Buying new tires can be a daunting experience. You face a bewildering array of brands, sizes, and tire types to choose from, so it’s easy to be confused. But don’t worry: this guide will provide you with the essential facts you need to make the right tire choice for your vehicle at the price you want to pay. 🚗
What Type of Tires Does Your Car Need? ❓
Before you buy, you’ll need to know the answers to the following questions:
- What type of tires does my car need?
- How many miles will the tires I’m considering last?
- How much do I want to pay?
- Should I go with a straight replacement set or upgrade my tires?
All-Season Tires 🌦️
The vast majority of vehicles today come with all-season tires, designed to provide acceptable all-around capability throughout the year and in all weather conditions. This means a reasonable ride, respectable handling, quiet running, good wet-weather grip, and some capability in snow. Given their all-season designation, most car owners leave them on in winter and expect that their tires will deliver all the traction they need on snowy, icy roads. However, most all-season tires are marginal in snow; dedicated winter tires, also known as snow tires, provide far better traction when the snow falls.
High-Performance All-Season Tires 🏎️
High-performance all-season tires provide sharper handling than “standard” all-season tires. They grip the road more confidently and feel sportier to drive—usually at the expense of some winter-weather traction. These tires are intended for sportier cars and more aggressive drivers.
Grand Touring All-Season Tires 🛣️
Grand touring all-season tires have the lower-profile look of high-performance all-season tires but ride better at the price of some handling ability. Recently, a subset of grand touring all-season tires has emerged that we call “all-weather” tires. These tires feature snow traction almost comparable to that of pure winter tires while offering similar performance in other areas as conventional all-season tires. They are designated by a snowflake-within-a-mountain symbol on the tire’s sidewall.
Summer Tires ☀️
This term is a misnomer, as this type of tire should rightly be called “three-season” rubber. Summer tires are designed specifically to deliver dry- and wet-weather traction in moderate or warm weather. They sharpen steering response, increase cornering traction by an order of magnitude, and stop your vehicle in much less distance. But they do so at a cost: most summer tires only work well at temperatures of about 40 degrees Fahrenheit and above. As outside temps fall toward freezing, the tires can feel skittish and behave inconsistently; they lose a large portion of their grip to the point that they act like they are on a wet or even icy road. More than one driver of a powerful car, unaware of the temperature sensitivity of its summer tires, has lost control and crashed on a cold day.
Winter Tires ❄️
Called “snow tires” in the past, winter tires are designed to provide maximum traction in snow and in slippery winter conditions—and the traction they provide in those situations is not matched by any other category of tire. Even an all-wheel-drive vehicle on all-season tires cannot match the stopping or turning capability of a similar two-wheel-drive vehicle fitted with four winter tires, a point we have proven in our own winter-tire testing.
Tire Size and Other Factors 📏
Most consumers choose to replace the worn tires on their vehicle with something equivalent in size and capability. This makes a lot of sense; your car was engineered to work well on the type and size of tires it came on, so fitting an identical or similar replacement set would maintain the performance and safety your vehicle was designed to deliver.
Replacing Tires 🔄
If you’re going to replace what came on the car with something equivalent, you’re ready to go. Peruse the online resources like Tire Rack to compare tires, and then either buy from one of them or head to a local tire store. The advantage of buying online is that you can get the exact tires you want; different brick-and-mortar tire stores sell different brands of tires. The online retailers have relationships with the chain tire stores, which will mount the tires you bought on the internet on your wheels (for a small fee) even though you didn’t buy them there. Tire Rack has a decision guide to help you find the tires that fit your car.
Upgrading Your Tires 🆙
This is more complicated than simply replacing your tires, as you have several ways to go. You can choose a higher-performance tire of the same size on your current set of wheels by substituting, say, a high-performance all-season tire for a standard all-season—if you can find one that fits exactly. Or you can choose a set of wider, lower-profile summer or high-performance all-season tires, but this is trickier. You need to know if the tires will fit without rubbing on the suspension or body parts—a definite safety issue. Here, consulting one of the experts at Tire Rack is a must, as they have this information for many cars. You can also try checking an online forum for your make and model of car (if one exists).
Conclusion 📌
Choosing the right tires for your vehicle involves more than just picking the right size. You need to consider the type of tire that matches your driving style and conditions, understand the importance of speed ratings and tread-wear warranties, and decide whether to stick with run-flats or switch to conventional tires. Whether you decide to replace or upgrade, the right tire will not only improve your vehicle’s performance but also ensure your safety on the road. So, take your time, do your research, and choose wisely. Happy driving! 🚘
