Tires: Siping, dry traction, snow traction

Question
Hi barry,

My wife recently received pricing on a new set of tires which she will purchase soon. The saleman advised her that she should also pay an additional $11 (each tire) for siping. In your opinion, is that a worthwhile investment? Thank you very much for your advice!

Answer
Woody,

In spite of all the hype, I think the only real benefit to this type of siping is in wet and snow traction and I think it does that at the sacrifice of dry traction and wear.  There might be some durability degradation, but I think it would be minor.

So if you are willing to put up with the tradeoffs, it might have a benefit for you.  However, I think the cost is pretty high considering how little work is actaully put into the tire.

Hope this helps.