All You Need To Know About Tyre Tread
We all know that tyres have tread on them but do we all fully understand why? This article will explain to you exactly what the purpose of the tread is, why it is so important and all the different kinds that you can get for different situations.
How Tread Helps To Keep Us Safe
Tyres work by having good traction, so when there is a lot of friction between the tyre and the road, there is much less chance of slipping. However, when you add water to the equation, this will make the friction between the two surfaces weaker. This means that when it rains the chances of slipping are increased which is why in the rain, ice or snow you are told to keep more of a distance between cars as it will take longer to stop when there is less friction between the tyres and the road.
Now although the rain will make it slightly more difficult to stop all of a sudden, without tread on your tyres, stopping would become very challenging and very dangerous. The tread is there to create a pathway for the water, it allows it to escape from under the tyre. This works the same way when you are in mud or snow as well, the deeper the tread the better the traction will be which is why there is a minimum tread requirement.
As well as having the main deep tread pathways, there can also be very small grooves all over the tyre as well. This maximises the amount of water that can escape from under the tyre. However, it isn’t just as easy as putting some lines on the tyre wherever you want, which is why there are so many different kinds of tyres for different situations.
Different Kinds Of Tread
Different kinds of conditions will require different types of tyres to keep you safe. For example, tyres made for the snow will be less inflated than normal tyres, making it easier to drive on the snowy ground but harder on normal ground. Winter tyres are made of a softer kind of rubber so they can stay flexible in cold weather but in warm weather, they will wear down a lot quicker and won’t be as efficient. As you can see, having tyres for the right weather is very important.
There are also different kinds of tread designs such as symmetrical, asymmetrical and directional. Symmetrical tyres are your average kind of tyre that you would find on most cars, they aren’t specifically made for one thing in particular, just for general driving. They are not great in tough weather conditions but will generally get the job done. Asymmetrical tyres are a hybrid, the outside of them is designed to help you turn corners and the inside is designed to help shift the water, improving safety in wet weather. Directional tyres are the best of the three for harsh weather conditions like snow and rain as the design of them means they can channel away the water making it safer on the road.
Contact Our Team
If you are feeling a bit stuck and aren’t sure what kind of tyres would be best for you, give our team a call 01234 327328 and we would be happy to help.