Vehicle tires - all-season vs all-weather

15.10.14 (revised 15.10.28): Have you ever wondered what tires to buy for your vehicle?

I was at CTC today and someone asked me about what the best way to go for their vehicle?

It dawned on me I wasn't really aware of the difference between all-season and all-weather ... not that I would use either.

My preference, after much online review/analysis, is summer tires and winter tires.

There are various summer tires that are very good in wet conditions and are not really expensive.
This is the tire used on our Honda Civic for the last few years. It is built to handle rain very well and be very quiet.






There are a few excellent winter tires and it depends on your preference for snow or ice conditions.
My preference is ice.
Here is the newer model of tire I use on my cars. 
However, newer doesn't mean better.
The Xi2 winter tire (previous version) is better (approx same price) and should be purchased if available. 
The Xi2 can be purchased at Canadian Tire, Green+Ross, and Kaltire.

After additional review, I have gained an appreciation for the nordic all-weather tires available.
All-weather is a designation for winter tires you can use year round.

I understand and appreciate the need to manage expenditures, if you really cannot afford both summer and winter tires and wheels for both ... and storage costs.

My preference still is summer and winter tires, as safety is my primary concern, and nothing works better in wet summer conditions than an excellent summer tire with excellent wet tire braking. Always look for the wet braking rating on summer tires.

Having said this, if you really need need to economize (and risk a little safety), these Nokian all-weather tires seems to be the most highly rated tires that are not specifically winter only tires.