Car Myth Busters #26: All season tires are better in rain By Frank-Ling / Mar 22, 2014 share Facebook Twitter Google + LinkedIn Pinterest Email Share... By Frank LingIf you live in an area where there is a good deal of rain during the year, you may have wondered if getting a set of all season tires is a good idea.In addition, all season tires are more adept at handling conditions when snow hits the roads.But if you want the best traction for rainy weather, should you install a set of all season tires on your vehicle?Middle of the roadObviously as the name implies, these tires should be able to accommodate all sorts of weather conditions. This makes this class of tire convenient for car owners who don’t want to swap their tires out for winter tires.But because all season tires try to do it all, there must be certain compromises along the way to meet these different weather conditions.In general, all seasons do their best when the weather is dry, and are usually outperformed by summer tires and winter tires for snowy road conditions. When driving on snow they offer better traction than summer/standard tires, but not as well as snow tires.Wet weatherThe surprise here is that all season tires generally performed poorer in rain than either snow tires or summer tires. The main reasons for this are due to the tread patterns of all season tires, the compound the tire is made of, and less “water pumping ability” to channel water away from the tire.For rainy weather, a summer tire is the best way to go.Why all season?The performance of all season tires has improved over the years, and while they aren’t as good as snow tires for snow, or summer tires for rain, they strike a good balance for all types of weather conditions.If you live in a temperate weather zone, all season tires will be just fine. For more severe conditions related to long rain or snow seasons, getting a specialized tire is a good idea.Source: Edmunds.com