Tire Sense

Written By: MyRide.com
Reprinted under license.

Choose the best tire to suit your needs

Introduction

Choosing the right tires for your ride isn't easy - and may well be quite a bit more important than you think. Whether it's all-season tires, truck tires or highway tread, plus sizing tires or choosing snow tires, each tire performs in a specific way, and your choice will determine whether you maximize the enjoyment and longevity of your ride. Consider these criteria in helping to determine what tire you should purchase. For instance, if you drive a sedan year-round on highways and experience very little winter weather, shop for a long lasting all-season tire that won't have an aggressive tread design. A tire of this nature delivers good traction in moderate weather, lasts 40 to 50 thousand miles (providing the alignments and rotations are performed), and offers a relatively quiet ride.

Tire treads

If you're shopping with a working pickup truck in mind, you should of course purchase truck tires, as they are typically made with a heavier body with multiple plies, or layers (sometimes steel plies), stronger sidewalls for resistance to impact breaks, and deeper tread with a heavier rubber compound. Usually the tread design on truck tires is aggressive and gives great traction in mud and snow. On the down side, a tire of this type is usually quite noisy and provides a stiff, hard ride.

Let's say you drive your car only in good weather; or perhaps it is a collector car. In this situation, a highway tread is your best choice. The tread design is ribbed, and straight grooves are cut into the rubber evenly around the circumference of the tire. If you were trying to pull through snow with these tires it would be like trying to climb a mountain in high heels -- impossible! But on clear roads they deliver a smooth, quiet ride.

Grading system

If you want to feel confident choosing the best tires for your needs, learn how to read the Uniform Tire Quality Grading System (UTQGS). The UTGQS information is molded onto the sidewalls of the tires. This system grades tires on three factors: Tread wear, traction, and temperature resistance.

Tread wear - This grade gives a comparative rating based on the wear rate of a tire when tested under carefully controlled conditions. For example, a tire graded at 200 should have its useful tread twice as long as a tire graded at 100. Obviously, tire life (in miles) varies depending on actual driving conditions. Variation in driving habits, service applications, attention to proper maintenance (rotation, wheel alignment, maintaining air pressure), and road conditions all contribute to tread wear.

Traction - Traction grades represent the tire's ability to stop on wet pavement as measured under controlled conditions on asphalt and concrete. The traction grades from highest to lowest are: "AA," "A," "B," and "C." A tire graded "AA" may have relatively better traction performance than a tire graded "A," "B," or "C," based on straight-ahead braking tests. The grades do not reflect cornering or turning traction performance of the tires.

Temperature Resistance - This grade reflects the tire's resistance to heat as well as its ability to dissipate heat. Sustained high temperatures can cause decreased tire life or sudden tire failure. The grades from highest to lowest are: "A," "B," and "C." "C" grade represents the absolute minimum requirements by federal standards. This grading is based on proper inflation of the tire, proper mounting on the rim, and the assumption that the tire's load is within its capacity. Excessive speed, under inflation, and overloading (separately or in combination) can cause excessive heat buildup and possible tire failure.

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