Peerless Auto-Trac Passenger Tire Chain vs Security Chain Company Super Z6 Cable Chain

The Auto-Trac gives you link-chain bite in a Class S package that tightens itself, which removes the step most people get wrong. The Super Z6 gives up some of that bite but fits vehicles with far tighter clearance and is easier to handle. Both are Peerless products, which is less a coincidence than a description of the market.

Peerless Auto-Trac Passenger Tire Chain

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An alloy diamond-pattern link chain that meets SAE Class S and tightens itself, so you fit it once and drive.

• Peerless lists it as meeting Class S clearance on passenger cars, pickups and SUVs, which covers most modern vehicles that allow chains at all.
• The patented ratcheting system tightens the chain as you drive, and Peerless states no additional tensioners are needed or recommended.
• A diamond cross member pattern puts steel under the tire continuously rather than in gaps, which helps with steering and braking as well as pulling away.

• It is a link chain, so it is heavier and bulkier in the trunk than a cable chain or a textile cover.
• It costs more than a basic cable chain, which is hard to justify if you fit chains once every few winters.
• Peerless states chain tensioners should not be used with it, so the habit of adding aftermarket rubber tensioners will work against you here.

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Security Chain Company Super Z6 Cable Chain

Buy it

The cable chain to buy when your car has almost no room at the inside sidewall, with rubber tensioners already built in.

• Peerless states it needs only 6.3 mm of operating space at the inside sidewall, against the 15 mm a typical Class S product wants, so it fits vehicles that rule out link chains.
• Rubber tensioners are designed in and included, so there is no separate part to buy and no stopping to retighten.
• It is lighter and easier to handle than a link chain, and it installs from outside the wheel without moving the vehicle.

• Cable cross members give less bite in deep or crusted snow than a link chain of the same class.
• The alloy traction coils wear faster than link chain on bare pavement, which is easy to do on a pass that clears in patches.
• The diagonal pattern is quieter than a ladder chain but still transmits more noise and vibration than a textile cover.

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Side by side

The bottom line

Our overall pick is the Peerless Auto-Trac Passenger Tire Chain - An alloy diamond-pattern link chain that meets SAE Class S and tightens itself, so you fit it once and drive. Choose the Security Chain Company Super Z6 Cable Chain instead if drivers of low-clearance cars, EVs and crossovers whose manual leaves very little room around the drive tires.

Want the full picture, including the other options we compared and the popular one we'd skip? Read the complete The Best Tire Chains: 4 Compared (and One to Skip).