If you live somewhere like Texas, Southern California or Florida or go there for the winter, you're rightly going to be pretty skeptical of anyone trying to sell you a set of winter tires for your daily ride, even in the winter. What's surprising though, is that a lot of people who live in places further north like us in Michigan where winter weather can get quite severe don't fit winter tires when the weather starts to close in. So, in Michigan where snow and ice can become a part of daily life during the winter months, here are a few reasons why fitting a special set of rubber to your Lincoln vehicle at that time of year makes so much sense.
The overwhelming reason for owning and using a set of winter tires is safety. It's amazing how so many people get hung up on IIHS and NHTSA crash test ratings, and what active and passive safety features are included when choosing a new car, but are then quite happy to drive on all-weather rubber in the snow and ice. What people like that are probably not aware of is just how far tire technology has progressed over the last two decades. It may be difficult for the uninitiated to believe, but these days, a high-quality set of winter tires can stop you on ice and in the snow pretty much as well as regular tires stop you on a dry road. It's even possible to get tire squeal when performing an emergency stop on ice with the very best winter tires. If you can get your head around actually being able to drive on ice and in the snow in a similar way to how you drive on a dry road in the summer, it really has to be worth looking into buying a set of these incredible tires for the winter.
Ok, an extra set of tires is going to cost you money, but the cost isn't actually as much as you might think by just looking at the price of those four winter tires. The bottom line here is that if you're going to drive your vehicle, you're going to wear your tires out eventually. But if you put your summer or all-weather set away for the winter, they're not going to experience any wear and tear while they're sitting in your garage or any other storage facility. The winter tires will be taking the strain instead, which means you're not going to be using any more rubber than if you had just the one set, and that will then prolong the life of the regular tires. Obviously, we're not trying to say there isn't some extra expense involved, but it's a small price to pay for something that could quite easily save lives.
The final objection against owning and using an extra set of tires is often the same reason why so many of us delay some vehicle maintenance for so long that it starts to cause additional problems and costs, which is inconvenience. Storing, transporting and changing tires can obviously be a bit of a bind, but there are ways of making the process of using winter tires a whole lot easier. The first thing is to keep them on a set of rims, which makes it fairly easy for them to be swapped over without having to visit a garage. And if storage and taking them to and from the garage if you want someone else to do it for you is too much trouble, there are plenty of fitters that will now store your extra set on their premises for you for a small fee.
Anyone who thinks a set of winter tires for driving in the snow and on the ice is an unnecessary expense and too much hassle really needs to think again. It's impossible to put a dollar price on the value of a life, but if you could, it would have to be whole lot more than the costs associated with owning and using a set of winter tires.
Source: //thechronicleherald.ca/wheelsnews/1247956-six-important-reasons-to-add-winter-tires-to-your-ride