There. I said it. They're an expensive, short-lived rip-off. I know, I know, I done gone and attacked a sacred cow...but I can do it with both personal experience, and data. I first came to this conclusion after buying Nokian WRG3 SUV tires. They didn't do a darn thing in the ice and snow better than my LX20's that were near worn out, at the time. They were loud. They hydroplaned. They handled poorly. And to top it off, they didn't grip any better at all in snow and ice.
FFWD a few years and I changed vehicles, and got some CrossContact LX25's. These things make my AWD SUV a true tank in the snow (albeit a light one...). So it got me to wondering...why the heck do people bother with snow tires if they won't stud them? I looked at the data, and I think the only reason they do it is because they are stuck in the past when it mattered more/older technology was prevalent, or because they are just super susceptible to marketing.
First, this is a short video of me driving with my LX25's. Solid.
Next up is the data. We are sadly not able to compare on the same day, or same vehicle, but part of the "Snow tires! YOU NEED THEM!" argument is also predicated on "Your vehicle doesn't matter, AWD doesn't matter, FWD with snows all day long over All-season and AWD!".
The only category in which the true snow tires bested the CrossContact LX25 was "stopping on ice", and both were pretty dismal, with a roughly 25% advantage to the snow tire. Stopping on snow, actually favored the LX25 over the snow tires. You will note that 20mph was used for the snow stop with snow tires, and 25, for the all-seasons, making the LX25's victory all that much more impressive.
The sedan with true snow tires performed worse lap times than the Q5 2.0 with LX25's.
So again, if we are to argue about things other than tires...doesn't this also defeat the "Snow tires are better than even the best AWD blah blah blah..." argument? It really paints the "Snow tires are best" crowd into a nasty corner where you're forced to admit that what vehicle you drive, even of similar weight, etc. matters more than snow tires or not, or to admit that a good all season is just as good as a snow tire. Either way, I won't ever be buying snow tires unless they are studded, because both my experience, and empirical data, seems to indicate that they are pretty poor purchase choices. I'll stick with quality AWD vehicles and excellent all season tires because:
-All wheel drive and a good system helps with a myriad of situations and is always there for you.
-All season tires last a lot longer and typically cost less (As you note, the ones in my video are 45K miles old and still doing great).
-All season tires are much safer in the rain typically, and handle better, are quieter, and ride better.