This is the start of a LOT of winter content coming, so make sure you've subscribed and hit that bell icon if you haven't already. It should be a new video every few weeks until December 🥳

Awd is good for acceleration. Winter tires are good for turning and braking, which is more important for safety.

You've demonstrated something that, sadly, most Americans refuse to recognize: 4WD is GREAT for improving the GO in the snow, but HORRID for improving the WHOA. Soooooo many people drive WAY TOO FAST in the snow in their 4WD/AWD SUVs around here, and ditch (bin) them constantly because of it. NEVER DRIVE FASTER THAN YOU CAN STOP! That's a rule people just don't remember any longer.

Of course you need winter tires for awd. Awd is only helping for the starting movement. Still need to steer and brakes which so much safer with proper winter tires.

I’d love to see a FWD vs AWD with all season and winter tires

Have no snow in my country.. but I’m still watching this

Everytime it snows here, the first vehicles in the ditch (either buried to the axles, on their sides, or upside-down) are 4WD pickups.

The point about cornering and braking is absolutely key - near me there is a long steep gently curving main road and every time we get the English 2 days of snow, you will see stranded big 4X4s on 'all season' tyres where their owners have discovered that their 4x4 can start but gravity and compacted snow decides their direction of travel and when they get to stop

There was a 2 year period where I had an AWD WRX with all season tires and my mom had a FWD Saturn with snow tires and if I had to choose which one I wanted to drive in some ugly winter weather it would be that FWD Saturn with snow tires. The WRX could get going fine but braking and cornering got rather sketchy at times where as the Saturn felt completely stable and in control.

This channel should have 10 times the subscribers, its content is on point!

In North America’s far north I had always driven full size 4x4 pickups with good all season tires on them year around because those were the tires available to us at the time.When dedicated winter tires starting gaining in popularity I was firmly in the ‘who needs winter tires’ camp. Finally about 10 years ago more out of curiosity than anything I finally put a set of winter tires on my truck of the time and was quite shocked at how much better the truck handled. I no longer had to subconsciously gauge sliding and drifting distances from experience while driving as the vehicle mostly started, stopped, and steered just like it did in the summer. I haven’t gone back to all seasons in winter since then.

I love your channel and this is a test I've been waiting for. I would have really liked to have seen more on turning and braking (including things like "winter tires + 2WD stopped x feet / meters sooner than all-season tires + 4WD"). This video confirmed what a lot of us already intuitively understood: AWD provides a traction advantage under acceleration that is far greater than the advantage provided by winter tires. The vast majority of Americans -- even those who live in winter climates -- don't seem to understand that AWD does nothing to help you stop or turn and they feel like AWD is all that's needed for driving in the snow. I live close to Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, and Solitude in Utah. We have a traction law in the canyons leading to these ski areas that requires (a) AWD and M+S (i.e. all-season) tires or (b) 2WD and three-peak mountain snowflake (i.e. winter) tires. Seems like a miss to me, but I guess by the time these vehicles are coming down (when tires are way more important than AWD), the roads are pretty clear and plows are doing their thing...

Finally! The test I've been waiting for!

This was cool! You can't even imagine how many questions you have answered!

I've been looking for a video like this. Every video is 4wd summer vs 2wd winter so it's good to see this comparison. Great vid, looking forward to your upcoming content!

Great video and demonstration! I run General Tire G-Max on my 350Z and Grabber ATXs on my Silverado and I do notice in the rain both vehicles have a good amount of grip. I think when it comes to compound and siping General Tire really knows what they're doing and probably why those all season tires did pretty good. I would still prefer to run a dedicated winter as I tried the ATXs in the winter last year and even with the snow flake rating, they don't feel as sure footed as a winter tire does when braking and cornering as explained in the video.

As always, great content and we appreciate all your hard work that goes into making these videos

Great demonstration. Makes sense, because my VW R32 on A/S tires always was surprisingly effective on snow.

Because of you I bought the right tires because of your videos about a year ago thanks man you save me a big Headache and you save me money from not buying the wrong tires

Really interesting stuff as usual. Not entirely what I expected either, I guess that's why you do these things! Food for thought after the all season comparison you did.

