as well-known as its competitors, Michelin is a reputable French brand that has been around long before winter tires were even an idea. It is especially popular in Europe since it is guaranteed by all car manufacturers.  Their winter tire models are actually very predictable because of how long they’ve been practicing their craft! However, if you want intense traction for offroad terrains without breaking your bank account, this isn’t the brand for you.