I don't give a hoot ... I've never had issues with my all seasons and I live in a pretty nasty winter state. I've put General's AS's on a few trucks now and they have done as good as their snow tire counter parts. Right now I have some crap Michelin AS's on my Benz and even in terrible conditions its the vehicle and not tire that makes the difference.

 

Your anecdotes do not align with correlated data. Blizzacks or X-Ice FTW.

 

For some kinds of snow an in-between alternative is an all-terrain tire with wide grooves to dig into the deep stuff, and also some sipes for the ice and packed snow. Some are also available with "high silica content" for supposedly enhanced ice traction. If you go with a stiff LT construction you also keep some decent handling as well, at the cost of a stiffer ride.

 

Nexen N'priz 4s, best of both worlds

 

and yet one more reason to live in Phoenix, no need to deal with snow/winter tires.

If you don't deal with snow very often, A/T tires seem to be a good compromise. I have driven in snow a number of times with my vehicles, but its so seldom, like when I go up to go skiing, or visiting family in utah around christmas. I've always felt confident with A/T tires. but I've also liked my continental DWS tires on my performance cars. I haven't bought them this time around as they are quite expensive, but they performed very well in snow.

 

Agree with the Arizona idea, but when you guys do get that rare snow fall your entire world comes to a halt

I still feel based on many years of real driving that an aggressive all season tread choice performs excellent in snow and on ice. I just ordered a set of Kumho's to replace the Benz tires, will see how these work in the next week (they just came in yesterday). Had to go to TreadDepot since DiscountTire only had a single tire for my ride and was $40 too high for that tire.

 

I've lived in phoenix over 30 years, and it has snowed exactly one time, and that lasted all of a few hours. it melted by the time I was leaving for school in the morning. And we've had freezing rain maybe once, twice? and again, it was melted off very early. Tucson has gotten snow a couple of more times, and towns up north like flagstaff, payson, prescott, etc, They'll get a decent amount of snow, Flag got quite a bit this year, but Not enough to justify snow tires I don't think. The city just shuts down for a day till they clear the roads, and a day later it warms back up to the low 40's and everybody's good to go. The biggest problem is, People keep their tires too long here. anything over 4 years old, regardless of tread depth, the rubber is starting to get too hard and will have traction issues in wet/snow/cold. Especially from the heat. I avoid keeping tires more than 4 years.

Now, if you live somewhere where it is frequently below freezing temps, you have frequent snow/ice storms, and freezing rain. winter tires are a must, in my opinion.

 

I mean, I cut through a snowy field with my "All Terrain" Duratracs and they did just fine. No issues.

 

Duratracs are winter rated,

 

Yea maybe its Tuscon I am thinking of. Yea I'm here in the snow north, as you can see we are 100% snow covered right now with 4-24" of it. Even driving my 100 mile commute in a snow storm which I've done a few times this year, still would never consider snow tires.

 

Here is the best video I have found
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ahrlD40so4
Key to note is that the all terrain tires are probably still better than all season tires.
Most all terrain tires are winter rated.

 

Where I live, if my vehicle is equipped with a tire that has a Mountain Symbol on it during the months of Nov-April, it qualifies for a 5% insurance premium reduction. Works out to about $120 a year.

Doesn't cover the tire cost but it's better than nothing, I would still do it regardless of any discount.

 

Our 99 XJ Cherokee has Michelin LTX tires and they aren't too bad in snow but are absolutely scary on icy roads with that hard rubber. This is my wife's daily driver and it wears studded winter tires from November through March same as our Patriot.

 

5% off my yearly insurance (for both vehicles, full coverage) would be around $30-35 for a discount it, I'd say that's not worth it

 

I've driven with a belive 9 different tires on 3 mk's over 8 years, I also live where it snows 6 months of the year. All season tires are absolute crap in the snow tests prove it my videos prove it. I ran a dedicated winter tire one year. And while it's performance was great it's deep snow performance wasn't good enough for my uses. I run wrangler territory tires. Which are nearly identical to the duratracs. They are agresssive and winter rated for the deep snow I need. The all seasons I have on my 19 " wheels make everything a challenge when I have them on. I have a video of my compass vs sask riots patriot on a road with a good Incline and a fee inches of snow. My all seasons vs his winter rated bfg at. Massive difference

 

If you're dealing with soft new-fallen snow, an aggressive a/t tire would probably work, because the tread has something to grip. The worst snow is when it gets hardpacked on the highway--its a mush that plugs up treads. I ran General Grabber AT2s on our old Wrangler with satisfactory results, but 4wd was there to get out of any binds. Ignatz is FWD and with half as many tires pulling for me, I really want the benefit of a dedicated snow tire. I've been caught in unexpected snow with all-season (3-season) radials and it wasn't a fun drive. Gave me a glimpse of how so many people get in trouble in snow. I see so many 4wd & AWD vehicles off the road in snow -- I wonder if its because they're overestimating their tires. Because you can get started in snow, that might deceive someone into believing they can corner and stop better too.

If one is traveling in snow for a significant part of the year you'll appreciate good snow tires.

You guys down south don't need them, any more than somebody in Yellowknife needs a/c -- if it gets hot, ya just wind down the windows and enjoy the novelty of it -- kinda like a snowball fight in Phoenix. Of course there are no safety issues driving on a warm day like there are on ice.

 

You guys down south don't need them, any more than somebody in Yellowknife needs a/c -- if it gets hot, ya just wind down the windows and enjoy the novelty of it -- kinda like a snowball fight in Phoenix.

It'll hit 90 in the summer at Yellowknife.