Fairly soon, you’re going to start seeing those same tired old articles about how to make sure your car “makes it” through the winter: Change your wiper blades. Use a gasoline additive. Put a shovel and blankets in your trunk (evidently so you don’t freeze when your car breaks down even after following the tips that are supposed to prevent breakdowns). These articles, which for the most part simply suggest that you perform the basic maintenance that any car requires (like replacing your wiper blades when they get old), are worthless. Here is what you actually need to do if you want your car to serve you well throughout a snowy winter.

Buy snow tires:
That’s really about it. You can keep reading the rest of my tips and suggestions if you want, but this is about 90% of the game. Snow tires make the biggest difference in your car’s ability to manage snowy or icy conditions. Regardless of what you drive—a truck, a FWD sedan, a RWD sports car, something AWD—the proper tire has the greatest effect on your vehicle’s limits. A top-level snow tire like a Blizzak WS-60 gives your car enough grip that you can drive fairly normally in all but the worst snow and ice. In my Protégé, for example, I find that I can brake about as hard in the snow with WS-60s as I do in normal dry driving. I have enough grip that I need to force myself to brake earlier than is reasonable so that the driver behind me, who probably doesn’t have snow tires, doesn’t hit me.

A dedicated snow tire uses a rubber compound that remains soft and pliable in cold temperatures. Sometime this winter, poke the tread on a snow tire from you car and a summer tire in your garage. The difference is obvious.

Snow tires generally feature large, chunky tread blocks with significant void area; this prevents snow and ice from getting packed into the tread and turning your grippy snow tire into an icy treadless slick.

The tread blocks are also siped. Siping—the irregular cuts in the tread—allow each tread block to spread and grab onto ice.

These 3 features combined—soft compound, large void area, and siping—do not appear on all-season tires. And while a blocky all-season tire might get you around in a little snow, it will be exponentially worse than a snow tire because the rubber will be hard and the tread blocks will be unable to grip very slick surfaces.

When purchasing snow tires, it’s best to choose a width that’s a little narrower than stock. A narrower tire can slice through deep snow (if you’ll forgive the cliché) like a knife.

Once you’ve bought your snow tires, you might want to do a few other small things to your car before the cold weather hits—especially if you’re a DIY’er who doesn’t have a heated garage.

Do a routine inspection of wearable parts:

• Brake pads
• Accessory belts
• Hoses
• Ball joints
• Tie rod ends

The winter won’t directly affect any of these things, of course, but if you’ve got old belts or a tie rod end with a little play, you might want to address it now. It’s no fun to do belts by the side of the road in the middle of a snow storm—trust me.

Consider buying an extra wheel and extra tires:
If you’re like me, and you drive a cheap econobox that uses 14″ wheels as a winter car, hit the junkyard and grab a few used steelies. You could get spare snow tires to mount on them if you have the funds, or you could just throw on some old worn tires. If you have an incident in a winter storm (or if you tend to go out and have a little fun in the snow, like I do), it’s not out of the question that you’ll pop more than 1 tire in a given night. Having a few backup wheels and tires in the trunk can keep bad nights from becoming brutal nights.

Consider putting some basic tools, a shovel and a sturdier-than-stock automotive jack in the trunk:
If you drive a 2WD car with an open diff, it’s not all that hard to get stuck in a snowbank, especially it your car is fairly low. You may as well have the means to dig yourself out so that you don’t have to stand there like a tool waiting for someone to rescue you.

Carry a tow rope or chain:
If you’re stuck so badly that the shovel and jack can’t get you out, having your own tow rope makes the next step a lot easier. You can flag down a passer-by with a truck, or you can call a friend without worrying if he has a rope. Our preferred tow strap is a length of climbing rope with carabiners at both ends. It’s strong, flexible, lightweight—and you don’t have to deal with tying and untying rope to tow hooks.

This is everything I do to prepare my own car for the winter. Nothing more. Sure, if you want to buy fresh wiper blades or change your oil or get your coolant flushed or do any of the other things you see other articles like these recommend, go ahead and do so. It’s not like they’re bad ideas. Don’t just don’t think that they’re in any way related to winter. Getting a car ready for the snow means making sure you car has the grip to get through it—and making sure you have the tools to deal with those times when you get in over your head.