Rubber has a more important role than you think in road-going cars, not just racing cars. Your means of personal transportation can have the most powerful engine, fastest transmission, and best suspension design in the industry, but all those details would be for naught without quality tires.
The question is, which compound and tread pattern are best for winter driving? Tommy Mica decided to find out by testing all-season, all-weather, and snow tires on a brand-new Toyota RAV4 Hybrid at 10,000 feet above sea level in Colorado, and obviously, the results couldn’t be more different.
Michelin Primacy A/S tires come standard on the compact crossover, and they’re pretty good on paper. Bear in mind, however, that all-season rubber is compromised in every season by design. Accelerating from a standstill up a steep hill covered in snow, the RAV4 Hybrid exhibits a lot of wheel spin off the line, lots of traction control intervention, and a little sliding. The stopping distance from 25 miles per hour (40 kilometers per hour) isn’t great either.
Next up, Bridgestone Ecopia are low-resistance tires designed for all-season driving. They’re better than the Michelins under acceleration, and surprisingly enough, they stop better than the Primacy A/S. Tommy then switches to Firestone WeatherGrip all-weather tires with the three-peak mountain snowflake symbol branded on the sidewall. They’re the least expensive option at $112.99 per corner for the RAV4 Hybrid, and the softer compound should make them better in the snow compared to the Michelins and Bridgestones.
“Big transformation” is how Tommy describes these babies over the all-seasons tested earlier, and they won’t disappoint you under braking either. Be that as it may, it’s obvious that nothing comes close to a proper winter tire such as the Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V2 that costs $138.99 per corner.
Because of the super-soft compound and more aggressive tread pattern, these bad boys aren’t as economical and don’t last as long as all-season or all-weather options. On an ending note, it's imporant to highlight that there are two things you should always consider when buying a new set of tires.
First of all, never cut corners with unknown brands. Secondly, it would be in your best interest to match the tires with your state’s weather conditions.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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