It's not fair for winters, with all that weight over front axle. Something like 3 series estate rear driven vs xdrive would give us more idea about differences, I reckon.

Great comparison! Once you drive through a nasty winter storm on ice all you’ll ever want is 4WD/AWD with winter tires. Trucks are great but transfer case binding and low weight on rear tires make them tricky. Still drive one though!

Awesome, thanks for the vid! I've been on the lookout for this since the H/T vs A/T vs M/T video. I'm proud to say I have the HTS60s on my 2014 Sierra 4x4 for the Canadian winter.

So, you decided to wear properly for winter this time! :) Love your comparisons, thanks a lot!

My early 90's Cavalier does surprisingly well, even in deep snow, with set of 4 winter tires on it.

"Editing magic"

Love this video! For a couple of reasons... Good question asked, european pickup, thorough tests... but I do enjoy Most Tyre Reviews films... Well it is nice to see someone is also enthousiastic about tires. Cheers to the entire TR team

That is a test I wanted and waited for long time!

Conclusion : rear 2 wheels drive is shit on snow when the engine is in the front.

Excellent video! I think this helps prove that unless you live in a place where snow is covering the roads for multiple months of the year (as in not plowed or melted quickly), a 4wd vehicle with good all season tires is more than adequate to keep you safe and in control.

That's a good test and I'm not surprised that the 4x4 system on all seasons gave better acceleration. A test that is like to see is a fwd car on winter tires vs an AWD car on all season. I have winter tires on my fwd car and I've never driven a car with that much grip in the snow.

Your videos are just so relaxing and informative. I can watch all day!

For me, living in the High Peak of the UK and doing a modest 3k miles/year good all-season tyres on a Subaru with the backup of carrying a full set of chains and a shovel is the solution. I think the marginal benefit of the winter tyre has to be measured against their (generally) inferior performance outside of snow/ice conditions especially as wet conditions are so much more prevalent in most of the UK. As you demonstrated you are not reliant on keeping up momentum with the AWD + All-season combination so can take it easy and compensate for the slightly lower stopping and cornering performance of the all-season vs the winter tyre for the small proportion of the time we are driving on snow and ice.I should say that people outside the UK tend to laugh at our winter conditions but when we get a decent fall of snow followed by a few days of partial thaw and re-freeze we get the snow packing down and forming a polished ice surface that would not disgrace a skating rink. This is the point at which the people with summer tyres start to form Torvil & Dean appreciation meetings in the bottom of all the dips on untreated roads. Perhaps countries that insist on 3PMSF-rated tyres in winter have it right, at least for parts of the UK.

This test is relevant for us here in the NW US. Thank you

Already bought Hancook for one of our cars based on your videos, having had a puncture on a fairly new, summer tyre, and having recently moved to the Moors in Northern England (where steep hills, wet weather and snow is pretty much guaranteed from about now until March, I had a choice to either replace the £150 SUV Summer tyre or swap them all for all-season - I went for Hancook Kinergy because they were top 3/4 for all tests rather than excellent in one and terrible in others. Your videos are exceptional, so well explained, detailed and dare I say, geeky! - there are no others like them. Huge thanks and congratulations on your channel, bit of a google of you and your channel - massively impressed with your story and your hard work on the website and the channel! really appreciate the effort!

I find this interesting because there is another video on youtube showing that a front wheel drive sedan vs an all wheel drive sedan using winter vs all-season tires is a totally different animal than a rear wheel drive pickup. With their light rear end, pickups simply need 4WD much more than a front wheel drive sedan does to do well in the snow. The other video showed that a 2WD sedan with winter tires did better in the snow than an AWD sedan with All season tires. Not so with the pickup but not a surprise given that with a sedan much of the weight is up front with a front wheel drive. Still it's awesome to see someone test this. Thank you for this.

I am waiting for this year`s "Best 2020 winter tyres" video :)

When you are watching a video with zero relevance to you because you like the channel.

Splendid test! My new favorite channel.

Thanks for doing these winter tests. Extremely helpful!

