[SNAP]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
All right, Rico.
You can do this.
These guys look tough, but they have nothing on you.
Hey, Jack.
We're going to do some testing here.
Why don't you take that gear off and come with me?
That probably makes more sense.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Hey, Gene.
How are you?
Hey, Jack how you doing?
All right, I'm seeing two cars on an ice rink.
And then there's a bunch of tires here.
What's going on, Gene?
We're trying to evaluate how well tires stop on ice.
[SQUEALING]
Every year, we come here.
We test dozens and dozens of tires,
judging how well they can stop on icy conditions.
Why not test these tires out on the open road?
Most people don't drive cars on an ice rink.
No, that's true.
But on an open road, it lacks consistency.
This is cold ice.
It's controlled at a very precise temperature.
So we're really looking to see how accurately the tires will
compare against one another in performing and stopping on ice.
This tire here is an all-season tire.
It's the most common type of tire
you'll find on cars and SUVs today, OK?
Yeah.
So this tire provides a good balance with dry and wet grip.
It performs well in moderate winter weather.
So it's the Jack of all trades tire.
[LAUGHS] No pun intended, huh, Gene?
No pun intended at all.
So which one is this one then?
This one looks very different in terms of the treads.
Yeah, so this is a winter tire.
It typically has a deeper tread.
It has more slits across the tread,
provide biting edges for ice, OK, and snow.
So every winter tire has a symbol on its sidewall.
It's a three-peak mountain and snowflake symbol.
And it denotes that the tire meets a certain level
of snow traction.
That's what you want to look for in a winter tire.
And then this final one that's here
right in the middle, which one is this one?
So I brought this here today.
This is a tire that you would find on sports cars.
It's a summer tire.
So it's like a performance tire.
It's a performance tire.
It provides high levels of dry and wet grip in warm weather.
But as it gets colder out, that compound gets harder,
and the grip wanes away.
So the black car will have all-season tires
that Ryan will be driving.
The car behind me, the grey car, will have the winter tires that
I'm going to be in.
We're going to speed up to 10 miles per hour.
We're going to hit the brakes at approximately the same time.
It's going to be a panic stop.
And we're going to measure the stopping distance of the car.
Ryan filled me in on the instruments
he was attaching to each car.
This is the last piece of equipment
we're going to put on.
And then we'll be ready to go.
This is an optical sensor that will reflect
the light off the ground.
And it bounces back up into the sensor.
And it's reading actually how fast the vehicle's moving.
Ryan, how we doing over there?
I think we're all set.
OK.
Why don't you get over to your car?
Jack, why don't you get over to the center ice,
and we'll get this test going.
Gene asked me to use an arm drop to signal them
when to hit the brakes.
OK, Ryan?
All set.
Let's go.
And they're off.
Gene and Ryan take their cars to 10 miles per hour.
And on my signal, they hit the brakes.
It's easy to see just how much more effective winter tires are
at stopping a car on ice.
Whoa!
To make sure measurements are accurate,
the Consumer Reports experts run the course multiple times,
an average of the collected data.
And after several runs, the results speak for themselves.
What's going on, Ryan?
How you doing?
Hey, Jack.
Hey, Gene.
All right, Ryan.
So your car went so much further than Gene's
with the all-season tires.
Explain to me why.
The all-season tires are a bit of a compromise.
They're designed for all-season grip.
But they're not specifically tuned to one.
Gene has winter tires on his car,
and they were designed specifically
for winter conditions.
And we're clearly on winter conditions here.
Now, your car was driving at 10 miles an hour.
I can only imagine if it was going 50 miles an hour.
What are the potential dangers of that?
Well, you can imagine-- you know,
I stopped about 15 feet longer than Gene.
If you're doing more than 10 miles per hour
on the real road, which you're probably going to be doing,
you're going to stop even further than that.
So you have to be aware of these conditions and the tires you
have on your vehicle.
Now, what are the takeaways, Gene, here
of having all-season tires on very, very icy roads?
No matter what you're driving on,
when the conditions are pretty bad out there, take your time.
Slow down.
Maybe brake a little earlier.
Now, the winter tires, they're probably
a great choice for anybody who needs to be out in bad weather.
If you have all-season tires, you
can get by in moderate winter weather.
Even better if you can just stay home and wait for the storm
to go away before you go out.
That's the way you should look at it.
Well, guys, that was fantastic.
Thank you so much for the advice and the info.
It's our pleasure.
You're welcome.
[BUZZER]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Jack, we gotta get these cars off the ice.
There's a game's starting in, like, 10 minutes.
[BUZZER]
Hey, follow me.
We could go in my car.
It's been a fun day on the ice, but it's definitely
time to find some hot cocoa.
[SNAP]