I read about them in Consumer Reports a few months ago. They are something in between “all-season” tires and “snow tires”. They are in fact all-seasons tires that are more biased toward wet and snowy weather.
I got a set of Toyo Celsius tires, and have driven through 2 considerably different storms so far. The first storm was considerably colder – temperatures hovering below 0, solid ice and hard ruts on the streets. Performance was – pretty good. The tires stopped me shorter and got me going a little quicker than my old ones, so it was about what I’d expect.
The second storm, though … Considerably warmer, temperatures hovering around freezing, so lots of mixed slush and snow and even pools of open water. The tires performed MUCH better. They tracked much better and slid much less. Clearly, in weather like this they’re in their element.
I put Goodyear Triple-Tred on all my cars. Not the cheapest, but not terribly expensive if you wait for sales and (frequent) rebates. Absolutely outstanding performance all the way to light snow and slush, and with the extremely variable weather here it’s not unusual for me to drive through dry/wet/raining/icing and back again in 20 miles. Summer tires or light-duty weather tires are not an option. (And they FINALLY released a size for my XC-90, so the worn Assurances - a more comfort-oriented cousin of the TTs - get replaced this spring.
For winter, though, at least one vehicle with real snow tires is not an option. The Blizzaks went on the 90 a few weeks ago, and it’s astonishing how much they turn slush and ice and heavy road coating to dry pavement.
I’m a little surprised you’d go with kind of “in between” weather tires in your location.
Goodyear Triple-tred are not legal in Quebec for winter driving. Quebec requires that during winter months, tires must bear the symbol with the mountain and snowflake. (Applies only to cars with Quebec plates.)
Apparently, Toyo Celsius DOES, and is legal in Quebec.
Yes, Toyo has a picture of the snowflake on the sidewall showing rather prominently on their web page. It took me a bit of time to figure out that would mean something to Canadians.
The Consumer reports testing showed it performing among the upper half of their tested winter tires. So it’s not an outstanding winter tire, but it’s a pretty good one, and also a pretty good all season tire. That makes it pretty damn good for this area. We don’t have real challenging roads around here, and really heavy snowfalls are fairly rare, and roads are plowed pretty promptly,
Consumer reports calls this an “evolving” class of tire. They mention three model/brands including the Toyos, and hope to add them all onto next year’s comparisons.
In the US, the only regulations I’ve heard about regarding tires is that some places require studded tires or snow chains on some roads during some months, and some places disallow studded tires and snow chains (I always assumed that this was to limit damage to the road surface, but that’s just a guess).
It sounds as if “all weather” has a leg up on “all season,” albeit by imprecise rules. I would have sworn my TT’s had the snow/ice rating, but I am obviously thinking of the Blizzaks I just mounted up. The TT’s do very well in moderate ice and snow but I do grab the AWD/snow tire option whenever there’s much crud on the roads.
I bought 4 Blizzaks mounted on wheels for my wife’s car. Around early December I put them on her car and take them off in March. They do an excellent job on snow and ice compared to the All Season tires that came with the car. I don’t bother going through all the trouble of resetting the tire pressure sensor when I put on the Blizzaks.
You really don’t want to drive on snow and ice tires when the the temps above 50°F as the rubber is very soft and wears quickly. If it gets that warm, we take my car.
Swapping out the tires seasonally like that gives me some exercise and allows me to look at things like the brake pads and suspension.
Yep, the 90 my wife usually drives has two sets and we just pulled the Blizzaks down and mounted them. In six winters, we’ve left them on the rack two. One year, I mounted them early, I thought, simply because I had time - and a huge storm blew through the next day, one she had to drive 50+ miles in the aftermath of. That was a nail-buffing moment.
