BOISE, Idaho — It’s starting to get much colder and wetter outside as we head into the winter months, which means our roads get a little harder to navigate, and considerably more dangerous for drivers.
Mitchell Bruneel at Bruneel Point S Tire and Auto says when the temperature is consistently below 45 degrees, it’s time to start thinking about getting snow tires put on your car.
One option is swapping out your regular tires for studded winter tires, meant to be driven only during the winter months.
"If you look at it, it has individual studs within the tread, which creates a claw-like effect, which helps grip snow and ice,” Bruneel said.
He added that cars with front- or rear-wheel drive need snow tires more than four-wheel-drive vehicles, because the car is relying on one end for traction more than the other.
“If the rear loses traction, it can cause their car to fishtail,” he said.
So who should get snow tires?
“The people that are gonna feel the most safety from snow tires are the people that are going to be traveling in wintery conditions – people that like to snow ski, people that have cabins up in the mountains, or people that are more just concerned about the ice driving to work early in the morning.”
Bruneel says you can expect to pay a little more for snow tires than regular all-season tires due to manufacturing purposes.
“They do have a lot more soft rubber compounds in them which are a little more expensive, but they do provide a lot more traction when we get freezing temperatures," he said.
Bruneel said snow tires should only be used from mid-October to mid-April. If you follow these rules, you can expect to get about six years of use out of a fresh batch of snow tires.
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