Tires and rims are both expensive and unwieldy, especially if they belong to a large SUV. The allure of being able to drive on a set of tires and rims all year round is thus obvious.
In recent years, so-called all-year tires have become increasingly popular, but according to Folksam, these are not recommended for most people.
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50 percent longer braking distance
Folksyhas, in collaboration with VTI, carried out a winter test of all-year tyres, where they have been compared with studless Nordic winter tyres.
The biggest weakness of the all-season tires was found to be braking performance on ice, which was between 20 to 50 percent longer compared to a Nordic studless winter tire.
On snow, the difference was not as dramatic, with between 8 and 40 percent longer braking distances for the all-season tires.
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Big risk of choosing wrong
The very best all-year tires thus approach the Nordic studless winter tires in terms of braking performance on snow.
According to Anders Ydeniustraffic researcher at Folksam, however, the risk is that you get a tire with markedly poorer performance if you choose an all-year tire.
– Although it is possible to find individual all-year-round tires with relatively good properties on snow, the difference between different all-year-round tires is large. On ice, the all-year tires show big differences and generally have much worse braking properties than Nordic winter tires. The large differences mean that the risk of a substandard choice of winter tires is high, if you choose year-round tires, says Anders Ydenius, traffic researcher at Folksam.
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Modern assistance systems do not help
The percentage who drive on studless tires in Sweden in the winter has in recent years risen to 40 percent, and of these around 20 percent drive on all-year tires.
It is easy to think that modern cars, with their modern safety systems, can compensate for slightly worse tires, but this is not the case according to Anders Ydenius.
– There is reason to believe that more car owners as well as leasing companies can see all-year tires as an alternative. It may seem tempting to avoid cumbersome, costly wheel changes and tire storage. But the performance of the tires is an important link in critical situations when you as the driver or the car’s own assistance system may need as good friction as possible to avoid an accident, says Anders Ydenius.
Folksam only recommends that you choose year-round tires if you mainly drive on dry and wet surfaces in the winter, but then it is important to choose the tires that receive the absolute best ratings in consumer tests.
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