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Ruben Fidalgo
January 19, 2023
It seems that winter has suddenly arrived and, although it happens every year, it has once again caught us by surprise and poorly prepared: without snow chains, without knowing how to use them, with the least appropriate tires… if you don’t want to be it happens again, maybe it’s time to change your wheels for ones of all seasons, is it really worth it?, let’s see it.
Although the DGT has been updated for some years now and in its winter campaigns and alerts it already includes winter and all-weather tires in its notices together with chains, we still do not really recognize all the advantages of this type of tire in the cold times of the year. Every winter the same question arises: better chains or winter wheels?well, we give you some keys so that you can decide with knowledge of the facts.
We are going to analyze the pros and cons of each of the alternatives so that you can make the best decision based on how you use the car in winter. Although the best alternative is, without a doubt, the M+S wheels (this is what winter tires are called), neither does it compensate all of us for the expense that they entail in most cases and, for a specific situation, some chains can get us out of trouble at a reasonable costalthough I recommend that you see prices for winter tires for your car, because the chains are not cheap either (and, if they are, they will not be very useful, here is true that “cheap is expensive”) and the wheels They have dropped a lot in price with increasing production.
How to drive in snow, the definitive guide
On the other hand, it should be made clear that winter wheels where they give their best It is not in heavy snowfall but when we drive on cold roads. Although we do not live in an area with frequent snowfall, it is enough that in winter we spend several days at temperatures below 5ºC so that the chains do not avoid the greatest risk of this time of year, which is slipping on a plate of occasional ice on the road. Those accidents are the really serious ones.
How to drive on ice: don’t skid!
When there is heavy snowfall, the only inconvenience is getting trapped and small blows to the sheet metal, but going off the road due to finding ice unexpectedly is really dangerous and winter tires are the best insurance for this, in addition to their grip when it is warm cold is greater than with summer tires, so we brake in less meters and we are more subject at all times.
Advantages of chains for the car
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Although there are several types of chains, each one with its advantages and disadvantages (fabric chains are easy to assemble, link chains have traction on ice, etc.), as we detail this in this report on the types of chains, we are going to refer here to the pros and cons of “all chains” versus winter tyres.
- Your cost is less than that of winter tires, normally
- occupy less space when we don’t use them
- They do not deteriorate while we do not use them
- Except for the fabric ones, they have better traction if there is a lot of snow or ice
Disadvantages of snow chains
- Your mounting it is a nuisance and forces us to stop (to assemble and disassemble them) in very uncomfortable conditions, very cold and that can easily cause injuries and cuts to our hands.
- Not all cars can mount them (check your car manual about it)
- They only work if there is a lot of snow or a lot of ice, but they will not prevent us from skating in shady areas or on specific ice sheets that we find on the route.
- It is easy to assemble them wrong and cause car breakdowns because of it.
- The driving it is much more uncomfortable and unnatural than with winter tires
- Normally we only mount them on the drive axle, which unbalances the behavior of the car
- They are less effective in braking than winter wheels and they interfere a lot with the ABS
Looking at this list, the chains can be useful if we only travel or drive through snowy areas very occasionally.
Advantages of winter tires
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We must lose the fear of mounting these types of tires. In fact, with the speed limits in Spain, even though we are a sunny country, it might be better to only have one set of winter wheels and use them all year round. Although with high temperatures they degrade a lot, unless we do very aggressive driving on secondary roads, with the Spanish speed limits we do not put so much effort on the wheels that they break down excessively even if we use them all year round.
Be careful because not all winter wheels allow you to drive without chains. Only those with a 3-peak mountain symbol and the ice symbol marked on the sidewall have the appropriate tread pattern to ensure grip on ice or snow.
- We have them already assembled in the car (so that they will serve us both for ice sheets and for hail and rain) and we do not have to stop to put them on and take them off
- They are infinitely more comfortable than chains
- The car behavior it is more natural and homogeneous (it is not recommended to mount them only on the drive axle, all the wheels must be wedged with them)
- They are very effective both in traction and braking
- We can save money by mounting them with a lower speed rating than what’s specified in the car’s specs, so sometimes they’re cheaper than regular wheels. In Spain, it is enough that your speed index is higher than at least 160 km/h. Even if our car approves tires with V, Y or Z codes, we can save money by installing winter tires with a lower speed index.
- They do not interfere with ABS or ESPso we keep active security intact
Disadvantages of winter tires
- They take up a lot of space when we do not use them and, unless we want to pay each time we assemble and disassemble them, it is advisable to have 2 sets of tires as well.
- They dry out and lose properties over time even if we don’t use them
- Your useful life it is less since to maintain its effectiveness it is not advisable to speed up its wear beyond 4 mm of depth of the drawing, while those of summer allow up to 1.6 mm
- Not in all sizes of tires, so that in our car we may have to use an equivalent measure and change the tires as well.
Advantages of all-season tires
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