How to choose winter tires? Some Tips

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:42

It's getting cooler and cooler outside every day, so motorists should be well prepared for winter surprises. In order not to get into trouble at this time, you need not only to monitor the condition of the battery and starter, but also take care of the "change shoes" of your iron friend. In this article, we will look at a few basic rules by which you can choose a quality tire. So, let's look at how to choose the right winter tires.

Tread pattern

When choosing the right tire, first of all, pay attention to the tread. It can be different (there are several thousand options), but all available are divided into two main types. It can be tires with European or Scandinavian tread. The last tire has many differences in the depth of the pattern and the width of the sipes. Unlike European, this tirea more sparse tread structure is characteristic. Also on this type of tire you can see special places for spikes. If the latter are not present, but the cuts on the wheel remain, do not be alarmed, this is not a marriage. It's just that the Scandinavians make such protectors specifically in order to rivet spikes there at a difficult moment and pull the car out of a snowdrift.

But what kind of winter tires to choose? It all depends on the environmental conditions in which you operate your car. If your path lies through uncleared sections of the road or you live outside the city, definitely buy Scandinavian tires with high checkers and deep grooves. How to choose winter tires of this type? Please note that with a flat, cleared section of the road, such a tire becomes dangerous, and the risk of skidding increases several times. If you rarely encounter loose snow, definitely choose tires with a European tread. The thicker the pattern, the less risk of skidding.

How to choose winter tires? Paying attention to the spikes

An important criterion when choosing is also the presence or absence of spikes on the tread. When choosing, always remember that studded tires provide the most efficient braking and acceleration of the car in icy conditions. Also, these wheels will save you from skidding on the track with rolled snow. Again, if you often drive through uncleared sections of roads, where there is a lot of loose snow, it is better not to buy studded tires. By the way, when a car equipped with such tires moves alongon a cleared road, where there is no snow at all, the controllability of the car does not improve at all, on the contrary, it worsens. Therefore, when considering how to choose winter tires, consider this point. The behavior of studded tires on dry, cleared pavement is almost impossible to predict, so it is likely that after a short trip, a motorist will collide with another car or fly into a ditch. According to experts, the stopping distance of such cars increases by 10 percent, and therefore no ABS will guarantee an effective speed reduction.

From here it turns out that for urban motorists the best option is a non-studded tire with a European tread, and for rural residents - Scandinavian tires. Now the question of how to choose winter tires is finally clarified.