What’s different if you get winter tires?

“When do we have to start wearing padded coats?” I grew up in a country with four seasons, but every time the season changes, I’m concerned. And since I have been taking care of my own car, I have had another concern. I wonder if we have to put on winter tires just as you take out your warm clothes when it gets cold. You may think it’s a bit too much since it’s not the city of Frozen, but Seoul city announced it’s preparing a record-breaking snowfall this year which comes every 10 years. We took a closer look into whether winter tires can be a safe precaution against such a huge snowfall.

Why we cannot stress winter safe driving enough!

The rate of death increases depending on the road conditions (Data source. Road Traffic Authority TAAS).

With the recent development of four seasons tire, there are people who use the tires without bothering to replace them according to season. But you may think differently once you see the traffic accident reports. The Road Traffic Authority’s traffic accident analysis system, TAAS, discloses the mortality accident ratio of traffic accidents depending on different road surface conditions. You can see that the traffic accidents involving death with snowy or icy roads go up to 3.2x more than when the road is dry. This is why we must do everything we can for safe driving.

Snowy or icy roads have lesser frictional force on the surface. It means that the wheels have much less grip on the ground. That’s why Hyundai has the ‘snow mode’ function on Palisade, which controls the engine power and driving power of each wheel on slippery roads such as snowy ones to prevent the car from slipping.

But if it’s a model that cannot implement the snow mode, you must consider replacing one of the most important parts that move the vehicle, which is the tire. In Germany, where the average lowest temperature in January is only minus 2.8°C, despite being warmer than Korea, legally requires the cars to have winter tires on. Even if it’s not legally required here, putting on winter tires can be your minimum provision for safety.

Winter tires are most recognized on roads when the temperature is below 7˚C.

Winter tires differ from regular tires in materials and the depth of their groove.

How do winter tires differ from regular tires? A tire is made with a complex material consisted of rubber, charcoal, etc. Rubber, the basic material, is soft during summer when the temperature is high but tends to get solid during winter. But winter tires use a softer, more flexible material so that a car does not lose its grip on the road even when driving snowy roads when the temperature is below 7˚C.

Also focus on the groove, too. The surface of a tire is called tread. Every manufacturer has its own design, but generally winter tires have various, complicated grooves on the tread. They’re also deeper and more embossed than those of regular tires. Many of you may have experienced driving in winter and not being able to hit the brakes as you wanted to. Winter tires help a lot in preventing slipping when braking a car.

Winter tires are good on not only slippery roads but also in cold weather.

You may wonder if putting on snow chains on the tire may cause the similar effect, but snow chains do not safely guard the tire pressure. The appropriate pressure for tires is maintaining the minimum of 80%, which can naturally decrease, but during winter, it can go below average as the volume goes down when the internal air pressure increases. Repeating the freezing and defrosting process also could cause contraction and abrasion. So generally, in winter people put in air above the average level to maintain an appropriate level of pressure. But winter tires do not require the excessive input of air. Rather it functions better with the appropriate pressure the manufacturer demands as it will maximize the function of the originally designed tread.

Winter tires are easy for braking on snowy, rainy roads.

Putting on winter tires on slippery road will show clear difference (Data source. Hangook Tire).

How much would the difference be on an actual road? Hangook Tire did an experiment that compared the braking distance of four seasons tires and winter tires with the same conditions for everything else such as temperature and car model. When hitting the brake while driving at a speed of 40km/h on a snowy road in the temperature of minus 5˚C, a car with winter tires required 18.49m and a car with four seasons tires 37.84m to stop. The braking distance was reduced by 19.35m, which is a reduction by two-fold. On an icy road, braking while driving at a speed of 20km/h had winter tires braked 4.2m before the four seasons tires. As the road conditions get worse, each braking meter becomes desperate; you could tell how much difference in function the winter tires showed.

Replacing your tires according to the season is the fastest route to safe driving.

Winter tires, which are also called snow tires, are literally specified for wintertime. As if putting on the four seasons tires in winter would not show a clear effect, putting on winter tires in warm seasons could be dangerous, even. Because when the weather gets warmer, winter tires, which are made up of soft materials, will wear out quicker. Even if it’s bothersome, replacing the tires according to the season is safe. One thing you should be aware of is that you shouldn’t replace only a few tires to save cost. Experts say that when the front wheels and back wheels have different grips on the road, a greater danger would be caused.

So far, we have looked into the reasons why we have to use winter tires. But even if you have the winter tires on, it doesn’t mean you can be prepared for all road conditions during wintertime. Please remember that the safest way is to slow down on slippery roads such as snowy roads and icy roads.