If you live somewhere where it gets cold but rarely, if ever, snows, should you still swap out your summer or all-season tires for some winter rubber?
According to Engineering Explained, you might simply be better off utilizing your regular tires, especially if you’re focusing on stopping distance when braking for an emergency.
This experiment was carried out in freezing temperatures (between 24 F / – 4 C and 26 F / – 3 C), and with three braking tests apiece, it was the summer tires that stopped in a considerably shorter distance.
Their best result was 127.1 feet (38.7 meters), while the winter tires only managed 156.7 feet (47.8 meters), and yes, that’s is a disturbingly big difference.
Now, we should point out that the conditions for this test were very specific (outside temp, road surface, tire width) and that the tread pattern you get on winter tires will prove useful more often than not, as roads can get slippery even if there’s no snow or ice around.