If we start by looking at what all-season tires are. They are basically summer tires, tires that should be used during warm seasons and not during winter conditions. In North America the term all-season tires are more commonly used than summer tires, a little bit in the same way that snow tires are used to describe winter tires. All-season tires are designed for dry and wet weather above the freezing point. The rubber compound used in these tires will get hard at low temperatures and won’t be able to provide the necessary grip needed for safe driving. In addition, the tread is not designed for snow, so you will not get the necessary traction and snow will most likely get stuck in the tread. You also have no chance on ice and the vehicle with hard tires will glide like a hockey puck on ice.
When you use all-season tires, you should make sure that you select premium all-season tires. The Finnish tire manufacturer, Nokian Tyres, have a set of tires called Nokian eNTYRE that actually have some winter grip if that would be needed. This is great and adds a lot of safety when you are surprised by a sudden weather change. It is still not recommended to use these tires for driving in proper winter weather, but they do add a lot more safety than the tires from the other manufacturers.
Nokian Tyres was actually the inventor of winter tires, you can imagine that everything that they do, will be of high quality and can cope with challenging conditions. Their range of winter tires are best in class, so if you want to add safety to your all-season tires, choose the Nokian eNTYRE. You can also go for a set of all-weather tires, which if they are approved for winter use, can handle any type of weather and are good both during summer and winter conditions. This saves you the trouble of having to change tires between summer and winter. This is convenient for areas with changing weather conditions and a lack of proper reoccurring winter.
If you do however have real winters, real dedicated winter tires are always the best option. For dedicated winter tires you have two options, non-studded and studded tires. Studded tires have the best grip of any tires during winter conditions, especially on ice. They are however not approved for use in all areas and if they are allowed, they tend to be regulated in terms of their use. If you instead use non-studded winter tires, make sure that you also here go for premium tires and of course Nokian Tyres have a good range of non-studded tires that are able to provide excellent grip on both snow and ice without studs. They have been able with relentless tire technology been able to develop tires that are basically as good as the studded tires, so that you can stay safe while driving in harsh winter conditions. These tires should though only be used during the winter season and be changed to all-season tires once the winter is over.
For more information regarding the use of all-season tires that can handle some degree of winter conditions, visit: nokiantires.com