Really really interesting results. I always assumed that a 2WD in winter tyres would destroy a comparable AWD with all seasons. I’ll be keeping the Audi S3 with the Michelin cross climates for the feb ski runs! Cheers mate. Excellent video as always.

I'll throw another loop. Here in North America, it is very common for pickup owners to run an all terrain winter rated (3PMS stamped) tire. Theres lots of them out there that still perform very well in snow/ice and also in summer on gravel and mud. Goodyear Duratrac, BFGoodrich KO2, Toyo Open Country AT3, Faulken Wildpeak, etc etc, these are becoming a lot more common (even as factory tire options) on some larger SUV (Subaru included). Here for us they are a very good option, because "snow tires" typically go on in October and come off in April. I do not run two sets of tires nor will I ever on my pickup. Don't forget in North America pickups are the best selling vehicle here... almost 1/4 of new sales are pickups... add SUV in to that ... throw in SUV/Crossovers and you're talking nearly 3/4 the market is NOT cars/sedans/minivans. probably the opposite to almost anywhere else in the world.

This channel is THE tyre authority. Thanks for another great video!

I’ve never been more excited to watch this

Nice video, maybe you could have also did a braking test to emphasize the safety between the all-season and winter tires. I'd bet the all-season would take far longer to stop as AWD doesn't really help with braking.

Trying to survive my first winter in the PNW of the states with a RWD truck (it’s not going well) Was hoping this test would have gone differently so I could have just justified buying better tires and not a whole new vehicle, but alas...

Thanks for the video. My new “winter tires” are going on my new F150 4x4 tomorrow. Happy motoring.

I driver my Lexus SC400 in the winter and have snow tires on it. Lovely drifting, total control, turn in is amazing, and braking. Compared to All seasons, well it’s sketchy really x) great review!

As an American that has used many different "American" all season tires, my experience is that at least for the weather we get around here, all season tires are downright dangerous in the winter weather we get here. When it snows here, it will often thaw a little during the day, and freeze again at night, so we end up with compacted snow with a layer of ice on top. If it snows overnight, it's snow on top of ice and compacted snow. There is no combination of all season tire and drive train that will navigate these road conditions safely, which is why anytime it snows here (not that often), it is like Armageddon. Very few people have proper winter tires, most people are driving around on bald versions of the cheapest tires they can get. For me personally, my Subaru and my Chevy Bolt have dedicated winter tires, because I my job expects me to be at work everyday, regardless of weather.

i would've been intrigued to have seen a fwd car added into this too

Been waiting for this for years.. finally

Really interesting thanks for doing this test! I was almost done with the video when I started to ask the question, how much better would the winter tires be in 4wd, and then you answered my questions right at the end. Thank you sir!

Having driven all wheel drive Audi's for all but 3 of the last 20 years I knew that all-wheel drive with all season tires would blow away rear-wheel drive with winter tires, and I thought they would probably be noticeably better when turning than the rear-wheel drive with winter tires, albeit requiring more attention and skill. Breaking would be the only area where the winter tires had an advantage, however, it's not clear to me that it's a total advantage because avoidance might be better with all-wheel drive. However, all-wheel drive with winter tires on all four corners is definitely the best.

This is really my FIRST time seeing a VW pickup truck!

Great info, Jonathan. Looking forward to more winter content (I live in Canada...)!

Thank very much for this review... I was undecided whether to change my all-season in my 4x4 before going to the helps but having a lot of motorway to do....

If you’re going to play with a truck in the snow why didn’t you include adding weight to the bed in 2wd mode?

Ultimately Winter Tyres + 4WD is the ultimate combo, but a good compromise is a good All Season tyre. Personally I prefer changing tyres depending on the season, in a lot of European countries (especially around the Alps) you have to change to winter tyres in the winter legally. i.e. if you have a crash with summer/sports tyres in winter you'll get a fine / points etc... That said for something like a pickup truck where summer performance is less important, an all season tyre makes perfect sense.

Yesssss. The video we’ve all wanted this winter. Thank you!!!!

