Can you use winter tires all year round

[Paul]

Winter rated tires are required by law during the winter months in many states.

Your insurance company will notice.

[YellowPorscheMan2002]

Hi:

I concur with much of what's been said here.

I've been using winter tires on the cars I drive in winter, like my Mercedes, for many years. Learned this when I lived in Germany. Simply, winter tires are for winter and summer tires for summer.

As stated, the wear rates on winter tires will be much worse during summer temperatures, plus you'll get less traction in the summer with winter tires due to the tread patterns.

Someone once told me, "Tires are the only part of the car that touches the ground." So basically, if your a car connesseur, go ahead and buy the right tires for the right time of year.

[MNBoxster]

Hi,

Winter tires are designed to provide improved performance under winter conditions (ice, snow) compared to tires made for use in summer. The rubber compound used in the tread of the tire is usually softer than that used in tires for summer conditions, providing better grip on ice and snow, but wearing more quickly at higher temperatures.

Winter tires also often have siping (fine grooves) in the tread that are designed to grip any unevenness on ice. Running Winter Tires in the summer can result in the rubber compound becoming too soft in warm weather resulting in a reduced tire life.

The Heat Management of a Winter Tire is usually inferior to that of a Summer or an All-Season (M/S rated) tire. Winter Tires run an increased risk of a temp related Blowout if run in warm weather, they should only be run in the -20°F - 40°F range, this is where they were designed to run.

Also, both Wet and Dry traction has been purposely compromised in the design of Winter Tires in order that they provide greater traction in Snow and Ice conditions. Your Range (MPG) will also suffer too if Winter Tires are run in the summer. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99