Is 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake the ultimate in winter tire certification?

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TPMS Hyundai Elantra – 2023

NOT NECESSARILY. SOME MANUFACTURERS BELIEVE IT’S JUST A STARTING POINT

Mike Manges By

Many tire dealers refer to the 3-Peak Mountain Snow ake (3PMS) designation when selling winter tires — and even all-season products — to customers. While 3PMS certi cation might help close the sale, is it the ultimate validation of winter tire performance? Or can tire dealers — and buyers — expect to see a classi cation that goes beyond 3PMS?

MTD recently posed that question to tire manufacturers, importers and marketers, whose answers varied widely. (Several tire manufacturers and marketers declined to participate.)

Brandon Stotsenberg, vice president, automotive, American Kenda Rubber Industrial Co. Ltd.: Tires stamped with

3PMS have di erent criteria to achieve the certi cation based on the United States/ Canadian standard versus the European Union (EU) standard. It is self-certi ed by the tire manufacturer to meet the minimum performance designated for 3PMS, which provides upgraded performance in colder temperatures with better medium-packed snow acceleration in the U.S. and braking in the EU.

Although end users want to also have better performance on ice, slushy conditions and potentially deeper snow, the current criteria do not account for those conditions. Many tires stamped with 3PMS will perform better in these conditions, but actual performance will vary. We believe that creating more criteria to provide better-certi ed winter performance will (enable) the consumer to have more

“The 3PMS (designation) is a good measure for acceleration traction on medium-packed snow,” says Phillip Schrader, product manager, touring and U.S. winter tires, PLT replacement business unit, Continental Tire the Americas LLC. “However, it leaves out other important winter driving performance attributes, such as braking and turning on snow-covered surfaces, as well as ice traction.”

Photo: Continental Tire the Americas

Brandon Stotsenberg, vice president, automotive, American Kenda Rubber Industrial Co.

Ltd.

con dence with the tire industry and its products. Additionally, providing stronger oversight to assure that tires self-certi ed by manufacturers will consistently meet the established standards will provide the end user better con dence, as well.

Winter tires

J Downey, senior manager, product and pricing, Apollo Tyres Ltd.: Based on performance, winter tires can be (divided) into two categories — performance winter tires and ice/snow winter tires. Performance winter tires are designed to deliver a high level of snow traction with a minimum trade-o in other performance and they can satisfy the needs of drivers who will face cold, wet and snowy conditions. For this category, 3PMS is the ultimate certi cation, which indicates the tire is suitable for severe snow conditions.

Ian McKenney, senior product manager, consumer product strategy, Bridgestone Americas Inc.: A 3PMS rating requires achieving a targeted degree of acceleration in medium pack snow conditions beyond that of an all-season tire before it can be marked on the sidewall and it currently represents the highest level of winter tire performance certi cation. However, 3PMS-rated tires do not necessarily represent peak snow or winter performance.

ere is still a di erentiation in winter performance from an all-season tire with a 3-peak rating and a dedicated winter tire. At this time, there are no imminent regulations that would further di erentiate these winter characteristics.

“While 3PMS-certifi ed tires are good at lowtemperature braking and cornering and clearing slushy muck or mixed-condition snow at higher speeds, they cannot match the winter performance of traditional winter tires,” says Chris Jenkins, programs and marketing manager, automotive division, Maxxis InternationalUSA.

“To designate a tire with the 3PMS symbol, the tire must maintain standards, including a certain level of grip on a surface covered in mediumpacked snow,” says Michiel Kramer, director, product marketing, consumer, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.

To measure ice traction speci cally, a new test certi cation that measures ice grip performance will accompany most of our new winter tire lines in the future. Passenger tires designed for use in ice conditions that meet or exceed the ice grip index of 1.18 as compared to the 16-inch standard reference test tire will qualify for the ice grip symbol, in addition to the M+S and 3PMS.

Chris Jenkins, programs and marketing manager, automotive division, Maxxis International-USA

Phillip Schrader, product manager, touring and U.S. winter tires, PLT replacement business unit, Continental Tire the Americas LLC: e 3PMS is the minimum standard for winter performance, which our winter products typically outperform by a wide margin. All-weather tires, on the other hand, perform much closer to this minimum standard, which highlights the di erences in winter performance between true winter and all-weather tires.

The 3PMS (designation) is a good measure for acceleration traction on medium-packed snow. However, it leaves out other important winter driving performance attributes, such as braking and turning on snow-covered surfaces, as well as ice traction.

Lou Monico, vice president of sales, Giti Tire Canada: 3PMS refers to a symbol on a winter tire that indicates it has been tested and meets certain performance criteria for use in severe snow conditions. Tires with the 3PMS symbol are designed to provide better traction and handling in winter conditions and they are o en required by law in areas with severe winter weather.

A new category of winter tires is the ice tire or ice performance tire, which has both the 3PMS symbol and an additional ice designation marking. is designation indicates that the tire has passed speci c tests for braking and handling on ice, in addition to meeting the winter performance criteria for snow. Ice tires are designed with special tread patterns and rubber compounds that can provide improved grip and handling on icy surfaces. If your customers frequently drive in areas with icy conditions, an ice tire may provide additional safety and peace of mind during the winter months.