Winter Tire Types: Studless, Studdable and Studded

With winter quickly approaching, it is time to upgrade your tires to winter ones. However, winter tires come in a variety of forms:

• Studless
• Studdable
• Studded

These different tire types offer versatile traction options for winter conditions.

Deciding on the correct set of winter tires depends on a variety of factors: the driving and road conditions, the weather situations and the laws regarding studs in your state.

Let’s take a look at the difference between these tires:

Studless

Studless tires have, almost completely, switched out the roles studded tires used to have. They utilize modern tire compounds, ideal and detailed tread patterns and deeper tread depths to increase their traction in winter weather.

These tires are able to maintain their rubber flexibility in colder temperatures, as the compound’s rubber materials do not stiffen in such situations. Their tread design, which is often directional or asymmetric, promotes numerous biting edges which grip the ice- and snow-covered road surface. This is provided by the high-density siping pattern adorning the tread area that significantly increase the grip on the road surface. The deepened tread allows the tire to pack snow between the tread elements, which improves its snow-on-snow traction, boosting its forward motion. It also helps increase the hydroplaning resistance in wet and slushy conditions.

This combination of manufacturing elements enables studless winter tires to perform with the same integrity as studded winter tires did previously, making them more desirable on the tire market.

Studdable

Studdable tires are the perfect combination. The driver can choose whether they want to add studs to the tire’s tread area, or if they want to use it without studs.

Such tires are pinned for studs and they feature small holes on their tread area. The placement of these holes is strategic, based on the unique tread design of the specific tire. Of course, metal or rubber studs of the correct size can be added to the tread with a stud gun to increase their ice and snow grip. However, these tires are perfectly capable of handling severe winter weather conditions even without the additional studs. Furthermore, state laws govern the usage and type of studs allowed on their roads.

So, when deciding to stud these tires, be sure to check the laws governing their usage in your area first.

Studded

Studded tires used to be the norm for winter weather. These tires feature metal or hard rubber studs along their tread area which dig into the ice and snow covering the road surface.

The stud placement on the tread area allows the tire to increase its ice- and snow-covered road surface performance. As the studs are above the tread area by 1/32 of an inch, they dig into the road and terrain surface. Unfortunately, this means that studs try to offer the same traction in dry weather as well, which can potentially ruin the pavement of the road surface. Compared to studless tires, studded ones have a tendency to run the road down quicker. As a result, states have specific laws governing the use of studs.

While studded tires ruled the winter roads when they were invented, new manufacturing technologies and design patterns are replacing them on the tire market. Studded tires are recommended for use on off-road snow and ice terrains where severe winter conditions rule most of the time.