I can’t summarize better what Inside Line posted about winter tires. Some of my old posts are below, but the Inside Line article is the most up-to-date.

• Winter Tires
• Winter Tires Over All-Wheel Drive

In case you still feel you don’t need winter tires, at a minimum walk around your car and test the tire pressure for all four of your tires. As the temperature drops, the pressure in  your tires will drop as well – usually far below recommended tire pressure. Better to do this now before it gets all snowy and wet outside. While you’re at it, check your oil level.

Autoblog did a test of all-season tires on an all-wheel drive car, the Subaru Legacy. They found that even with the all-wheel drive system, the all-seasons tires did not perform well in the snow at all. This result is made worse because many drivers with AWD feel safe to drive at speeds equal to dry conditions. One needs to note that all-wheel drive does nothing to help braking, and does little to help turning in low-grip conditions. This should be noticed by SUV drivers – who I find to the be worst offenders when it comes to not choosing winter tires.

I’m still a huge fan of most all-wheel drive systems, just pair them with good winter tires should the weather dictate their use.

Well winter is approaching and it’s time to do biannual car checkup. The time that you put on your winter wheels is the perfect time to do a walkaround and check everything else on the car.

Check your oil level. Yes cars come with oil lights but those don’t really warn you when the oil is low, only when the oil pressure is low. Those are not the same thing. If low, top it up. Check when your last oil change was. If it’s been over 6 months change it, regardless of the mileage.

Check your washer fluid. Now would be a good time to drain the summer fluid and put in a winter fluid that has antifreeze in it.

Check  your tire pressure. The manual should say how mcuh pressure should be in the tires. If you regularlly have the car full of passengers, the manual will probably recommend an increased tire pressure. Low tire pressures can hurt fuel economy and make your tires wear out prematurely.

Check your tire tread. Is the tread even? Uneven tread is a sign of poor wheel alignment. Is the tire tread too low, consider getting new tires. Keep in mind that some special winter tires have tread that don’t work past 50%. Be sure to follow the tire’s guidelines.

Check that all your lights are working. This includes accessory lights in the trunk, hood, doors, etc. Lights are generally easy to replace and can be done yourself.

Emergency Supplies. Make sure your have a spare or a tire pump kit in the trunk. Also good is a pair of thick gloves, a shovel, snow brush, ice scraper and a bag of sand/kitty litter. A lot of people recommend having a blanket and candle in the car in case you get stuck.

Happy Driving!

A lot of people pinged my Facebook when I mentioned I was buying from the US. With the Canadian dollar on a winning streak, it’s hard to ignore buying across the border.

TireRack is a well recognized size for US shoppers and they make buying in Canada very seamless. Their site quotes shipping to Canadian addresses as well as adding duty and brokerage fees already. The only thing you have to do is convert to CAD (which may even reach par soon).

Yes, it’s winter, so it’s time to shop for tires. Remember there are different types of winter tires: All-season winter tires, full winter tires and performance winter tires.

In Toronto I recommend full winter tires if you are a “must drive” type of person. Those that drive to work and drive every day will appreciate the traction on those stormy days. The top end tires in this category use multicell technology – a way of creating a tire that removes water from beneath the tire. I recommend Bridgestone WS-60 and Michelin X-Ice Xi2 and both use multicell compounds for the best traction on ice and packed snow. Tires without multicell technology are cheaper, but at a cost of ice traction – which probably is an OK sacrifice for Toronto.

Performance winter tires are better for occasional drivers and drivers that are willing to sacrifice some snow traction for some cold/dry performance. I bought one of the newest offerings in this category, the Bridgestone LM-60.

I don’t recommend any all season tires for winter in Toronto.

If you are interested in truck/SUV tires, see this article at Canadian Driver.

There’s a good article at Motive Magazine about winter tires. While they define three categories, one of their categories are still all-season tires which I don’t recommend for winteres – even in Toronto. Instead I’ve removed that catagory and added a third: the performance winter tire.

Ice and snow tires - the most hardcore of winter tires and is used for driving on packed snow and ice. Perfect for Dawson Creek weather but probably a bit too hardcore for Toronto with our adequate snow removal.

Winter tires - the “true” winter tire which is made to be good in snow but won’t give the same performance on packed as and snow as the “ice and snow” tires. However, these will not wear away as quickly when driven on lots of dry ashphalt and highway driving. These are best suited for Toronto winters.

Performance winter tires - these are a pretty new catagory and basically are winter tires made for low-profiles like sports cars. These generally have higher speed ratings as winter tires but you sacrifice some snow traction. I’ve been using the Pirelli Wintersport 210′s which fall in this category. Good for getting around but if there is 4″ of snow on the ground, stay home.

If you’re still running on all-seasons, it’s not too late to buy a set of winter tires and not have white-knuckle driving this Monday – yes, a storm is coming.