Winter tyres are great for running into rain, sleet, snow and sunshine. Having a dedicated set of snow tyres for winter can help you drive safely even on slushy and snowy road surfaces. But when the Car Tyres Corby are soon reaching the end of their tread life, is it safe to keep using your winter tyres all year round? In this blog post, we are going to figure it out, so keep it till the end.
We don’t recommend you use winter or snow tyres year-round because it will cost you more money than changing them out. It could also compromise your vehicle's performance on the road when using the wrong tyres. This is the reason why tyre manufacturers offer different types of tyres for different seasons. It allows you to choose the tyres according to the climate, driving style and performance.
What Are Winter or Snow Tyres?
Winter or snow tyres are specially designed to drive in snowy and icy road conditions. These tyres provide excellent grip and traction on snow- and ice-covered roads. A special soft rubber compound helps get a better grip on the road compared to summer or all-season tyres when temperatures drop below 7 degrees Celsius. The snow tyre tread will still be flexible even in freezing temperatures.
They have deep and wide treads and grooves to help maintain traction while draining the snow, slush and water away through groves from the tyres.
Some winter tyres are equipped with studs, or you can add them to the tread of the tyre. These small pieces of metal pass through the ice and snow, which offer extra traction. You need to remember that these studs are only installed on specific snow tyres and should be removed in each state.
Most of the all-season tyres are made for wet and dry conditions outside winter months. They are great for driving for all season but they may not remain as flexible at colder temperatures. This means you could have less control over slush or icy roads during winter months.
Using Winter Tyres in Summer
Winter tyres are only designed for cold temperatures and winter conditions. Once the winter tyres get warm, you won’t need deep tread depth or biting edges for grip when driving on snow or ice surfaces. Here are some of the reasons we don’t recommend using winter tyres year-round.
Faster Wear on Warm, Dry Pavement
The tread rubber of winter tyres is more flexible compared to summer and all-season tyres. The flexible tread rubber of winter tyres, which offers traction in winter, will also wear faster in summer. All-season and summer tyres are designed to withstand warm temperatures, which offer long wear life.
Cost You More in The Long Run
It might seem like a way to save money by not changing tyres, but running winter tyres in warm temperatures won’t keep money in your pocket. Instead, you will have to spend more on fuel because of deep tread and wide grooves. Your tyres will also wear down faster, meaning you will need a new set of winter tyres sooner than usual.
Decreased Performance
In summer, winter tyres will not be able to offer the same handling performance as summer tyres or all-season tyres. For example, if you needed to make a quick turn and your tyres were squishy and soft, what would happen? You won’t get an instant response from your winter tyres in warm weather. Winter tyres have to be flexible to handle the snow and ice but it are not as effective in warm weather.
Winter tyre compounds are tread designs that are not designed to handle warmer climates and they will wear down too quickly if used in warm temperatures. If you keep installing winter tyres on your vehicle all year round, you will have to replace them sooner than if you removed them for springtime.
This is the reason why using winter tyres year-round will cost you more than mounting them seasonally. The sooner these tyres are worn out, the sooner you have to replace them.
Tyre Re-Mounting
Using snow tyres year-round could compromise optimal tread wear and it can be more expensive than just changing tyres out for the season.
If you want the year-round use of winter tyres because you are tired of having to change tyres every season, here is a solution that could save you money and time. Buy wheels with the same diameter and bolt pattern as your current wheels. Fit the winter or snow tyres on the wheels and keep them stored in your garage until winter comes.
Instead of changing your tyres each season, you just have a mechanic who changes the wheels. It’s a simple and usually less expensive alternative to installing and uninstalling winter tyres every season.
Difference Between Winter, 3-Season, & Summer Tyres
The winter or snow tyres have a softer compound to stay flexible and offer grip at temperatures below 7 degrees Celsius. Summer and all-season tyres have harder compounds that offer a better grip at temperatures of 7 degrees Celsius and above.
Winter tyres have a more aggressive tread pattern, which allows them to offer better grip on ice and snow, while all-season and Summer Tyres have an optimal tread that offers grip pavement in warm and dry conditions as well as in wet conditions.
Conclusion
Even if you use the best winter or snow tyres available on the market, changing temperatures affect their ability to grip the road. So use only Tyres In Corby that are suited to the respective weather conditions you are driving in.