The hosts capacity to discern innumerable immeasurable, unquantifiable nuances and behaviors is truly remarkable.

Me who lives somewhere where it never ever snows and I’ve only seen snow once in my life: Also me: wow this info is very useful

People that argue about all seasons being better are people that don't experience regular snow fall every day of winter, winter tires are not worth it for many in the US which is why people will argue, and they have a point. Winter tires are generally much more expensive than regular A/S or A/T tires.

I live in Michigan. Ive had 2 wheel drive trucks, 4x4 suvs and front wheel drive cars. I can say that if you get a really bad snow or ice 2 wheel drive just sucks no matter what. The 4x4 I had seemed to plow through anything but you still need to watch your speed for turning and breaking. Otherwise your still going to wreck. Now to the front wheel drive cars they actually do pretty good in the winter as long as you have decent tires. My current car is a Hyundai elantra touring with traction control. Im actually really impressed with how good this car is in the winter with a good set of tires on it.

Those reviews would be realy great and also very useful providing that an update was given for each comparative test, considering tires material degradation with time. Is is especially important for these so called all seasons tires which looks so great when new but so much worse when used in hot summers and freezing winters. So keep the good work guys but please add such test to revel more truth!

Hey, can you (next time) do 4 versions, these + 4wd with winter + 2wd with all season.

It would be interessting if you compare 4WD Winter vs. 4WD All-Season Tires. It is hard to compare 2WD on back axle against 4WD drive, because the whole energy gets to the back at 2WD and at 4WD you balance the energy at the whole drivestrain. And Volkswagen takes much of the engineering of 4WD from the old quattro from AUDI. :) Stay Safe and greeting from Germany :)

I didn't watched it yet, but i have already liked it. I keep it for my evening tea.

One thing I will never forget. We had a V6 RWD Dodge Durango, and a 4 cylinder Dodge Journey FWD. When it snowed bad that Durango would not go anywhere spin all day long and if it dod manage to get going the first hill would kill it. The FWD journey while sketchy at times always made it through.

I wonder how much difference the drivetrain is when in different modes. Looks like open rear diff TC cuts all power all the time, whereas the center diff lock mode lets you actually spin the wheels

It would be interesting to see how it turned out if tested on ice.

Thank you for this interesting test! As always - great content!👍💪

Thanks! I am deciding between these exact two configurations, in a pickup too.

I wish we had that Amarok in North America.

0:01 I see proper nordic winter tyres on the Amarok. Why didn't you test them too?

Second set of winter tires makes a lot of sense since you’re saving the wear of tires on your other set. I’m on my second season with my winters and when ever it snows I’m the first to drive on the road! Nothing beats sliding around in parking lots pulling my hand break doing doughnuts

This is a really interesting test, but I wish you had tested braking in more detail to see how big of a difference there is. And probably an emergency maneuver test (to swerve and avoid an object) would be very informative to show the limits of handling.

I'm wondering what the results would be in a FWD configuration vs awd. Everyone claims that fwd is better for snow.

"I'd recommend snow drifting a pickup truck to...." SNOW DRIFTING, YOU SAY?

Great review. I have driven 4x4 with All season DWS06 for about 10 years and now also have an Audi S7 upon which I am placing the PS 4 All Seasons as swapping for dedicated Winter tires is not reasonable for North Carolina. Good to see that All Season 4x4 can perform so very well without having the complexity and additional expense of separate seasonal tires. #worthy

I drove a rear wheel drive BMW through a couple of snowy winters. You could really tell the difference between the winter (Goodyear ultragrip 7) and summer tyre. I always use winter tyres in the winter season now. They perform better in low temperature then a summer tyre even without snow. Going to swap over in next couple of weeks with my FWD Audi.

This is a bit of an atypical scenario since pickups have so little weight in the rear, biasing the result to favour the front wheels being driven. I know you chose the truck to have the same vehicle and be able to select 2WD vs 4WD, but it’s a caveat nonetheless. Perhaps with significant weight in the back the result would be different?

it's been proven many times that good all-season is almost as good as a good winter tire, and better than cheap winter tire. what I want to know is how quickly am I gonna run down those all-seasons (which have to be softer with more thread 'cause of winter conditions) in hot summer. Isn't it better to have 2 sets just for durability in continental climates (hot summer/cold snowy winter)?

