To avoid being one of the cars you often see on the news sliding down a wintry road, totally out of control, you need to make sure that you are ready for the winter. The reason why those cars are out of control and keep sliding is that they don’t have correct tires. Regardless of what vehicle you have, whether it is a truck or an SUV or a passenger car, you need dedicated tires for harsh winter conditions. A set of tires made for summer are not safe to drive in winter conditions. Summer tires are not designed for handling extreme winter conditions and low temperatures and that’s why it is dangerous to drive with them in winter.

In winter, you need dedicated tires that have been designed for winter use. Winter tires have specific rubber compounds that keep the tires soft and agile even at low temperatures. Without this your tire will become hard as a hockey puck and we all know how well it glides on ice. So, don’t fool yourself by the rugged look of your SUV summer tires. They will just behave like a rugged hockey puck unless you choose a tire that has been designed for winter.

A studded SUV winter tires will have studs embedded within the tread, to ensure that you have good traction, especially on ice. Also, the tread design is made so that you can easily drive on winter roads and the groove depth allows the tire to push away slush to ensure constant contact with the road surface. If you lose control with the surface when there is slush, you will have the same problem as when there is water on the road and your vehicle experiences aquaplaning. In slushplaning your tires will lose contact with the surface and you lose control over your vehicle. SUV Studded tires are the best you can have when you want the best possible grip on icy road.

You can also choose a SUV non-studded tires, which have unique rubber compounds and tread patterns to create traction on the winter roads.

Your last option if you tend to drive in areas that have more sporadic and mild winters, is to use a winter approved all-weather tire or all-season tire. Both are a good compromise to keep you safe regardless of weather and can handle both winter and summer surfaces.