By way of Instapundit comes this piece about all weather radials versus snow tires.
I can say the results were not surprising. From personal experience I can tell you snows make all the difference here in the snow belt.
With the exception of the trusty Ford F150 4X4 (my present form of transportation), I have for the most part driven cars with front wheel drive. With one exception, I always put snows on all four corners come winter. (The one exception was my 1988 Dodge Daytona Shelby Z. Proper sized snows were expensive and really didn't do all that well, so I stopped using them.) Over numerous winters I have found that snows make all the difference, with my car(s) handling snow far better than cars with all season tires. Both the Intrepid (now Deb's car) and my much missed Neon were great in the snow with proper snow tires. (My all time favorites are the Nokian Hakkapelittas, probably one of the best snow tires I've ever come across.)
One more than one occasion my car with snow tires did better than many SUVs and 4X4's with all weather tires. Let's face it, all weathers are a compromise at best and will help should you find yourself dealing with an unexpected blast of snowy weather.
While I wish I could say the trusty F150 was shod with straight-up snows, it sports a set of mud & snow tires which are better than all weather tires (barely), but not as good as a set of aggressive snow tires. Should I have the wherewithal to pick up a spare set of rims for the truck I will spend the money for real honest to goodness snows for next winter.
