Can You Use Winter Tires All Year? (Detailed Explanation)

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Well, no one has the power to stop you from using any type of tire all year round. However, some tires are designed for specific seasons; thus, if you drive them in other seasons, you’d be risking quite a lot. Talking about “Winter Tire,” these are tires made for driving in the snow. But can you use winter tires all year?

Yes, you you can actually drive with winter tires across seasons. However, this is not advisable as it’d make you spend more on wheel alignment and other problems that may result from using winter tires in summer or other regular seasons.

Notably, driving winter tires on summer will make the tires to wear out much faster as they’re not designed to withstand heat.

What Are Winter Tires?

Winter tires are tires designed to be used in the “Winter” season. They are typically built to offer more traction and resistance due to the slippery nature of tracks during the snow season.

These tires are recommended by the consortium tire brands to be driven only in the winter season – when the roads are typically slippery.

Although winter tires are built differently with higher rolling resistance, they look like every other type of tire out there. So, even if you leave them on your car after the winter season, no one is going to know – except they come close and look at the tire information printed on the sides of the tires.

Can You Use Winter Tires All Year?

Yes, you can drive with winter tires even when it’s summer. No one would accost you for driving with winter tires. But, that doesn’t mean it’s cool to drive with winter tires when it’s already summer!

Once the winter season is over, it’s advisable to switch from winter tires to summer tires, or you could get a set of all-season tires. The reason is quite simple – winter tires are built for the winter season, so they won’t drive well when the roads are no longer slippery.

Apparently, you’d find it difficult to have complete control over your car when driving with winter tires, which are built to have more aggressive tread patterns. The resistance of winter tires would make it extremely difficult to achieve good traction when it’s not snow season.

Furthermore, driving all year with winter tires would typically result in decreased fuel economy, faster tire wear, poor traction on roads, and slower braking response. You certainly don’t want to risk all these aforementioned, unfriendly situations while driving.

To be on the safer side and make your driving more fun, it is best to switch to summer tires or all-season tires when the winter season is gone. That way, your tires would last longer and you’d, at every season, drive comfortably.

Top tire brands do offer both winter tires and summer tires; if you prefer a particular brand, you could get both sets of tires from them and have them changed in-between seasons. But, notwithstanding, and as said earlier, you can drive on winter tires all year long – it’s just too stressful and inadvisable.

Are Winter Tires Safe to Drive in the Summer?

A winter tire won’t give you that crisp response in warm weather. Winter tires need to be flexible in order to handle snow and ice, but it’s not as useful in the summer. The specialized tread designs of winter tires are not intended for optimal warm weather performance.

It’s also worth noting that you will be spending more on fuel if you use winter tires for summer. On warm pavement, the rolling resistance of winter tires are also significantly higher than summer or all-season tires as the softer rubber compound will change shape more.

Do Winter Tires Use More Gas?

No, winter tires doesn’t use more gas! Winter tires are made of hydrophilic rubber, so they use less energy than all-season tires.

Winter tires are designed to stay softer in freezing temperatures, using less gas as they move over snow-filled roads.

How Long Do Winter Tires Last if Used all Year?

There’s basically no set life expectancy for winter tires; however, according to many tire manufacturers, a set of snow tires should give you 4 seasons of wear.

Can I Drive Winter Tires in 60 Degree Weather?

No, winter tires are not designed to drive in temperatures more than 45 degrees as the tread compounds cannot remain firm enough to provide enough traction.

Driving winter tires in 60 degree weather will also make the tires to wear down faster. Snow tires are designed to adequately grip the ground in cold weathers on slippery roads.

What Temperature is Bad For Winter Tires?

Winter tires should only be used when temperatures are 45 degree Fahrenheit or below because heat is really hard on them. Driving winter tires on hot pavement will make them wear out much faster.

Summary

Pretty many drivers would want to drive with one set of tires for as many years as possible; well, that’s not a bad idea, especially if the tires are top-quality models from a top brand. However, if the tires are winter tires, you should have a second thought about driving them during summer.

Can you use winter tires all year? Yes, you can, there’s no law against that. However, doing so can mess up your driving experience as you’d experience poor braking response, higher resistance, and increased fuel usage. Hence, it is safer and advisable to have your winter tires changed when the season is over.

Better still, you could go with all-season tires, also called 3-season tires. These are tires you can drive in all seasons, including summer and winter.