If you are weighing all-season tires against snow tires and wondering which you should choose or if it even matters at all, a rundown on the advantages and drawbacks of each can help you determine which to buy for your vehicle now, before the snowflakes start to fly. 

Remember, tires are built with a purpose, from their sidewalls to their tread. The best tires for you are those that help you get where you’re going safely, even if that means navigating roads that are wet, snowy, or icy. 

### All-Season Tires Vs. Winter Tires: What’s the Difference?

As the name suggests, all-season tires are generally suitable for year-round use, at least in certain areas of the country, even though they're sometimes referred to simply as "summer tires." These tires are built specifically to provide a smooth, quiet ride in most road conditions. 

Most tires rated as “all-season” are excellent for handling dry conditions and bare, dry pavement—even wet bare pavement—every month of the year. All-season tires can even tackle some light snow from a mild winter storm. However, if winter time in your neck of the woods typically means harsher conditions, including cold temps that fall and stay below 45 degrees F and are plagued by thick ice and deep snow, all-season tires may not be enough.

Snow tires, by contrast, are specially designed to withstand brutal winter weather, including slush, ice, and snow. Snow tires are made with special tread compounds that allow them to stay more flexible and softer when the mercury plummets. 

What this translates to is improved handling and superior traction and control when the temps outside dive under 45 degrees F. Moreover, snow tires are equipped with edges that bite into ice and snow, thanks to jagged, deep, and wide tread patterns. This helps snow tires to keep their traction when the roads outside turn nasty.

### Studded or Studless?

If you opt for a set of snow tires with studs, you can garner even more traction when you must drive in treacherous winter or icy conditions on the roadway. 

Studded winter tires are made for the optimal delivery of traction, thanks to deep grooves with irregular, sharp edges that really dig down into ice and snow, helping vehicles propel through even the messiest weather. 

Essentially, studded tires offer the same benefits as winter tires but also have studs to enhance your vehicle’s grip on ice. This can make a lot of difference in your safety and the ability for you to make it from here to there when major storms hit.

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### All-Season or Winter/Snow Tires—What’s the Big Deal?

When you’re riding along in your car, truck, SUV, or van, two things are paramount to your safety, the safety of any occupants in your vehicle, and the safety of other drivers and their passengers, especially on wintry, icy roads: stopping and control. 

The tires you choose are a big deal because they greatly affect how well you can control your car, including how well you can stop it. The right tires ensure that you have more capacity to prevent serious accidents.

All-season tires do a good job of doing exactly what tires are designed to do during both bare and wet pavement conditions. And all-season tires are an “okay” option for driving during mild winter weather events. 

However, when road conditions worsen and the roadways become imperiled by ice and snow, then snow tires can be a godsend, helping you to maintain control of your vehicle—including giving you the power to stop it as needed. When it comes to whether or the investment in winter tires is worth it, consider this. 

You can run in a pair of flip-flops, but if you want to avoid tripping and hurting yourself, you’ll buy some quality running shoes instead.

### Are Winter Tires Right For You?

Winter tires are not a necessity for all drivers by any means. After all, it doesn’t snow everywhere, and even in places that get a fair share of snow, winters may be mild enough that winter tires are seldom if ever needed. Or perhaps you never get out when it gets bad outside, preferring to stay home and cozy up by the fire until the weather breaks and cold temperatures and snowy conditions are no longer an issue.

When deciding whether to buy winter tires or stick with all-season tires, the type of driving you do in the winter largely determines whether you should own a set of snow tires or not. 

If you do a lot of driving in the winter in an area that sees treacherous weather conditions regularly during the months running from November through March, then investing in some high-quality snow tires for those months can be an intelligent choice. 

This is doubly true if your location sees freezing weather for extended periods of time each year or if you frequently travel to the mountains or other areas where snow and ice are the norms.

### One Set for Warm Weather, One Set for Winter

If you’ve decided to buy winter tires, be prepared to change them out once warm weather hits. Snow tires are not made for year-round driving. That’s not to say you can’t keep your winter tires on all the time, it’s just that you should not. 

As mentioned above, snow tires are made with a special rubber compound that improves their pliability during periods of extreme cold. When the weather is warm, however, running tires on hot roads can make them wear faster. 

Snow tires are not engineered for longevity — they’re built for traction. All-season tires offer longer tread life (including deeper tread) and lower rolling resistance.

What’s more, the traction and handling of winter tires during the warmer months of the year suffers from the use of the softer rubber compound with which they are made. This means that on hot roads during the summer, your vehicle’s ability to brake, accelerate, and corner are all compromised when you're riding on tires made for driving in harsh winter conditions.

Using winter tires outside the winter season also shortens their useful service life. Tread depth is obviously reduced the more you use your tires, so using the tires year-round can lead to them having less tread. This tread wear, in turn, makes the tires less able to channel water, slush, and snow.

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### Does My AWD Need Snow Tires?

If you own an all-wheel-drive vehicle, you may think you don’t need the added traction that snow tires bring for winter driving, but the truth is, you probably do. While AWDs do a great job of accelerating and propelling forward on slippery roads, you still need all four tires on the vehicle to grip the road sufficiently, which ensures you have the traction you need to hold the road and get safely where you’re going.

Biting edges, optional studs, sipes, and bigger grooves—among other special design factors—help snow tires handle all winter conditions, from slush and loose or packed snow to ice. 

And while your AWD is definitely a bonus when you’re driving in slick driving conditions, it isn’t going to help you very much for cornering or even coming to a complete stop when the roads are less than ideal. Because of this, having an AWD at your disposal for the winter months in no way precludes your need to spring for some snow tires.

That said, if you don’t plan to be out much in your AWD when temperatures drop or if the weather turns nasty just a few times each season, you may consider opting for a set of tire chains instead. These chains can be installed on your all-season tires to give your vehicle better traction in much the same way as snow tires do when the occasion calls for it.

Snow tires are an important investment for drivers living in areas where snow and ice prevail. Find out how snow tires work and why they might be right for your vehicle.

Snow Tires vs All-Season -- Which Do You Need?

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