The arrival of the first in the driving experience of winter for many novice drivers is fraught with certain difficulties: how to prepare the car for operation during the cold season? At the same time, the main question is the main question: which winter tires should I choose? After all, your safety on the winter road depends on whether the car is "shod" by the season. Our article will help you determine the choice and buy a good winter tires.
Winter tires: selection criteria
For winter rubber, a special chemical composition is characteristic, thanks to which it retains ductility at very low temperatures, as well as a special tread pattern that allows for more reliable grip of wheels in a road in extreme winter conditions.
Determining factors in the choice of tread pattern are the prevailing weather conditions in your region, the condition of roads, and the quality of their maintenance by utilities. Unfortunately, to invent universal winter tires, which would work equally well under any conditions, until it turned out that you did not say the seller in the car dealer. It is no accident that many brands of winter tires offer more than a dozen models of their products with the most diverse structure and pattern.
So, let's analyze what a road in winter can be and what tires should be bought in case of prevalence of this or that situation.
Slippery coating( ice or rolled snowballs)
In winter conditions, the problem of slippery roads is particularly relevant in remote locations from big cities. Practical experience has shown that the best way with ice cover winter studded tires. By breaking through the ice layer, the spikes provide effective braking, prevent slipping at start and drifts on curved road sections.
However, it should be noted that, in all other circumstances, when there is no ice crust on the road, the advantages of studded tires immediately turn into flaws: studded tires have a smaller contact spot with asphalt than non-studded tires, so there is a significant risk of skidding in the bends or slipping of the car when tryingbraked.
The danger is often exacerbated by the driver's false confidence in the "omnipotence" of rubber with spikes, as many mistakenly believe that such tires improve grip on the road in all cases without exception. Recognizing spiked tires as potentially dangerous, some states even banned their exploitation on their roads.
Summing up, we can say the following: if the ice in your region is an episodic phenomenon, you should not contact the spines. Moreover, now you can buy winter tires, which, without thorns, in ice conditions behave no worse than studded tires. The reason for this stability is the lamellae - the transverse bands of a special profile on the tire tread. Thanks to the ability to "cling" to the ice, motorists call them velcroks among themselves.
If the ice crust on the asphalt is observed very often( for the region there are frequent temperature changes with short-term thaws or precipitation in the form of rain with snow), it is better to "get into" the "spikes".In this case, we recommend that you pay attention to the Nokian Hakkapeliitta model. Winter tires from Nokian are very well proven.
Friable or slightly rolled snow
For confident and comfortable movement along such a road, an aggressive protector with a pronounced relief pattern is required, whose protruding profile should have a height of about 9-10 mm. Such tires, as it were, "bite" into a soft snow cover, keeping the car at maneuvers or braking.
Similar tires are equipped with crossover tires. Therefore, many believe that machines of this class of winter tires are not needed. This view is erroneous. Any summer tires, even with the most "tenacious" tread pattern, has a chemical composition designed for temperatures above 10 degrees.
In colder weather, it loses its plasticity, dies, and as a result its adhesion to the road deteriorates considerably. For an SUV this issue is especially relevant because of the large weight of the car, as well as the high center of gravity. To keep under control a heavy jeep in conditions of sliding is much more difficult, than a small car.
The road is hidden under a layer of "porridge" from wet snow and reagents
This is a fairly typical situation for city streets where utilities try to free roads from ice and snow with salt or special chemicals. As a result, the machines have to move along the dirty gray mass of melted snow melted with water. In this situation, tires with the aquaplaning effect will be most preferable.
The furrows on the surface of such rubber are placed so as to remove moisture and wet snow from under the wheel. The best winter tires, designed for such conditions, have a directional protector, the pattern of which resembles the Latin letter "V".On the side surface of such tires there is a large arrow indicating the direction of rotation of the tire.
Clean asphalt( European winter)
If the road is kept in excellent condition in winter, snow and ice are removed from it, and moisture is not collected in pits and potholes, special winter tires with a high speed index can be used. This rubber remains soft under minus conditions and has a characteristic sport profile of the tread. In the overwhelming majority of these wheels are directional and have the effect of aquaplaning. They allow you to move on frozen winter asphalt with rare wet areas at high speed.
Recently, so-called asymmetric tires have been actively promoted. Their surface is divided along into two parts, one of which has an "off-road" profile, and the second is made with the effect of aquaplaning. To provide, as such rubber will behave in those or other situations, it is very difficult.
The best manufacturers of winter tires
Unfortunately, the car enthusiast does not have the physical ability to fully check all the features of the tires purchased up to what rubber they are made of. The guarantee of quality and durability can be the name of the manufacturer. You should not economize by buying cheap products of little-known one-day firms. Trust trusted brands: Continental, Michelin, Pirelli, Nokian, BridgeStone.
Good inexpensive winter tires are produced by Russian brands "Krasny Yar" and Amtel.
Remember that the winter road does not like to joke and requires the driver to pay special attention to everything that concerns the operation of the car. The right choice of winter tires will minimize the risk of an accident, protect your life and the lives of your passengers. But even with the most expensive and high-quality tires do not neglect the caution when driving in the winter. Do not forget about it.
Good luck on the road!
