Winter is icumin in...

What can you tell about the owner of this car, just from the photo?

Other than (s)he has purchased what has to be the best car ever for about 75 percent of all Canadians?

The black steel rims are a semi-conscious (i.e., nearly-dead) give-away that said owner has already installed winter tires.

Not that there has been any snow - not that I have seen yet anyway, although I have heard that there have been flurries here and there in The Big Smoke.

But winter tires are no longer only about traction in snow.

The tread compound is designed to retain its flexibility in temperatures below 7 degrees C. so it can conform to irregularities in the pavement, which is what gives the tires their traction.

I know for a fact that these tires were installed before November 15 (mainly because this IS indeed my car...). Not that we live in Quebec, where that is the date you must install winter tires (Ontario isn't that advanced).

But because by this date, you can almost always count on temperatures dipping below that 7 degree C. threshold at some point during the day or night.

If you haven't switched yet, git 'er done.

All four wheels, please. Whether you have front-, rear- or four-wheel drive, both ends of the car have to corner and brake, and all four tires need similar levels of grip to maintain the car's balance.

The plain steel wheels are 'sacrificial anodes', to keep your alloys from being beat up by salt or curbs.

They also mean you don't have to have the tires ripped off one set of rims and squeezed onto another twice a year, which is pretty hard on them.

As an old Pirelli magazine ad (subsequently stolen by Michelin) used to say, "the tires are the only part of your car that actually touches the road."

So, like speakers in a sound system, tires are the last place you should scrimp or compromise.

You'll be thankful when that first snow DOES fall.

And so will the rest of us, because we will be less likely to be run into by you.

Comments

[angus mackenzie]

Should make the snow tire requirement a law in the fair state of Alberta as well. Too many dum Duma wait until after the first snow to change tires, if at all. There's a reason F1 doesn't run all seasons.

[Sean Nakoneczny]

Not only that Jim but, the good folks at the tire shop sure would appreciate it if you got them done in advance. Every year, the snow flies and the vehicles owners line up waiting and complaining about the wait. Meanwhile, they are stuck having to drive on their no-seasons until the back log clears. Just best to get them done now. No fuss, no muss.

[Jason]

I have said this over and over, winter tires should be mandated in Ontario just like how Quebec has. My family and my girlfriend's family all use winter tires. My father and I use Toyo G-02+, girlfriend uses Michelin X-Ice, her brother uses Good Year Fortera Triple Tread (winter tire for light trucks), his mother uses General Tire Altimax Arctic. We all believe the cost of winter tires is worth the money and a necessary safety item for any vehicle. Jim, please keep pushing for mandatory winter tires in Ontario! Thanks!

[Gord Irish]

Yes but please go to Canadian Tire and buy some inexpensive wheel covers. It is not even December and already I'm tired of seeing those ugly black wheels everywhere.

I bought my cars with factory steel wheels (and covers), those are installed now with the winter tires. Looks as good as when the cars came off the dealer's lot.

The summer tires are on aftermarket alloys, put away for the winter.

Gord

[DJL]

The problem with making winter tires mandatory in Ontario is the GTA and the "Sun Parlour" regions of Ontario. Toronto doesn't really get winter; once or twice a year Toronto gets dumped on, the rest of the time Toronto rarely sees snow. For most of the winter, Toronto roads are as dry as fall roads. In the "Sun Parlour" region around Essex significant snowfall or ice covered roads are even less likely. Forcing people in these regions to buy snow tires that they don't need for 90+ percent of the year is just going to piss people off. And given the voting clout that Toronto has in the province it's unlikely you'll ever see legislation making winter tires mandatory.

[Jim Kenzie]

Hi DJL:

Sorry; a somewhat belated reply!

The misconception that 'winter' tires are only for snow is all too common.

It is also a function of temperature. Any time the ambient temperature dips below 7 degrees C. - that's PLUS 7 - which is common everywhere in Ontario, even in the GTA and the "Sun Parlour", the rubber in 'no-season' tires starts getting harder, to the extent that grip even on dry pavement is compromised.

Now, it'd be hard to say whether any specific crash could be attributed to having no-season tires instead of proper winter tires fitted to the car.

But should we not all feel some obligation to make sure our cars are in the best possible condition to prevent crashes?

As long as it's cold enough to matter, that means winter tires.

I agree; the chances of getting them made mandatory in Southern Ontario anyway are slim.

Maybe if the courts started apportioning a larger portion of the blame for a crash to the owner of a car without them it might provide an additional incentive.

With our no-fault insurance system perhaps the insurance companies couldn't assign additional blame, hence a lower payout, but maybe they could offer a premium discount?