Located in St. Louis MO, and over the past 6 years, we just haven't got the consistent snow like we used to. All seasons make the most sense especially in my case where my fiance and I only live 5 miles from work and at the most drive to visit family that is located 25 miles away, and our AWD cars (’14CR-V and ’16GolfR) do great with all-season tires. When I lived in Michigan however snow tires were an absolute necessity.

Good video. With the all season tires on my Ram, I won’t drive it in my Canadian winters. Once we get any snow or ice they’re useless and I have to go to snow tires. Maybe a good set of ATs could do it all year but definitely not the stock all seasons.

Id love to see this exact same test done with a FWD car, I suspect a very different outcome

So conclusion: 2wd with winter tires is safer(steering and braking) than 4seasons with awd. So the best combination wil be winter tires + awd.

I live in the snowy mountains of Utah in the United States, and many people have AWD/4WD vehicles with all-season tires here. There are many crashes on our mountain road each weekend for the reason you noted here. The grip under acceleration convinces many people that they can drive in snow like they normally would on dry roads. So after they drive up the canyon road easily, they have to go back down with compromised (relative to winter tires) braking and handling and end up in a ditch. I personally dragged 13 cars out with my Landcruiser last winter. It's a mess.

This is a wonderful video. I live in a US state that doesn’t get lots of constant winter snow and all wheel tires are the most recommended. However l drive a Porsche Cayenne that came with 21 inch Pirelli Summer tires that l love ❤️ and didn’t want to give up for a all weather tire. To me there is no comparison. I purchased the Pirelli Scorpion Winter tire that does well the 4 months out of the year that l use them.

AWD helps you go, Winter tyres help you stop. A tyre cant stop in time is still shit.

Damn I'm first lol. I'm guessing the all season 4wd will win acceleration but the rest winter tyres

Super. I like the Amarok as a possible horse box tow car. Friend has one though and got a cheap beater to save on fuel costs. Due to Covid we’re not travelling around for competitions so I didn’t mount my blizzaks yet. Our worst scenario is muddy fields with a few steeps and for sure the tyres make a big difference as well as 4wd. This latest generation of all season look great though almost solving the two sets of tyres problem.

on an AWD and snow tires ,the winter is fun up north!

Now to really be American throw an old engine block, transmission or a half dozen sandbags in the back to show what weight in the back of a pickup does to winter performance. (Do europeans do that kind of stuff?)

4WD + WT >>> 4WD +AT >>> 2WD + WT >>> 2WD AT

Thank you! I will be excited to see how much of a difference extra weight in the back of the truck helps with traction.

Best review site I’ve seen yet. In our travels we’ve seen 30C one day and two days later been in -30C. Hard to decide..Snows with longer stopping in warm...AllSeason with longer stopping in cold.....All Weather with a little stopping longer in both? Makes my head hurt 🤪

'Murica!

"American car" most used pickup in Europe...

The problem that we encounter with American All Season tires is after a couple summers of use. Even with relatively low mileage on them, the heat cycling of the tires hardens the A/S rubber compounds. This is how they achieve longer wear life. Whereas the winter tires tend to remain soft and pliable. Thus the winter Vastly outperforms any A/S tire after even as little as 10k use. My wife's Jeep Grand Cherokee had Michelin A/S at the beginning of 1st summer and did good that first winter. After a 2nd summer's use they failed miserably at winter traction. We bought winter tires- problem solved. Kept both sets mounted/balanced and swapped out for each respective season. Something to keep in mind.

I feel like putting some weight in the back with the winter 2wd config could have helped improve the numbers since the truck is light in the back but props for doing the testing its fun to watch. For many years Ive driven snow tires on my mustang vs all seasons on my wife's countless subaru foresters and now a CX9 and while awd acceleration in all seasons is surprisingly good with modern traction systems, but winter tires are just amazing in cold weather without snow as well, all seasons can feel like hardened hockey pucks.