Tire Rack Tire Test - Winter Tires: Mixed vs. Matched Tires

[spangleandmarmite]

Surely you'd put them on the front; if you only have two winter tyres. Especially if you have stability control.

[EliotQuebec]

do no buy bmw ,nissan or mitsubishi 4wd

[bythedog]

"All Season" indeed! The driver makes the difference!

[deezomaxima]

If u over or understeer during driving in snow, throw the car into neutral.

[moondog203]

1:04 was the car stuck? I've seen winter tires do better than that.

[Milehighsnake98]

A person shouldn't be driving if they don't know how to counter understeer, especially in a RWD car. I practice the utmost in car control, which means I take every turn sideways that I can safely (IE no traffic), because it gives me a better sense of the traction available, and I know how to counter it. Plus, I can keep more momentum when you don't have to slow down as much to fight understeer.

[kristjano123]

what if you put all season tyres to back and winter tires to front :D

[marky2112]

Nice try, tire company.

[320bit]

You guys have to ask yourselves. What good would it be to have grip in the front wheels if the drive wheels cant grip so you wont even move at all? Best just to get a set of 4 winter tyres anyway.

[tsxws]

Nice cummercial

[Technoboy1000]

but winter tires to front , all-s tires to rear and only problem you have is oversteer which is a lot better than understeer.

[lfsracer79]

@Technoboy1000

Having all-season tires in the back is a very bad idea, even worse than having them in the front. You don't want to hit a tree or another car sideways.

[320bit]

@Technoboy1000 Why is oversteer better? Neither one is good and a good experienced driver should be able to avoid both if they know their car. First off, in a RWD car if I had to, Id have the winter tyres on the back to get traction on the drive wheels. In slick weather, you should not be driving fast enough to create understeer, therefore understeer should not be a problem. The key is to know your car and its limits.

[Milehighsnake98]

@Technoboy1000 In a rear wheel drive car, I'd rather have throttle oversteer than LIFT throttle oversteer. Throttle oversteer is much more controllable.  With snows on the rear, I can combat understeer with throttle oversteer. How do you combat lift throttle oversteer in a RWD car? Add throttle just increases oversteer.

[vegas272007]

People think they can just put two winter tires in the front because their car is FWD, but when you go around a turn and your front tires grip and your rear tires dont, your ass will slide out and youll be ****ed

[wootness3000]

Then.. throw the winter tires on the front. :l Most cars are FWD anyway.

[pbgd3]

@wootness3000

Do this, video it... The car WILL go around backwards suddenly, it's essentially taking a car that is very difficult to spin under normal conditions, and making it suddently step out and spin. It'd be similar to missing a shift in a rearwheel drive car and locking up the rear wheels, whoomp... ditch.

[wootness3000]

@pbgd3 I have Blizzaks on my front two tires, with all-seasons on the back, I've never had a problem.

[pbgd3]

@wootness3000

Critically speaking... You not having had problems is not really that relevent. Get yourself into the right situation and it happens, I've experienced it personally. And there are good videos of it. It is the same reason that a decent tire guy will never install your new ones on the front in a FWD car. They always put the new ones to the back if they know shit about tires.

[wootness3000]

@pbgd3 I'd rather take the risk of fishtailing if it means I can steer more effectively, stop faster, and accelerate better.

[HackerB0y]

winter tires is the best especially nokian

[doodad]

WOW!!! Look at the red BMWs front wheels. he is literally going straight and then he turns the steering wheel, while the black one enters the corner while turning. Watch the wheel as soon as the red BMW appears on the screen, until right before he gets off the road. watch how he is going straight and close to getting out of the road, he turns the steering wheel a little bit. I am not saying 2 winter tires is just as good as 4 of them but for god's sake do a FAIR test. tirerack sucks balls!!!

[ryanbirch]

Problem with putting winters on the front but not the back is when you brake. The front tires get more grip than the rears and the back end of the vehicle will swing around on you..

[JRWILDY]

my car is fwd if you put winter tyres on the front i would have thought it would benefit a lot.ive just ordered 2 wintrac extreme for the front as they are the drive wheels and do most of the braking.

