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all season, all weather or winter tires: choosing for an Ontario winter

the three-way choice confuses people, mostly because the names are misleading.

all season tires

a compromise, and the compromise is winter. all seasons work well from about seven degrees upward. below that the rubber stiffens and grip falls away, and that happens on dry roads as well as snow.

they carry an M+S marking, which sounds like it means mud and snow, and which has no performance test behind it at all.

all weather tires

the genuinely useful middle option, and the one most people have not heard of.

an all weather tire carries the three peak mountain snowflake symbol, which does have a test behind it, and it is legal as a winter tire. it stays soft in the cold, and it can stay on the vehicle all year.

for a driver who does not want to swap tires twice a year and does not do serious winter driving, this is usually the right answer.

winter tires

still the best thing on ice and packed snow, by a distance nothing else matches, and worth it if you drive rural roads, commute in all weathers, or simply want the margin.

the compound is designed for cold. run them through July and they wear quickly and feel vague.

how to read the sidewall

  • three peak mountain snowflake: tested for severe snow. winter or all weather.
  • M+S only: no test behind it. all season.
  • the date code, four digits, week and year. rubber ages whether or not it is driven, and a six-year-old tire with full tread is still an old tire.
  • tread depth. new is around 10/32 of an inch. legal minimum is 2/32. winter grip is largely gone by 5/32, well before it is illegal.

what we do

we are a tire shop that became a dealership, so this is not a sideline. tell us how and where you actually drive and we will tell you which of the three suits it, including when the cheaper answer is the right one.