Importance of Winter Tires in Bradford PA

When winter comes around, you might hear some people claim they don't need winter tires because they already have all-season tires or because their vehicle is equipped with all-wheel drive. Worse, some prefer to keep using their summer tires.

If anyone tells you this, do not listen to them. One should not underestimate the importance of winter tires. Modern winter tires tackle inclement weather with few drawbacks and the drawbacks of not using winter tires are significant.

Let's look at a few numbers, courtesy of Edmunds.com. A car will take 11.7 seconds to accelerate to 40 mph on snow tires on a wet, snowy surface. It takes 14.5 seconds on all-season tires and a whopping 41.7 seconds on summer tires.

The gap is even scarier when you look at braking performance. From 40 mph with ABS brakes engaged, the car takes 156 feet to stop with winter tires, 184 feet with all-season tires, and 351 feet with summer tires. If that makes all-season tires seem like a good compromise to you, realize that the 28 feet disparity can make the difference between life and serious injury.

And don't think we've forgotten about all-wheel-drive: it will help you in the acceleration department, but all-wheel-drive doesn't affect braking performance, so you'll be just as helpless when facing a fast-approaching obstacle.

When things are wet, the all-season tire actually becomes the worst performer and the winter tire continues to impress.

Your best bet is to use winter tires in the winter and summer tires the rest of the year. That may sound expensive at first, because it requires an extra set of tires compared to just as single set of all-seasons. But think about it this way: if you switch tires twice a year, you'll wear out both sets less quickly. In the end, it adds up to about the same in price and to a lot more performance where it counts.