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What is the Stopping Distance of Winter Tires?

When you hit the brakes to stop your vehicle in winter, you often don’t know what to expect, if you’re on ice or just a snowy section. This is compounded even further depending on the types of tires you have on, as all-season and winter tires offer a vast difference in stopping distance from the other. It should be no surprise that winter tires stop about 6-7 feet shorter than all-season tires, which might not seem a lot but can be a world of difference when safely driving in the winter. Let your local Calgary dealership friends at Charlesglen Toyota take you through why winter tires are so important, and what allows them to have such a short stopping distance vs. their all-season counterparts!

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7 Reasons Why Winter Tires are so Effective

Winter Vs. All-Season Tire Stopping Distance

Many tests have been done over the years comparing these winter vs. all-season stopping distances on the snow, with winter tires stopping about 6-7 ft. shorter, on average. That’s about the same length as your favourite basketball player, which paints quite the vivid picture of the importance of using winter tires in the winter season. While this data is one of many similar sets, they all arrive at the same conclusion, how necessary winter tires are, and how much all-season tires just don’t cut it, especially when winter driving is often a game of inches. You can’t afford to give up anything toward safe driving when the safety of so many on the road is at stake. Luckily, since we’re a Toyota dealership in a winter wonderland like Calgary, we have decades of experience combating the season, with the perfect tires for your Toyota in our Tire Centre.

How do Winter Tires Help for Stopping Distance?

You might hear dealerships like ours extolling the virtues of winter tires, but maybe don’t understand everything that truly makes them different from summer or all-season tires. They may look similar from far away, but there’s a lot that goes into the construction of Toyota-approved winter tires, so here are a few reasons why they provide such vital assistance.

  • Rubber material used: The rubber material used in these tires was made to perform best under 7℃. This is a softer material than the rubber in other tires because the hard rubber found on all-season or summer tires becomes even harder in cold temperatures and won’t stick to the road very well.
  • Cold surfaces = less traction: The colder the weather the less traction you’re able to get from the road. Winter tires combat that with designs that make up the difference to create as much traction as they can when the road won’t allow it.
  • Deep treads: To really dig into the snow or ice and get a good grip, you need deep treads. This allows for more of the tire surface area to grip the road, and thus push away any unwanted snow and slush. Due to tire tread depth’s extreme importance for the season, it’s imperative that you make sure to check and keep up on the wear of your tires, and swapping in a new pair if needed.
  • Advanced technology: At Charlesglen Toyota, we only work with the best tire manufacturers and ones that are always pushing the limit on new technologies. From comprehensive sipe designs (squiggly grooves that collect and deposit water out behind the tire after each revolution) to hydrophilic coating (acting as a sponge-like material for better traction), to micro bubble technology (small bubbles in the tread that open up through wear and act as larger-scale sipes), you’re consistently in the best hands with Toyota-approved tires.

Need some new tires? Time to swap your current set for the upcoming season? Whatever tire needs you have, our Toyota Tire Centre here at Charlesglen Toyota, filled with helpful tire experts, is ready to assist you every step of the way.