How to Choose Tires That Fit Your Life, Not Just Your Vehicle

It’s easy to determine what size tires will fit your vehicle. Tire size information is available in your new car owner’s manual, and is often found along with tire inflation recommendations on a label inside the driver’s side door jamb. Fitting tires to your life is not so simple.

Do you have a long commute at high speeds every day, or are you the proverbial little old lady who only drives to church on Sunday? Are you a storm chaser, or do you never drive in rain or snow?

Everything matters, even how you drive. Below are a few of the more important factors you need to consider when choosing tires to fit your life.

Tread wear rating

Tires that have a high wear rating a made from harder, more durable rubber. The trade-off is often traction. All other factors being equal, a softer, lower tread wear rated tire will provide better traction, both wet and dry. In tread wear rating, it’s necessary to balance durability and safety.

Speed rating

Tires have a speed rating that determines the top speed the tire can withstand without damage. In general, high speed rated tires have stiff sidewalls. The trade-off here is ride comfort. A little-known fact is that tire sidewalls contribute to ride quality. The stiffer the sidewalls the harder the ride, and the better the handling. In speed rating, it’s necessary to balance ride quality and handling.

Tread design

Tire tread design is a constantly evolving science, and one size doesn’t fit all. The three most prominent designs are snow, highway, and all season. There are many designs that blend characteristics, making tread design choices even more complex. The trade-offs here are dry traction, wet traction, snow traction, and tire noise. In general, the wider the tread design the noisier the tire and the better the wet and snow traction. The tread patterns that grip snow better are often not the best wet and dry traction tires. In tread design, it’s necessary to balance tire noise with traction.

Why not let the tire pros at Big Oak Citgo help you with the many tire choices, and make sure you get the best tires for your life, not just your car! We can also help you with auto repair services near Morrisville, PA, and any other car repair or service you might need. To learn more about our car repair services available near Morrisville, PA, just browse our site or give us a call!