Right Tires for Your Vehicle

zhangyl

Choosing the right tire.

Selecting the right tires for your vehicle is an important decision. Understanding the difference between the different types of tires available will help you choose the best tire for your driving needs and safety. Here's a quick reference guide that explains the different types of tires available.

All-Season Tires: All-Season tires are among the most cost effective tire types available. They provide a smooth ride, long wear and adequate traction on dry and wet weather conditions. They are not however, recommended for use in snow-belt areas.

Touring Tires: Touring tires feature enhanced performance blended with excellent ride and handling characteristics designed for many of today's late model luxury vehicles. These tires feature slightly lower profiles and wider tread for improved handling and stability. They are available in All-Season and Summer treads.

All-Weather Tires: Revolutionary new product. These state-of-the-art tires have revolutionary tread designs and rubber compounds that provide maximum safety in all applications encountered in ever changing weather conditions. A true four-season tire. These tires provide high mileage and carry the severe weather problem exceeding new government snow conditions regulations. All-Weather tires eliminate the need for costly winter changeovers.

Performance Tires: There are three categories of performance tires; Performance, Hi-Performance and Ultra Hi-Performance. The first is the cosmetic or specialty performance tire. These are designed to enhance the look and low speed traction on vehicles such as muscle cars, street trucks, and vans. Most tread patterns are an All-Season design which provide good wet and dry traction.

Hi-Performance Tires: High-Performance tires are original equipment on many of today's late model cars. These tires are designed to extend high speed handling and stability. Their lower profile, stiff sidewall and wide foot print, provide improved cornering response, lower rolling resistance and increased tread stability. They're available in All-Season and Summer style tread designs in H rated and V rated speed ratings.

Ultra Hi-Performance Tires: Ultra Hi-Performance tires take material and tire design to the max! They are designed for today.s most sophisticated sedans and sport cars. Their low profile designs deliver the ultimate control and response at speed. Their sticky tread compounds enhance performance, but the trade off is they can wear quicker. These tires provide a smooth quiet ride.

Light Truck / SUV All-Season Tires: Light Truck All-Season tires come original equipment on many of today's vehicles. Their tread pattern design provides a smooth, quiet ride while delivering adequate traction in most conditions for everyday use.

Light Truck / SUV All-Terrain Tires: All-Terrain tires are a "notch up" from All-Season tires in off road conditions. These tires are designed with a more aggressive open tread design which provides additional traction in on "off-road" applications, such as mud and deep snow. Their larger voids (large spaces between the lugs) expel the mud and snow providing additional traction. The tread compounds used makes the All-Terrain tire tougher and more durable in aggressive working conditions. The trade off over All-Seasons is the slightly more aggressive ride with the All-Terrain tire. Most consumers accept this in order to get the additional traction.

Mud-Terrain Tires: Mud-Terrain tires provide extreme traction in off-road conditions, while still providing an acceptable ride for highway or on road use. Their massive tread blocks provide the ultimate grip in mud, sand bog or rocky conditions. Mud-Terrain tires have the largest deepest tread designs. Their tread compounds and reinforced side walls are designed to expel rocks, sticks and foreign materials. They are available in the tallest and widest sizes available for increased flotation and axle clearance. These tires are not suitable for winter driving unless they have been siped and studded.

Winter Tires: Winter tires provide the best traction for a wide range of winter conditions such as snow, slush, ice and freezing rain. Not having winter tires could jeopardize safety if serious winter conditions suddenly develop. Today's winter tires offer state-of-the-art designs and compounds. Winter tread compounds are highly siped (small slits that expel water and provide extra traction) and are made of microfilment compounds that stay pliable in cold weather. This combination provides superior traction without the need for studs. Because of this significant traction . . . only sets of 4 winter tires should be used.

Winter Performance Tires: Winter Performance Tires are now also available for those who need enhanced winter traction and as much responsive high-speed handling as possible. Performance winter tires are available in H and a few V rated patterns. Winter Performance tires also have similar siping and compound materials that regular winter tires have, keeping them pliable in cold winter conditions. These tires are available in up to 18" sizes to fit most of today's late model luxury and performance vehicles.