All-Season or Summer Tires?
When it’s time to buy a set of new tires, you have a big decision to make: Summer tires or all-season tires? The best answer is a non-answer: It depends. In Antigo, WI, it can snow as early as September and as late as May. Thus, summer tires would be good from mid-May to mid-September. Each spring and fall, you’d have to switch to winter tires. Summer and all-season tires have pros and cons – it’s up to you to decide which is best based on your driving habits. Regardless of what you choose, Little Wolf Automotive in Antigo, WI, can get the new tires you need or swap out winter tires for summer tires and vice versa.
Benefits of Summer Tires
Because of the type of rubber and tread on summer tires, they are better for gripping, braking, cornering, and acceleration. You’ll find that most performance cars recommend summer tires. They have better traction in the rain because the rubber is softer. They also dissipate heat for that same reason. However, that softer rubber tends to get hard when temperatures drop below about 44 degrees Fahrenheit, significantly affecting traction.
Summer tires also have a directional tread pattern, shallower grooves and a solid rib – these features help push water from under the tires and reduce the risk of hydroplaning.
Benefits of All-Season Tires
All-season tires use rubber that works in all temperatures, unlike summer tires. They have deeper grooves and more voids and variations in the tread, which are great for pushing snow and slush away from the tires. The tread pattern is also symmetrical, which is better for snow.
However, all-season tires are not the be-all and end-all for the winter. If you have a lot of snow, you’re probably better off with winter tires. All-season tires cannot give you the stability for driving in snow, ice and sleet that winter tires can give. While the rubber used for all-season tires remains flexible in all temperatures, you give up the traction summer and winter tires have during their seasons.
Considerations When Choosing New Tires
Your decision to buy summer tires or all-season tires should depend on several factors, including:
- Commute: Do you travel just a few miles or several miles to work?
- Job Duties: Do you drive your vehicle for work purposes, and is it often?
- Amount of Snow: This is a guess since not even meteorologists get it right every time. However, if the consensus is that it’s going to be a winter with lots of snow, you might consider winter tires, especially if you drive on roads that are not always clear of snow, slush and ice.
- Driving Habits: Do you frequently drive on many gravel roads? You might consider all-season tires, as the rubber is harder. Do you do most of your driving on the highway? Summer and winter tires might be better if the bulk of your driving is on the highway.
- Storage: Do you have room to store that extra set of tires? If you live in a small apartment and can’t store a set of tires elsewhere, all-season tires might be better – solely for this reason.
- Cost: Once you have both sets of tires – winter tires and summer tires – you won’t have extra costs, but if this is the first year buying summer tires, you’ll have to put out the money for winter tires – unless you keep your all-season tires for the first year.
Contact Little Wolf Automotive in Antigo, WI
Tires are a major part of vehicle maintenance and should not be ignored. Tires with little to no tread are just as dangerous in the summer as in the winter. Whether you need someone to check your vehicle’s tires or you need new tires, contact Little Wolf Automotive in Antigo, WI at (715) 350-4287 for an appointment. We are conveniently located at 1436 Neva Road, Antigo, WI 54409.
