If your idea of a drive is running errands and getting to and
from work every day, read no further. If, however, driving is an
exciting experience for you -- hugging the road through your
favorite curve or pulling away from traffic in your Nissan 350Z
-- read on.
Only one thing connects you and your car to the road: your
tires. To go from simply driving a car to maneuvering your
high-performance vehicle through hair-pin turns and
wheel-gripping curves, you need a set of tires that provides the
maximum driving performance and grip.
And while it can be just fine to sport all-season tires on your
ride, if you are going to get the highest performance out of
your dream car it's best to customize your tires as well as your
car.
After all, you didn't spend all that cash on a car for it not to
give you all it can.
Types of tires
We're going to focus on three types of tires: all-season, summer
and winter. Each has its own characteristics and serves a
specific purpose. The common threads affecting the performance
of each type of tire are tread pattern and tread compound. Both
are equally important in maximizing the usage of these essential
and often overlooked vehicle components.
All-season
As the name suggests, all-season tires will work in, you guessed
it, every season. That's because they are designed to be a jack
of all trades. In order to function as a quality, year-round
tire, it must offer good general characteristics. But an
all-season tire doesn't maximize any characteristics for optimum
performance. For example, an all-season tire's tread will be a
little deeper than a specially designed summer tire because a
driver who buys all-season tires is looking for the additional
mileage that a deeper tread provides. But the slightly deeper
tread, as well as siping (small slots cut or molded into a tire
tread surface to increase traction on snow, ice, mud and wet
road surfaces), takes away some of the high-performance handling
characteristics found in summer tires.
Overall, an all-season tire is a solid purchase and it offers
the benefit of being convenient. But, if you're like most Nissan
and Infiniti drivers, driving is about more than just
convenience. It's almost always about performance.
Summer
Summer tires are performance tires. The tread designs have large
elements with very little or no siping. These tires can be used
in wet or dry conditions and the tread's compound operates at
its peak when the temperature is up, up, up. Summer tires are
better than all-season tires for wet performance because they
are designed to move water more quickly away from the tires and
the tread grips the pavement better. These season-specific tires
also have the smallest tread depth, giving them the tightest
grip on the road. Look at race car tires -- they aren't called
racing slicks for nothing. And while you may only pretend to be
a race car driver in your 350Z, you still want to have the same
secure grip on the road.
Winter
Most people think of studs, chains and sand when they think of
snow tires and maneuvering through the snow. But "snow tires"
have evolved into technologically advanced winter tires, which
are designed for both snow and ice performance. These tread
patterns have small elements, including a lot of cross slots and
lateral siping, which help remove the thin film of water that
forms due to the heat of the tire passing over the snow. The
tread compound stays flexible because it is specifically
designed for cold, snow and ice. Tread depth is especially
important and is a major factor for winter tires: You need the
traction of deeper treads to dig into the snow and move your
vehicle through it.
Who among us hasn't
slipped and slid across an icy road? You know the frightening
feeling you get when your car has little traction during
inclement weather conditions. Put on a set of winter tires to
get the feeling of security the next time you get behind the
wheel during a snow or ice storm.
The Right Application
Engineers spend lifetimes designing products that optimize
performance. The same is true for tires, which are often overlooked as
mere black donuts on our cars that get inflated and rotated once in a
while.
Clearly, an all-season tire can be used throughout the year. And, if
you live in a part of the world with average weather that doesn't get
extremely hot or extremely cold, an all-season tire will get you where
you want to go. If you use an all-season tire in extremely cold
conditions, the tire starts to get harder and gives a bumpier ride. On
the contrary, if you use an all-season tire in extremely hot
conditions, the tire becomes softer and doesn't provide as much grip
to the road.
Season-specific tires address these issues but they must be used in
the season for which they are designed. If you use a summer tire with
its specially designed compound in the winter, the compound makes the
tire very hard and it won't conform as well to the road conditions.
Likewise, a winter tire used in hot temperatures becomes very soft and
doesn't provide the best driving experience or treadwear that a tire
can offer.
Bottom line: Drivers that have season-specific tires on their rides
will get the traction and cornering that other drivers don't get.
Cost and storage
So, what about cost? You're probably wondering how much it's going to
cost to buy two sets of tires -- one to get you through the summer and
the other for the winter. Consider this: Every mile you put on your
winter tires is a mile you don't put on your summer tires. Thus, each
set lasts longer. Also, having the best tires on your car for each
season could reduce the risk of your having an accident in inclement
weather, saving money and grief down the road.
Storage is easy. Just put each tire in a plastic bag -- you can get
them at any tire store -- and stack them in your garage. DON'T store
your tires near containers with gasoline or near ozone-generating
equipment, including home air purifiers that create ozone.
What do I have and what do I need?
When you buy your car, don't just ask the sales person about the
benefits of a six-disc changer versus a single CD player. Ask about
the tires. While most new cars come fitted with all-season tires, some
Japanese and European manufacturers are going to season-specific tires
as original equipment for their high-performance vehicles.
Not sure which tire is best for your ride? Visit a reputable tire
dealer who will give you an answer based on your driving patterns, the
types of roads you drive on and the climate you live in. And for the
best long-term performance, learn to correctly inflate your tires and
to check their inflation monthly.
After all, it's not about the destination but the journey.
-Joseph Mustipher, Jr.
High Performance Specialist,
Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC
Nashville-based Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC, is a
subsidiary of Bridgestone Americas Holding, Inc., whose parent
company, Bridgestone Corporation, is the world's largest tire and
rubber company. BFNT develops, manufactures, and markets Bridgestone,
Firestone, Dayton and associate and private brand tires. The company
is focused on wholesale and original equipment markets, supplying
passenger, light truck, commercial vehicle, off-road, agricultural and
other tires to its customers in North America.
