Best Tires For a Minnesota Winter: All-Season or All-Weather?

As summer fades away (then comes back with a vengeance and then politely leaves again) and fall foliage beautifies the landscape, something creeps into the back of Minnesotans' minds: winter driving is coming. Insert that Game of Thrones "Brace Yourselves..." meme here.

Which tire you should get depends on the weather (which depends on which prediction source you prefer). There are three main types of tires to choose from.

Which Tire Should I Choose For Winter Driving in Minnesota?

Hey, I've seen this horror flick! (Photo by Shane Rounce on Unsplash)

Option #1: Winter Tires

While it seems like the logical choice for winter driving, winter tires are for very specific winter conditions:

temperatures below 45°F
driving on actual snow
harsh winter conditions; basically, the exact opposite of what we had last winter

Winter tires will wear out a lot faster if the above conditions aren't met. The tires are able to stay soft in colder temps and have a blocky tread to keep a better grip on the road and push slush away. They'll have a mountain/snowflake symbol on the sidewall to indicate their strength in harsh winter driving conditions.

If you have no problem with frequently changing tires (and can afford to own two full sets of tires for one vehicle...good for you) then they're a good option to have on standby incase we get a "Minnesota Halloween 1991"-type winter.

Option #2: All-Season Tires

In hindsight, these tires would've been perfect for Minnesotans last winter:

for temperatures above 45°F
best for warm, dry, and wet (not frozen) conditions
a finer tread that grips well in almost anything except snow
tire is made of a harder compound to last longer

"All-Season" tires have M+S on the sidewall, which indicates it does okay in "mud + snow" conditions...but not great.

Option #3: All-Weather Tires

All-Season tires are not the same as All-Weather tires, which:

are for temperatures above and below 45°F
mixes the treads of Winter and All-Season Tires
have tire material stays flexible in a wider range of temps
have the mountain/snow symbol on the sidewall

The Takeaway

If you can afford Winter Tires on their own rims (and have the space to store them), they're an ideal tire for winter in Minnesota (with or without snow, since tire studs are banned in Minnesota). If you can only afford one set at a time, All-Weather are the best overall choice for our climate.

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