What you should look for when buying tires.

 

While there is no exact answer of what you should look for when buying tires, there are a number of things that will help narrow down your choices. With the thousands of choices some I important things to consider are categorized in the follow in

 

• Tread-Pattern Design – Performance vs. Touring vs. All-Season
• Grip / Handling Traction Performance vs. Tread-wear Performance
• Tire Speed-Rating – S, T, H, V, W, Y, Z
• Price
• High Performance Tires

 

Most people will choose the mix of these categories based on how they use their vehicle. For instance if your vehicle is a family vehicle you may be looking for some thing with a balance of price, tread-wear performance (think long lasting), and Tire Traction Performance (think better braking). If your vehicle is a weekend cruiser that is built for speed your needs will be a bit different. You may want to get High Performance Tires that have a speed-Rating of “W” or “Y” with great Grip / Handling Traction Performance.

 

All-Season vs. Touring vs Performance

 

All-Season tread designs provide all-around good traction for a wide variety of road conditions such as dry, wet, snow and ice but still have good tread-wear and tire noise characteristics.

 

Performance tread designs are engineered to maximize a vehicles handling capabilities on wet and dry roads but usually have increased tire noise and lack long tread-wear life. One common characteristic of a performance tread design is larger tread element to help produce a stiff tread area to aid in handling performance.

 

Touring tread designs were designed as an intermediate to help bridge the gap between Performance and All-Season tread patterns. Tread pattern designs found on Touring tires combine the good tread-wear characteristics of All-Season tires with the handling and grip associated with performance tires. In most cases touring tires exhibit good ride comfort along with good tire noise.

 

Tread-wear Performance vs. Grip / Handling / Traction Performance

 

The trade-off between tread-wear and traction has been a focus for decades when it comes to tire performance-enhancement technology. While creating new tire designs, tire companies try to reduce the trade-off between traction and tread-wear by development of new rubber compounds, tire tread design, and tire construction techniques. Basically if a tire provides maximum road grip, it will wear-out quickly. This is due to tires leaving rubber on the road surface during normal driving, and even more so during aggressive driving. Tires that have excellent tread-wear minimize the amount of rubber left on the road surface, thus increasing tire tread life, at the cost of road gripping traction.

 

Tire Speed-Rating (S, T, H, V, W ,Y, Z)

 

One very common trade-off for higher speed-rating is a reduction in ride comfort. Typically an S speed-rated tire will provide a more comfortable ride when compared to an H speed-rated tire and an H rated tire will provide a more comfortable ride when compared to a Z speed-rated tire. Ride comfort characteristics are attributed to the tire’s overall stiffness. For a tire to run at higher speeds it is required to employ a stiffer construction in order to provide the necessary high speed stability and durability needed.

 

Symbol	Max Speed (mph & km/h)
Q	99 mph & 160 km/h
R	106 mph & 170 km/h
S	112 mph & 180 km/h
T	118mph & 190 km/h
U	124 mph & 200 km/h
H	130 mph & 210 km/h
V	149 mph & 240 km/h
W	168 mph & 270 km/h
Y	186 mph & 300 km/h
ZR	Above 300 km/h or 186mph

Originally Z speed-rated tires reflected the highest speed rating with a rating in excess of 149 mph. As newer cars we developed and released that could readily exceed this, the tire industry reacted. In order to provide tires that could be utilized at these higher speeds the industry added the W and Y ratings. Z speed-rating still often appears, such as 215/50ZR16 91W, the Z in the size still indicates maximum speed rating in excess of 149 mph; the addition of the W in the service description indicates this tire has a maximum speed of 168 mph. Yet the Y speed-rating in the a service description is inclosed in parentheses, such as 285/35ZR19 (99Y), the tire has been tested in excess of 186 mph, indicated by the service description as shown below:

285/35ZR19 99Y	186 mph & 300 km/h
285/35ZR19 (99Y)	In excess of 186 mph or 300 km/h

Price

With so many differences in levels of tread design, speed-ratings, and performance, the are also many different levels of pricing with each category. You may find that prices can vary from $50-$125 depending on the tire line with in brands and then also between tire brands. When you multiply this price by four, the price can be come expensive and even more critical to choose the right tire.

High Performance Tires

Typically you will find speed-ratings of H on High Performance Tires. Tire companies have also developed entry-level tires that exhibit the LOOK of high performance tires but only have S and T speed-ratings. Just because they LOOK the same does not mean they should be driven the same.

High performance tire widths are wider then that of typical all-season tires to maximize handling of the tire. By doing so there is a maximum contact area with the road surface. This is one case where wider is definitely better! Larger blocks are also used in the tread pattern to aid in increased stiffness. High performance tires will typically utilize a softer rubber compound in order to provide more dry traction capabilities. As a trade off this softer rubber compound will wear faster, resulting in significantly reduced tread-wear life.

The stiffer the construction that is used to produce High Performance tires not only lends to higher speed-ratings, but also increases the tires handling characteristics. High Performance tires typically exhibit quick steering response and plenty of available cornering power.