why wouldn’t it be? don’t have tire shops over there?
I’m in Chicago and had virtually no problem with all season tires for ten years on my Civic. Including being one of the only fools crazy to go to make hospital rounds the day of the 2011 blizzard that dumped over 20 inches. (It was spooky, no one else on the roads but a few plows and a few abandoned vehicles.) I was able to make it to the hospital but the road to the office was impassable.
We get snow but usually it is cleared enough that winter tires seem superfluous. The dangerous ones are the big SUVs who think that size weight and winter tires mean they don’t need to slow down; none of the above help much on ice.
Canada, mountain driving in winter … hell skip the winters and get chains or cables. But city driving in winter? Do we really need to change out tires?
For those who do, do you manage it as part of a tire rotation schedule?
Yeah, my tires get rotated every 6 months.
Where would we get our winter tires from if we didn’t? :dubious:
But when the snow comes, there’s long enough lines for putting new tires on the rims or just having the wheels changed. Changing tires on the rims twice a year seems kind of excessive, gets a bit expensive and takes a bit more time compared to just slapping the other set of wheels on the car. Since we generally pay our workforce a decent salary, with compulsory paid vacation time, the cost per hour, even for low-income workers, is a bit higher over here than it is on your side of the pond.
I’ve never heard of any Norwegian, Swede nor Finn who prefers the hassle of schlepping the wheels to the shop and wait for the shop to switch the tires on the rims twice a year when they can change the wheels a lot quicker, even by themselves at home if they want to. And I wouldn’t recommend using expensive alloy rims in the wintertime because of the salt, slush, mud and grime we have for some 4-6 months of the year.
Don’t forget about curves and corners, too - you can do fine going in a straight line, but as soon as you want to corner, WHEEE! Off into the ditch or onto someone’s lawn. Also, off-ramps - the main road might be completely dry, but the ramps off of the main road can still be covered in ice and snow, and if you haven’t slowed down in advance, you might lose control on the ramp.
We have those, too - I’ll have to be careful not to send them shooting at anyone.
Jim and I both have two sets of tires for our two cars - the local tire shop we went to (Kal-Tire) changes our tires out for free since we bought the tires and the rims from them. I can fit all four tires in my Corolla, no problem. Then they get stored under the bench in the garage.
Is that what they’re calling it now? 
I’m pretty sure skinny supermodels would kill me. Too much wear, especially when it heats up real good.
Wait. Are we still talking about different models of winter tires?
What is this ‘snow and ice’ of which you speak? Here the only crystalline water I get is in a tumbler with some nice single malt Scotch whiskey.
We have two seasons here, wet and dry. Temperatures are rarely an issue. In the dry season, any common street tires are fine. During wet season we frequently watch drivers head off down rain soaked streets into unknown depths of water. When their cars begin to float sideways, the type of tire becomes irrelevant. Such hijinks are the hallmark of new residents, or complete dumbasses – or both. Previous experience in the aforesaid ‘snow and ice’ conditions is apparently of no benefit. Pointing and laughing is allowed. Even the local TV news crews indulge in it.
Around here, you can rent storage space for the out-of-season set of tires - often at the same places that change the tires. That takes care of both storage and transport issues.
I hear that a lot regarding the trials & tribulations of Florida residents
Allowed? Heck, I hear it’s encouraged!
Yeah, we don’t call it Flori -duhh!! without reason. 
This is what I did when I had my 1987 Cutlass with factory chrome rims. It was an especially good idea after I found out that replacement chrome rims cost $396 each (not including the center cap) and that was almost 20 years ago.
That’s what led me to pick the store I picked for buying the winter tires for my Mustang when I bought it a year ago – they store them offsite, and all I have to do is set up an appointment to get the tires swapped, giving them a couple of days to get my tires back from the warehouse. More convenient than trying to figure out how to schlep two Blizzaks from my house to the tire place, in a Mustang… 
Yeah, you’re right. But far from everybody uses that option; IIRC it costs you about 250-300€ (around $350) for a whole year.
When I was a student, I couldn’t afford that. Heck, I hardly could afford having a car! Now I can afford it, but I prefer to be able to change tires just when I need to instead of waiting for an appointment when everyone else also wants to have their tires changed. And there’s room in my garage for a couple of sets of off-season wheels 
Comparison between all-season and snow tires can be found here, for those seeking hard stats:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=154
Stats on ice:
Braking 12-0 mph (20-0 km/h)
Bridgestone Blizzak WS70
(Studless Ice and Snow) 35.1 ft.
Bridgestone Turanza EL400-02
(Standard Touring All-Season) 53.6 ft.
So, that’s a pretty decent difference right there.
Tire Rack is the best source in North America for information and comparisons between tires.
They have excellent service and a large, well rounded customer base that provide honest reviews and are knowledge about the subject. It’s not always the cheapest place, but it’s very competitive and likely cheaper than the store in your local mall. While they do ship mounted tires, most folks have it done locally. Tire Rack will recommend a local installer if your usual guy puts up a fuss because you didn’t buy from him.
I have no connection to the company except as a customer. I just want everyone to be aware of this source if they are not already.
My only complaint with them was that they don’t sell the brand of studded snow tires that I favor. But I’ve bought car tires, truck tires, race tires, and trailer tires from them at one time or another. They know their stuff and they aren’t always trying to move me up to a more expensive tire.
I have never even heard of someone who does it. The idea seems just weird.
I don’t care about Norwegians, Swedes, or Finns. I’m not shelling out for another set of alloy wheels, and it’s difficult to find steels for my car.
I’m terribly sorry I’ve upset you and mentioned something you don’t care about.
Not really. If you can’t stomach an example of how people in some parts of the world - you know, outside good ol’ USA - find the concept of changing tires on their rims twice a year totally weird, that’s not my problem.
Pretend ALL garages have to pay wage rates set by UAW, and that we’re talking about the UAW prior to Detroit actually feeling the pinch from Japan/etc stealing their customers.
THEN it makes sense to change your own tires/rims/etc out rather than going to the shop.