I agree with P.J. Hill’s commentary on studded tires that appeared in the ADN on Dec. 14. But I wanted to emphasize, studless winter tires work extremely well!
After living on a long, steep, curvy, narrow road in Anchorage for 18 years and wearing out my studs every three years, I decided to try studless tires in 2003 on my SUV. They worked so well I got them for my wife’s car. We have had nothing but studless tires for 18 years and have never been stuck or in an accident. We get five years out of studless compared to three for studded tires.
Many studies have shown that studless winter tires — not all-season tires — do better or equivalent compared to studded tires more than 90% of the time. Studs work better on wet glare ice, but when you have glare ice on a hill like I have to get home, not even studs work. I have to put chains on.
— David Irons
Anchorage
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