WINTER DRIVING TIPS
Driving safely in winter conditions requires knowledge, skill and four winter tires with proper tread.
- Drive with two hands. Always.
- Before turning, slow down while traveling in a straight line.
- While turning, maintain a slow and regular speed. If you accelerate suddenly, your tires could lose traction.
- While turning, don’t make any sudden steering wheel movements.
- Only brake in a straight line before the turn, and do so gradually. Do not brake during the turn.
- Increase your following distance from other cars significantly.
- If your wheels lock and slide, release the brake pedal to recover traction, then slowly brake again.
- Try to avoid changing lanes in slush. It’s safer to change lanes when slush is not on the road.
- If using chains, check for proper clearance between the tire and the vehicle, as well as the clearance between dual tires.
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Frequently asked questions
BFGoodrich answers your most asked questions.
FAQ
Yes. Four-wheel drive and all-wheel drive help you accelerate on slippery surfaces. They do nothing for stopping or turning, both of which depend entirely on tire grip. You still need winter tires on both the front and rear. A front-wheel drive car on four winter tires will out-brake a 4WD vehicle on all-season tires on ice.
When temperatures are consistently below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Below that threshold, all-season and summer compounds harden and lose grip even on cold dry pavement, before any snow or ice is present. Switch based on temperature rather than waiting for the first snowfall, which leaves you unprepared for early frost and black ice.
About an inch is enough. Drivers routinely underestimate light snow because the road still looks mostly clear. A thin layer over cold pavement, especially where traffic has compacted it into a polished surface, can be as slippery as deeper snow and gives far less visual warning that grip has changed.
Slow down before you need to. Brake in a straight line before entering a corner, never during it. Increase following distance substantially. Make all steering, throttle, and brake inputs smooth and gradual. Keep both hands on the wheel. These four adjustments work with whatever grip your tires have available.
No. Winter tires must go on all four positions. Fitting them on only two axles creates a traction imbalance. Winter tires on the front only leaves the rear likely to slide out in a corner or under braking. Winter tires on the rear only leaves you without front steering and braking grip. Both are unpredictable in an emergency.
Related pages
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Oversteering and Understeering
Take a turn too fast and one of two things happens. In understeer, the front tires lose grip and the vehicle continues straight even though you have turned the wheel. In oversteer, the rear loses grip and swings wide. Each has a different correct response, and the instinctive reaction is usually wrong in both cases. Wet conditions make both far more likely.View more -
Driving on Wet Roads
There’s a trick to driving in wet conditions. You ready? Here it is. SLOW DOWN. Seriously, if more drivers would heed this advice in the rain, accidents would dramatically decrease. Wet weather doesn’t get the same attention as snow and ice, but it should. Wet roads present similar dangers—like less grip and longer stopping distance. To watch wet weather driving techniques, watch the video below, which was shot on a professional wet track with a professional driver.View more -
Road Trip Tips
Luggage packed, tank full, GPS set, seatbelt on. You are not ready yet. Your tires are the only thing between you and the open road, and a tire problem 300 miles from home is a very different situation from one near your house. The pre-trip check is short: pressure on all four plus the spare compared against your door jamb sticker, and tread checked both visually and with the penny test.View more -
Tips to Get Better Gas Mileage
Some tires grip better. Some last longer. Some are engineered specifically to deliver better gas mileage through lower rolling resistance. Rolling resistance is the energy your tire consumes deforming against the road with every rotation, and it is one of the few fuel economy variables you directly control. The other is inflation pressure, which costs nothing to get right.View more -
Off-Road Driving Tips
Off-road driving rewards technique over throttle. In sand and snow, if your wheels start to spin, ease off the gas to let the tires slow and regain traction. In mud you want the opposite: maintain some wheel spin to help clear mud from the drive tires. Approach obstacles at an angle so one tire engages while the other three stay on solid ground. On hills, approach straight on and always have an escape plan.View more