Why winter tires

[Jmax]

What am I missing? I have lived in MN almost my entire life. Why are people getting winter tires for the bronco. I understand for a M5 or some sports vehicle but why the bronco?

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[PSUTE]

Applied physics. A thinner tire, "pizza cutter" applies more weight per square inch to cut through a thin layer of snow to force it out of the tread allowing more contact with the road, making it safer/better. Important in slippery conditions. In deep snow, a fatter tire, "high flotation" allow you more surface area to push against the snow itself to provide traction. Turning is not an issue, the sidewall provides the resistance to allow for turns. Tread patterns matter. If you're like most of us in snow country, conditions vary. Name your poison...

 

[JAC]

What am I missing? I have lived in MN almost my entire life. Why are people getting winter tires for the bronco. I understand for a M5 or some sports vehicle but why the bronco?

Opinion only: For starters in some regions/states they are required for travel during inclimate weather or road conditions. I'm only aware of west coast areas that have this requirement. Additionally, while a good treaded tire on 4wd or Fwd will suffice... winter tires aka studded or studless will offer "some" amounts of better traction - unless you're on black ice... then just about all bets are off.

I've driven for years in snow and ice and can go either way in using or not. That said, I will eventually use my BL wheels for winter tires after I upgrade to new wheels.

cheers.

 

[AKBronc49]

I run dedicated snow tires on all my vehicles, all are 4x4 or AWD. Proper winter tires are about stopping and turning improvement in winter conditions. Acceleration is just gravy on top.

This TFL video perfectly explains it. Look at the stopping distance!

 

[Techun]

If you've never used the appropriate tires for the conditions you don't know what you're missing.

200tw tires on a hot summer day and it feels like you're glued to the road. Snows in snow and it feels like you're king of the north.

 

[t0sserlad]

What am I missing? I have lived in MN almost my entire life. Why are people getting winter tires for the bronco. I understand for a M5 or some sports vehicle but why the bronco?

Everyone is right about why to run snow tires but I agree with you from a practical stand point. I also live in MN and I've run snow tires on all my cars, but they all had some sort of really crappy all-season tire or a performance tire on and I had to run snows. I'm thinking my stock Badlands tires will run double duty just fine.

 

[HarderCorer]

I'm thinking if you stick with any stock tire, you'll be fine if you drive according to the conditions. But, as Psute mentioned, you start getting into big ol tires made for other conditions, might be worth looking into a snow set or swapping back to the stock set for a few months each year.

Plus, it isn't really more expensive since it spreads wear between two sets. Just more up front and more work.

 

[XirallicBolts]

Minnesota does a good job salting the roads. Tennessee does not.

 

[Go_Galt]

Most modern A/T light truck tires are 3PMSF rated and perform very well in winter conditions. However, they still won't have the stopping distances or lateral grip of a dedicated winter tire.

How much that extra performance matters is up to you.

 

[Hkak45]

I'm thinking if you stick with any stock tire, you'll be fine if you drive according to the conditions.

This is the winning quote right here. I've seen people with brand new snow tires slide into a ditch because they thought they were invincible. Drive according to the conditions and any severe weather (mountain and snowflake) rated all season tire will do just fine. Snow tires will stop shorter distances because of the rubber compound but the key is driving proper given the weather conditions.

 

[Silver-Bolt]

4wd helps to get you going. It does not help with stopping or cornering. Tire compound is the biggest different. The rubber compound of winter tires does not get hard as the temperature drops. If you live in an area where the snow may melt during the day and re-freeze at night studs are the only way to go. Here in the Portland area our winters are not severe and don't last long. The KO2's on my Raptor do just fine unless we get an ice storm. For an ice storm anything short of chains won't get you far. For my place in NW Montana the Bronco we have studs for the winter.

 

[De Brus]

It’s really too bad the Sasquatch tires didn’t get the 3 peak rating. I think many of us were hoping they would be suitable for winter driving. I think my plan is to get the factory tires siped and hopefully use them in the winter, and buy new tires and wheels for all other times. Unfortunately, I’ll take delivery in the winter so I won’t have much time to wait for other people to experiment.

 

[LHD]

What am I missing? I have lived in MN almost my entire life. Why are people getting winter tires for the bronco. I understand for a M5 or some sports vehicle but why the bronco?

Ahhh, snow tires….So you can stop and turn corners without going into the wiggle weeds. Real snow tires (hakkepellittas, blizzaks, etc.) are an incredible upgrade. Once you drive on them in winter, you’ll never want to go back. Northern MN boy here and I won’t go without. 3 peak/all seasons just do not compare.

 

[Paul Gagnon]

Winter tires are amazing in ice and snow. It makes a night and day difference.

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