Are winter tyres just hype and unnecessary expense? Or do they serve a vital role in keeping the UK’s busy roads flowing smoothly at all times of year, even when ice and snow renders small, uncleared roads more or less impassable?
Let’s have a look at five reasons why you might want to consider getting winter tyres before you set off on your holiday travels.
They Are Safer on Ice and Mud
Numerous studies on the various types of tyre available on the market have proven that under the right conditions (which is to say, when the average outside temperature during your drive is below 7°C) winter tyres perform the best of all. During wintry conditions the following is true:
- Winter Tyres: the clear winner, for the reasons given below!
- Hybrid or All-weather Tyres: A good runner up, not quite as good in really cold or muddy conditions, but a solidly performing tyre, and…
- Summer Tyres: Made from hard, sturdy rubber, these tyres are designed to be used in hot conditions on good roads, and they can be slippery or unpredictable under poor weather conditions. They are much more durable than soft winter tyres, but they are less efficacious by a considerable margin in icy conditions, taking as many as ten further metres to come to a stop when compared with their wintry counterparts. These tyres are largely fine if you are going to only be driving within large built-up areas, such as London, which tend to maintain an ambient temperature that is significantly higher than those to be found in the countryside!
Generous Groove Patterns
Winter tyres are designed with a pattern of grooves whose purpose is to allow a lot more water (and also slushy ice and mud) to pass through without affecting the ride of the vehicle. These grooves (the smaller ones are called sipes) are designed to whisk any standing water, melted snow and grit-laden slush away from the road’s surface, so the car can hold the road well. Moreover, if you are visiting a cold area, or are expecting very low temperatures to affect your driving, why not choose your new winter tyres at DAT Tyres? Book online now.
Soft Rubber – More Flexibility
Winter tyres are so effective because their rubber is much softer than that found on summer tyres and even on mixed-purpose tyres. It is this softness that allows the winter tyres to hold the road because they literally mould themselves to whatever surface they’re being driven on, which helps the winter tyre to keep control even when driving on surfaces that would cause people to slip over while walking on it.
Better Braking
Winter tyres offer better braking by ensuring that when the brake pedal is depressed (or the parking brake pulled, should the driver need to perform a handbrake stop for any reason) the tyres bite down into the mud and ice and snow, performing their slowing and stopping functions flawlessly.
Improved Grip
All of the above features: the carefully designed grooves and sipes; the responsive braking, the softer, more flexible rubber, add up to one important benefit of winter tyres – vastly improved grip on the road, no matter if that road is completely clear, has a layer of salty grit on it, or is covered with an icy layer of mud, ice or snow. Moreover an improved grip will keep you driving slowly and sensibly, at a steady pace, until you reach the safety of your destination, be that cosmopolitan London or elsewhere in the UK.
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