All-weather vs winter tires: which do you need in Toronto?

If your winters are mostly plowed city streets, all-weather tires can be enough. If you deal with ice, unplowed roads or long highway drives out of the city, a dedicated winter tire still stops and turns better. Neither is a scam. They solve different problems, and the right one depends on how you actually drive between November and March.

Three kinds of tire, not two

The names make this harder than it should be, so here is the plain version.

All-seasontires are what most cars come with from the factory. They're built for spring, summer and fall. Below about 7°C the rubber stiffens and grip drops off, snow or no snow.

Winter tires use a soft compound that stays flexible in deep cold, with deep tread and lots of small cuts (sipes) that bite into snow and ice. They go on in the fall and come off in spring.

All-weathertires sit in between. They carry the three-peak mountain and snowflake symbol, which means they passed a snow traction test, but they're built to stay on the car all year.

Where winter tires still win

On ice, on packed snow, and on a cold morning well below zero, a winter tire gives you shorter stopping distances and more grip in a corner. That gap is widest exactly when you need it most: the first icy morning, the intersection that never got salted, the 401 in a squall. If your winter driving takes you outside the city, up north, or onto roads that are plowed last, that difference is the whole point.

Where all-weather tires win

They never come off. No twice-a-year changeover, no second set to store, no booking in the November rush. For a driver who stays mostly on main roads in Toronto and can work from home on the worst storm days, that convenience is real.

The catch is wear. Because all-weather tires run through the summer heat too, they usually wear faster than an all-season would, and they give up some of the summer handling an all-season has. You're buying one compromise tire instead of two specialist ones.

What each costs you over a year

A winter setup means two sets of tires and two changeovers a year. At Boss Tire a seasonal changeover starts at $160before tax, depending on your vehicle, and storage for the set you're not using is $110if you don't want it in your garage. Each set only wears for half the year, so it lasts longer.

All-weather means one set and no swap, but that set does all the wearing. Over the life of the car the gap is smaller than it looks, and the insurance discount can tip it: some insurers only give it for dedicated winter tires. We cover that in are winter tires mandatory in Ontario.

Which one we'd tell a Toronto driver to buy

Mostly city, mostly main roads, and you'd rather never think about a changeover: all-weather is a reasonable choice. Commuting on the highway, driving north for the weekend, parked outside overnight, or a newer driver: put a proper winter set on. If you're going winter, putting the set on its own rims makes every swap quicker; see winter rims and packages.

Call the shop with your tire size and we'll tell you what we have that fits, or browse new and used tires.