Everything You Need to Know About Winter Tires 

Benefits of All-Season Tires

You can use all-season tires around Ramsey, MN for their well-rounded performance across the year. These tires are generalists, and they perform best during mild conditions. A good set of all-season tires will handle everything from drizzle to light snow to dry roads with ease, but more intense conditions can diminish performance. Truth told, these aren’t the best tires for Minnesota winters. If you deal with extreme heat and cold, you might find that you need more specialized tires to get the best traction and control possible.

• Pros: Good fuel economy, long tread life, comfortable ride, adaptable to most weather conditions
• Cons: Diminished performance in extreme weather conditions

Benefits of Winter Tires

There’s nothing better than a good set of winter tires for cars when it comes to icy conditions and winter driving. Comparing a set of winter tires vs. all-season tires is like comparing a pair of snow boots to sneakers. Snow tires and winter tires include flexible rubber that won’t freeze and stiffen, tread patterns that keep snow and moisture at bay, and biting edges that boost traction and handling while you’re heading to your favorite ice-fishing spot. While some drivers don’t want to invest in two sets of tires for the year, those with severe winter weather will see a clear benefit. Rest assured, the best tires for Minnesota roads come January are winter tires.

• Pros: Built for winter weather, boosted handling, optimized tread, biting edges and high sipe densities, freeze-proof materials
• Cons: Diminished fuel economy in extreme weather conditions

How Do Winter Tires Work?

Why do we need winter tires, and how do winter tires work? As things get cold around Monticello, MN and Anoka, MN, the roads can get a little more demanding on your vehicle. It’s not just the snow and ice build-up on the roads, but also on your tires. Here’s how winter tires help with that:

• Treads: The treads on winter tires are designed to dig deeper into the snow and ice, helping with traction. They are also designed to prevent the buildup of snow and ice inside your tire.
• Special Rubber Compound: All-season tires can get brittle when the air drops to low temperatures. Winter tires are made from a special rubber compound that’s designed to stay flexible even in the cold.

Do I Need Winter Tires with AWD?

AWD vehicles send power to both the front and rear axles, giving you more control. So, do I need winter tires with AWD? AWD doesn’t change the makeup of your tires, so even with the added feeling of control on AWD, the choice between snow tires vs. all-season tires will still make a significant difference in grip and control on the snowy roads.

Winter Tire Pressure and Storage

One of the biggest differences between a winter tire vs. all-season tire is that winter tires can wear down quickly in warm weather. To try and prevent flats and for general safety, you’ll want to change out your winter tires for summer or all-season tires once the temperature goes up. Here are some tips:

• Storage Tips: Clean your tires before you store them, and make sure they are being stored in a temperature-controlled place. You’ll want to flip them around every now and then in case they get deformed in storage.
• Tire Pressure Tips: Make sure to inflate your tires to the proper tire pressure before you store them. Keep them within 5 PSI of the recommended pressure as you’re driving.

When to Switch to Winter Tires

Winter tires for cars are built for ice and snow. Driving winter tires during the summer or on dry Monticello, MN roads will lead to excessive wear and tear, shortening their lifespan. It’s a good idea to know when to put on winter tires for the season and when to take them off to keep your winter tires prepared for inclement weather.

The general rule of thumb for when to change winter tires is to use them from Thanksgiving weekend to Tax Day, or late November to mid-April. This will vary depending on climate, so a better idea is to watch the forecast and look for the temperatures consistently dipping below 45°F. Once you’ve had a week or two of regular cold weather, it’s time for the winter tires to come on! The same can be said for the opposite time of year– temperatures returning to over 45°F daily means it may be a good time to switch back to your all-season or summer tires.

Can You Change Winter Tires Yourself?

Cornerstone Auto’s service team is often asked, “Can I change winter tires myself?” Yes, you can! So long as your tires are mounted on rims, changing from your summer tires to winter tires and vice versa is a job you can do yourself. Having your winter tires mounted on rims also helps elongate their lifespan and keep them inflated throughout the storage season. So long as you have the tools to lift and change your tires, switching winter tires and summer tires is a breeze!

That said, it’s important to do a full switch when it’s time to change to winter tires. Don’t pick and choose which tires to replace with winter tires, replace all four axles. Only having winter tires on some axles but not others can lead to poor traction and can compromise your safety on the Anoka, MN roads.

Winter tires for cars need to be able to withstand extreme cold and maintain optimum traction on slick ice. EV winter tires will need to do those things as well. However, EV winter tires need to be able to handle the higher low-end instantaneous torque of EV performance. Also, they need to be able to smoothly brake and turn, despite the heavy weight of the EV battery and motor system. What’s more, winter tires are very noisy, and unlike gas-powered vehicles, EVs don’t have an engine drone to cover up the sound of the tires. Therefore, EV winter tires need to be quieter,

Finally, the battery range tends to decrease in winter as the molecules in the lithium-ion battery cells shrink. You don’t want to further decrease your battery range by getting winter tires that aren’t optimized for the high-torque performance of EVs. When shopping for the best winter tires for EVs, you’ll need to select a tire set with a unique tread and edge sculpture optimized for EVs. Reach out to our mechanics for assistance with finding tires that won’t decrease battery range, are quieter, and can handle EV torque delivery without wearing down too fast or losing traction on ice!