When purchasing tyres for your vehicle, you have to be aware that there are different tyre types that you can choose from. The best tyre type for your vehicle depends on numerous factors, including how you use your car, where you live, and how you like the ride of your car. The different classifications are as follows:
Performance tyres or summer tyres
Performance Tyres are designer for faster cars and for people who prefer a harder drive. These tyres are made to put performance and grip above longevity and endurance. The tyre makes use of a softer rubber compound, perfect for performance and speed. The tread block design is normally bias towards grip rather than the ability to pump water out of the way on a wet road. Some extreme performance tyres are called ‘slicks’. These are used in motor racing and have no tread at all.
All-round or all-season tyres
These are your most standard tyres and will typically be found on every production car that comes from the factory. These tyres are designed to feature a good combination of grip, performance, longevity, noise and wet-weather safety. These tyre are also made from a harder rubber compound to increase tyre life. The tread block design is based on quiet running and water dispersion – in other words, the tyre should not be too noisy in everyday use, but should work well on wet roads. These tyres are neither excellent for wet-weather nor excellent for dry-weather, but offer a good compromise between the two.
Wet-weather tyres
These tyre types actually use a softer compound than performance tyres as the rubber needs to heat up quicker in cold or wet conditions. These tyres also need to have as much mechanical grip as possible.
Snow and mud or ice: special winter tyres
This is obviously a more extreme tyre than the wet weather tyre. They are designed to work well in all wintry conditions, including snow, ice and sleet. These tyre typically have larger, and thus noisier tread block patterns. In extreme snow areas, true snow tyres will have tiny metal studs on the tread to bite into the snow and ice. The only downside of these tyres is that they are noisy, and can wear out both the tyre and the road surface if driven on dry road. Mud and snow tyres will feature a “M&S’ stamp on the tyre sidewalls. Snow and ice tyres will have a snowflake symbol.
All-terrain tyres
These tyres are usually used on SUVs and light trucks. They are larger tyres and have stiffer sidewalls and bigger tread block patterns. Because of the larger tread block, these tyre types are very noisy on normal roads, but are very good off-road. Another disadvantage of the larger tread block patterns is that there is less tyre surface in contact with the road. The rubber compound used on all-terrain tyres are usually middle-of-the-road – neither hard nor soft.
Mud tyres
Mud tyres are at the extreme end of the all-terrain tyre classification. These tyres have massive, super chunky tread blocks and should not be driven anywhere besides in loose mud and dirt. The tread sometimes do not even come in blocks but instead paddles built in to the tyre carcass.
Author bio
This article was written for First Stop Tyre Experts and offers assistance in choosing the right tyre type for your vehicle.