The world of cars can often seem like a world apart from your own. What may seem like a simple thing – buying a new set of tyres – is actually fraught with choice. Read on for a guide to the most common types of car tyres. The most popular type is the standard all-season option. These come as standard on most cars and, as the name suggests, you can use them all year round. They’re designed to have a long life with regular use and are manufactured from hard rubber.
Depending on the type of car you have, you could also go for a performance tyre. These are especially good for cars that require increased handling performance. They’re not good for use in the rain and so you can only use them year round if you live in a warm, dry area. They’re sometimes known as ‘summer tyres’ because they’re at their best in dry weather. Their shelf life is short due to being made from soft rubber, although this increases their grip.
If you live in an area with rough conditions and harsh winters, then you may wish to consider the winter tyre. These are designed to cope with tough weather conditions and the added difficulties associated with driving in winter. They are good at handling in snow and ice and you can get them with little metal studs embedded in the tread, which gives extra grip in extreme conditions. You can’t use them in dry conditions as they wear out fast and damage the road.
If you like off-road driving, then you should consider the all terrain tyre. You can use these on standard roads too, but they’re very noisy so they’re most popular for off-road cars. They’re good on dirt, sand and other loose surfaces. This is because they have great grip from having a large tread block pattern. They can also cope with unexpected potholes and challenging terrain because of their stiffened sidewalls. You can also get special tyres for driving exclusively on mud and dirt.
Finally, if you’ve ever had a puncture, you’ll know how annoying it can be. The ‘run flat’ tyre works to end this. It can run without any air so you can keep driving after a puncture without impacting on the handling. You should still always change the tyre as soon as you can, though, as you can only continue driving slowly and for a short distance. The run flat is a relatively new concept but it is getting more popular, particularly on new cars.
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