[norcobigfootrider]

@JRWILDY this is what i'm wondering, i've got 2 good winter tires for the front but my other ones are shot, i've got 2 all seasons i could put on the rear but i'm not sure if that'll work for me or not.

[JRWILDY]

@norcobigfootrider if your car is fwd and the winter tyres are on the front i cannot see any problem myself putting all season tyres on the rear.but thats just me if it was a bmw for instance which is rwd you would have to change all 4.

[norcobigfootrider]

@JRWILDY ya, that's exactly what i was thinking... plus it'll make e-brake drifting 10x easier lol.

[suicidalatalltimes]

this is a Daft test.. seeing as inertia laws effect the front of the car IE Braking and steering what dipshit puts the snow tires on the back ?

[lolMisterNine]

Regardless of FWD, RWD, or AWD the steering is done by front wheels, so

I want to see they put the winter tires at the front not the rear then compare.

I'm not saying that it will be better than equipped all wheels with winter tires though.

[JacanaProductions]

In Germany insurance companies state you must have snow tires or else they won't pay out if you're in a winter wreck. Makes sense to me. In the US ....... :(

[paintballgundown8]

i want to see awd all season vs rwd winter, i suppose besides accelerating theres no difference between the cars grip (other than weight distribution)

[Rlnthndr]

BMW's have one of the industrys best traction control systems. Guaranteed they turned the Traciton control off on the red one. My yukon with a more basic traction control system can make turns in both hard packed snow and 10 inches of snow. just fine as long as the TC is on with just basic all season tires on 20" rims.

[magicalpoop]

I drive a Mustang in Canada with All season plus NOKIAN TYRES.

I have to say, they are pretty damn good , not as good as true winter tires but definitely better than any winter tire.

[rallyramone]

Only in america people are so stupid that they need tests like this! Here in Finland everyone knows how important its to have proper winter tires... We have shown the real speed on ice and snow since 60's by "Flying Finns". What is speed without controll?

[parsley0120]

Are these BMW's AWD or RWD?

[snowrocket]

The BMWs shown are RWD. The physics involved still apply, though.

[valentino1123]

It doesn't matter, in snow it is slippery and hard to control the vehicle

[parsley0120]

It does matter... There is a big difference between RWD and AWD snow handling...

[sparkygl0s]

Funny how he slid off into a set of tracks already there. Looks like he had practised going off at that point. Hardly a car which has slid off, out of control.

[Poorestgump]

All cars of sorts weather rear, front drive or AWD needs 4 winter tires not just 2. This is because cars now a days can control independently acceleration, braking and traction of each wheels. Road conditions with unequal tires makes it unstable for the car to control on accidents.

[MaximumPower01]

Thanks Captain obvious!!  :)

[aznxkilla22]

@MaximumPower01 LOL!!!

[lucadya]

the guy never even steered the corner and if they say the steering is the problem put the winter on the front and all seasons on the back. all seasons do fine starting out.

[rtsoccerplayer]

that's even worse. with winter tires at the front and all seasons on the back. you will spin out under hard braking.

[snowrocket]

And with only snow tires at the front you'll tend to spin out on corners and while accelerating.

[rtsoccerplayer]

true, that too.

i dunno about accelearating, but definetly will spin out while cornering

[ozarkz]

Wow, what a load of shit, you can see the red car go straight and not ever turn his wheel until he is almost off the road

[locke6984]

It's called understeer. not being able to grip the front of the car to the road does this. You can't just drive with the rear wheels, you have to use all four.

[rtsoccerplayer]

compare the angle of the wheel of the black car to the angle of the wheel of the red car, its the same. its just that near the exit of the turn, the driver turned the wheel to the max cause the understeer was that bad

[MaximumPower01]

ozarkz, I agree.

Pause the video right at 0:57 and you can clearly see the red car is driving straight into the turn and doesnt cut his wheel until its too late.

I'd hardly call that understeer when its clear the driver isnt even trying to turn the wheel.

[Shikiouji]

so umm...how different would it be if i had an FF drivetrain?..

[Driving4Christ]

Quite different.

You will "benefit" from the front tires while breaking and turning.

I got 2 summer tires and 2 winter tires on my car, the winter ones are front left and rear right, they make a kind of an X shape. :P