That is, if you can't call in sick or tell the boss you'll be in later. If you live in an area where it snows a fair amount, you should get four good snow tires. Nothing will make a bigger difference. Because it's such a pain to get your snow tires remounted and balanced every year, splurge and get yourself four steel rims and mount the snows permanently on those rims. That'll make the changeover in the fall and spring a snap. By the way, lots of tire shops will offer to store your regular tires over the winter and then store your snow tires in the summer. This is a great deal. The only potential problem is that when they file a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, they'll have four of your tires in their basement, so you'll have to break in and retrieve them.

If you absolutely can't afford four snow tires, two new snow tires will be better than whatever you have on your car now. Mount them on the wheels that are driven by the engine. For all-wheel-drive cars, you really should use four snows.

One question we get asked frequently is, "If I have a front-wheel-drive or an all-wheel-drive car, do I need to have snow tires?" The answer is, if you really need to drive in the snow, yes. If you really, truly need to get around before the streets are plowed, four top-quality snow tires are the single best thing you can do. And the reason you'd still want them on a car with decent traction is because they not only help get you started, they also increase your traction when you're braking and turning.