Deep Snow Driving

[sajohnson]

Some good info. This first one is pretty basic, but has good data. It's Jason Fenske with Engineering Explained:

Summer vs Winter vs All Season - What Tires Should You Buy?


Jason's chart showing snow & ice stopping for each tire. Eye-opening: FYI -- I had this queued up to 5:08 if the link doesn't take you there:


Winter tires VS All Season Tires. Proof that you need WINTER TIRES!!


This one from CR is a bit cheesy, but a good demo:

Tire Testing on Ice | Consumer Reports


Winter Driving Aid Showdown | Consumer Reports


Needless to say, there are a lot more videos like those, many are likely better.

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[Mwittke5857]

Some good info. This first one is pretty basic, but has good data. It's Jason Fenske with Engineering Explained:

Summer vs Winter vs All Season - What Tires Should You Buy?


Jason's chart showing snow & ice stopping for each tire. Eye-opening: FYI -- I had this queued up to 5:08 if the link doesn't take you there:


Winter tires VS All Season Tires. Proof that you need WINTER TIRES!!


This one from CR is a bit cheesy, but a good demo:

Tire Testing on Ice | Consumer Reports


Winter Driving Aid Showdown | Consumer Reports


Needless to say, there are a lot more videos like those, many are likely better.

I only consider all terrain tires for my rig. Then again, I go camping (weather permitting, I use a tent) and many of the roads, if you can call them that, will "load-up" an all season tire in a heart beat.

 

[sajohnson]

I only consider all terrain tires for my rig. Then again, I go camping (weather permitting, I use a tent) and many of the roads, if you can call them that, will "load-up" an all season tire in a heart beat.

The key of course is the proper tool for the job. Dress shoes don't work well for hiking.

Ideally, we'd all have the best tires for every situation. AT tires for off-road; summer tires for pavement, over (say) 45-50 degrees. Winter tires for temps below 40-45*F and ice & snow.

When I was commuting 75-100 miles per day I would frequently swap winter tires for summer (and vice versa) because in this area the temp commonly fluctuates above and below freezing. We can have a few weeks of 'winter tire weather'' followed by temps above ~40*F. Winter tires are great, but needless to say, they cannot match the performance of summer tires -- as long as the summer tires are warm enough.

Of course, any tire can load up with mud. My wife and I were visiting friends in Colorado, and they took us out on some "Road Runner" type dirt roads in their 4WD F-250. It had serious off-road tires on it -- the kind that howl loudly on pavement. At one point, we came across some guys herding cattle. It had snowed recently but it was a warm day, so the road was muddy. The cattle had turned it into a deep mud bog. The tires instantly loaded up and became slicks. The truck was crabbing back and forth and slowly sliding toward the edge where there was a several hundred foot shear drop. Fortunately, we made it to dry ground before we went over the edge.

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