Winter and all-weather tires

[sajohnson]

Here's a good video: "Is FWD and Winter Tires Better Than AWD and All Weather Tires?"


Another: "What's The Best All-Weather Tire? (Car & Driver):


Lastly: "I Tested the BEST Snow Tires for 2025/26."

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[sajohnson]

There is some overlap, but for the most part winter tires > all-weather tires > all-season tires on snow and ice.

One thing I learned from watching a CR video of their tire specialists sitting in the shop talking is that they do rate winter and all-weather tires on the same scale. So they can be directly compared, BUT:

The only numeric rating is the overall score (X/100 points). The results of each specific test -- ice braking; snow traction; etc. -- are given as a color-coded bar on a scale with 5 categories, poor through excellent. That means that each category covers a 20 point range. So 2 tires might appear to be identical but in reality one might have scored (say) 81 and the other 98. There's no way to know that. All CR shows is the colored bars.

So while a few of the best all-weather tires may actually perform better than some of the mediocre winter tires, in general, if an all-weather and a winter tire are each rated "excellent" (a green bar) chances are, the winter tire is actually better on snow and ice.

It would be nice if CR would list the actual points (X/100) for each performance test, along with the colored bars for a quick glance.

 

[sajohnson]

Another good (short) video:

"New All-Weather Tires Outperform Some Snow Tires | Consumer Reports"


Either of those tires would be a good choice for many drivers.

 

[Garth]

I used General Altimax all weather for the past 3 years no complaints. In my 50 years of driving winters in Canada I only had actual snow tires on one vehicle a 2007 Ford Focus for 4 years until I sold it.

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