Introduction
If you live in a tropical climate region, you must have two types of tires: one set for winter and one set for summer. There is a difference between the two types of tires. Those who use the same tires until worn out may not know the difference between the two. In this article, Mark Roemer Oakland discusses what differentiates summer tires from winter tires. Read on to find out more.
Winter Tires
Primarily, three differences set summer tires apart from winter tires: Pattern, rubber compound, and structure. Let’s get a deeper insight into these three differences.
Rubber tires have a higher ratio of natural rubber content. Therefore, they remain supple when the temperature is extremely low. Since these tires are softer, they can interlock much better with the surface of the road. And this interlocking helps improve handling and road grip. On the other hand, summer tires become stiff in low temperatures. Therefore, they are not a good choice in winter.
If you take a closer look, you will find hundreds of spies, aka tiny grooves in the tread blocks. The role of these grooves is to prevent hydroplaning or aquaplaning by dispersing water. Since the grooves are designed to bite into the snow, your vehicle can have optimal road grip.
Also, these tires feature a deeper tread pattern, which forms cavities for snow. It is interesting to note that the tread pattern makes the snow compact and intensifies road grip. Besides, it adds traction in order to push your car forward on icy roads inventor. Therefore, if you want to avoid accidents and enjoy better handling in winter, you can switch to winter tires.
Summer tires
In summer, these tires offer better performance as their compound becomes soft under high temperatures. Therefore, these tires can adapt to wet and dry roads. Unlike winter tires, they have relatively fewer tiny grooves, which helps prevent aquaplaning. Apart from this, these tires offer much better lateral and longitudinal grip when the temperature outside is too high. Therefore, your car tires can have better grip when the roads are dry and wet.
Although summer tires can withstand different weather conditions, you cannot use them in colder climates. Their rubber compound is made of less natural rubber, which becomes brittle when the temperature outside falls below 7 degrees Celsius. But they can withstand extremely high temperatures. This is the reason they have lower friction, which helps boost the fuel efficiency of your vehicle.
Summer tires feature a block-like tread pattern. Therefore, these tires leave a larger footprint on the road. As a result, you can enjoy much better handling even when applying the brakes in an emergency.
Conclusion
In short, these are some of the primary differences between summer tires and winter tires. Therefore, you may want to switch tires for better handling and an optimal fuel average both in summer and winter. If you enjoyed reading this article, you may thank Mark Roemer Oakland in the comments section below.