Note that we have used the UK spelling of Tyre before we begin A few countries insist that during the cold parts of the year vehicles are fitted with winter tyres. A winter tyre is not the same thing as a snow tyre which we will see in this article and discuss the subtle differences between them.
The tyre is obviously a vitally important component in a car because this is the only contact the car has with the road and it has a lot to do with the handling, braking and general manoeverability of the car. So choose your tyres wisely and we recommend that you go with a recongised quality brand. Cheap tyres do not generally last as long as branded ones and often under perform.
The grip pattern on the tyre has become a science in itself today with many choices around. There are assymetric tyres which must be fitted to a certain position on each axle. These give fantastic grip and are generally specified by manufacturers on high performance car models. Four wheel drive performance cars often require this tread pattern and it allows the auto stability control program the optimum environment to work within. The tread pattern on these tyres means that they are not suitable to be used as spares.
Then we have directional tread, usually with a V pattern. These tyres are superb when it comes to cornering but often straight line stability is affected to some degree. This is not really an issue for most drivers and the cornering advantage more than makes up for it. These can be fitted to any axle but the direction of travel must be correctly oriented. These are not suitable as spare tyres. Then there are conventional tyres with chunks of tread in many and varied patterns. Some claim to be better in the wet or dry and the patterns have a big effect on road noise and drive. Now we come to the winter tyres. These tend to have a much deeper tread pattern and they are made of a softer material than conventional tyres. Conventional tyres get very hard and brittle in the winter and as a result they give less grip because they are harder.
I recently walked around a car park and inspected the tyres of the cars parked there. I was frankly shocked at the amount of dangerous tyres. It seems that drivers are willing to take chances and cut corners on tyres to save money, which seems suicidal considering the tyres are the only contact the car has with the road.
Lots of cars had well below the legal minimum tread depth. Handling and braking efficiency is noticable reduced at 2mm depth in dry conditions and in the wet I recommend a minimum depth of 3mm.
Problems were also apparent with the tyres with issues like sidewall damage from age related cracking to splits and kerb impact tears. It seems as though the owners are destined for a serious blowout and something a quick walk around could prevent.
Fitting winter tyres really does improve the cars handling and performance in all weathers. The extra tread depth is also a lifesaver in adverse weather conditions such as Snow and heavy rain. A winter tyre is not the same thing as a snow tyre. The latter tend to have metal studs on them and these would ruin a tarmac road surface so can only be used in very snowy and icy conditions. Your choice of tyre then is vital, because the tyre is obviously a vitally important component in a car because this is the only contact the car has with the road and it has a lot to do with the handling, braking and general manoeverability of the car.
So choose your tyres wisely and we recommend that you go with a recongised quality brand. Cheap tyres do not generally last as long as branded ones and often under perform. Often cheap tyres will prematurely crack around the tread sipes or on the sidewalls requiring them to be replaced early. Also part worn tyres seem like a good idea but generally are not a good buy, firstly the wear on the tyre means that a tyre thats used half its life will cost more than half the price of the new tyre because they are replaced at 2-3mm of tread depth anyway. Secondly you don't know how they have been treated or stored and they could prematurely crack or fail on you.
Author Resource:-
Carlh Tunertone is a consultant for sites writing articles like High performance tyres and car tuning and is a car tuner with extensive experinece on V8, 4 cylinder and turboed engines and, he has rebuilt a number of small and large block engines to to a competition standard.
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