Do 4WD Vehicles Need to Change to Snow Tires in Winter?
2 Answers
4WD vehicles need to change to snow tires in winter. Reduced grip, snow tires can improve traction: Because in cold environments, the rubber of summer tires hardens, leading to reduced grip, while winter tires use a softer rubber compound specifically designed to enhance traction. Snow tires can lock snow more easily: The friction between snow and snow is the greatest, so the tread patterns of winter tires are specially designed to lock snow more effectively. The rubber of regular summer tires gradually hardens, and their performance decreases accordingly. To ensure good grip and handling performance on winter roads and to guarantee driving safety, it is very necessary to switch to winter tires.
Four-wheel drive does enhance traction during acceleration, but that doesn't mean winter tires aren't necessary in winter. Winter tires use special rubber that remains flexible even at temperatures dozens of degrees below zero, whereas regular tires become hard and lose grip below -7°C. I've personally experienced this driving my 4WD SUV - on frosted paved roads, the braking distance with regular tires was over a car length longer than with snow tires. When turning on icy surfaces, four-wheel drive may help you exit corners faster, but regular tires simply can't provide sufficient lateral grip, making loss of control very likely. On black ice, even the best four-wheel drive can only reduce the probability of skidding - the key is still the dense siping patterns of winter tires that bite into the ice surface. The most economical approach is actually to keep four dedicated rims for snow tires, making the seasonal changeover cost just around a hundred yuan each year.
