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Buying new tires can be a daunting experience. You face a bewildering array of brands, sizes and tire types to choose from, so it's easy to be confused. But don't worry: this guide will provide you with the essential facts you need to in order to make the right tire choice for your vehicle at the price you want to pay.
Before you buy, you'll need to know the answers to the following questions:
Already know about tires and just want our top picks? Our favorites in each category are listed below. Further down, you'll find more information about all-season, summer, and winter tires plus our top alternative picks in each category.
Best All-Season Tire
$127 at tirerack.com
Best Summer Tire
$241 at Tire Rack
Best Winter Tire
$104 at discounttire.com
Is our top pick unavailable in the size you need? Looking for a fast, easy way to sort through the dozens of alternatives? Then go to Tire Rack's Tire Decision Guide. The company says it'll have a list of appropriate alternative choices for you in two minutes or less. The tirerack.com site is also deep with important consumer data, including tire warranties, treadwear guarantees, and tire-test results.
$150 at Tire Rack
$138 at tirerack.
com
$235 at Tire Rack
The vast majority of vehicles today come with all-season tires, which are designed to provide acceptable all-around capability throughout the year and in all weather conditions. That means a reasonable ride and respectable handling, quiet running, good wet-weather grip, and some capability in snow. Given their all-season designation, most car owners leave them on in winter and expect that their tires will deliver all the traction they need on snowy, icy roads. But most all-season tires are marginal in snow; dedicated winter tires, also known as snow tires, provide far better traction when the snow falls.
There are now two main sub-categories of all-season tires: high-performance all-seasons and grand touring all-seasons. High-performance all-season tires provide sharper handling than "standard" all-season tires. They grip the road more confidently and feel more sporty to drive—usually at the expense of some winter-weather traction.
These tires are intended for sportier cars and more-aggressive drivers. Grand touring all-season tires have the lower-profile look of high-performance all-season tires but ride better at the price of some handling ability.
Recently, a subset of grand touring all-season tires has emerged that we call “all-weather” tires. These tires feature snow traction that almost comparable to that of pure winter tires while offering similar performance in other areas as conventional all-season tires. They are designated by a snowflake-within-a-mountain symbol on the tire's sidewall.
Summer Tires$160 at Tire Rack
$195 at Tire Rack
$211 at Tire Rack
This term is a misnomer, as this type of tire should rightly be called "three-season" rubber.
Summer tires are designed specifically to deliver dry- and wet-weather traction in moderate or warm weather. They sharpen steering response, increase cornering traction by an order of magnitude, and stop your vehicle in much less distance. But they do so at a cost: most summer tires only work well at temperatures of about 40 degrees Fahrenheit and above. As outside temps fall toward freezing, the tires can feel skittish and behave inconsistently; they lose a large portion of their grip to the point that they act like they are on a wet or even icy road. More than one driver of a powerful car, unaware of the temperature sensitivity of its summer tires, has lost control and crashed on a cold day.
As with all-season tires, summer rubber comes in several varieties. Tire Rack divides these tires into three main groups by escalating capability: ultra-high performance on the bottom rung, followed max performance and extreme performance. Summer tires come on cars such as Porsches, Corvettes, Mercedes-AMGs, and Mustangs.
$166 at Tire Rack
$180 at Tire Rack
$270 at Tire Rack
Called "snow tires" in the past, winter tires are designed to provide maximum traction in snow and in slippery winter conditions—and the traction they provide in those situations is not matched by any other category of tire. Even an all-wheel-drive vehicle on all-season tires cannot match the stopping or turning capability of a similar two-wheel drive vehicle fitted with four winter tires, a point we have proven in our own winter-tire testing.
Winter tires are designed to work well in the cold-weather months, but they don't handle or wear as well as all-season or summer tires once the weather warms up. They should be considered as a second set of tires for your vehicle if you live where snow flies annually.
We fit all of our long-term test vehicles with winter tires and they've proven their worth many times over.
Why use winter tires? If you live in the northern states, we recommend purchasing a set of winter tires. Their deep treads are engineered to deliver a significant traction improvement, and do they ever work. You'll feel safer and be safer, not to mention more relaxed when driving in snow. Retailers such as Tire Rack will sell you a set of snows mounted on steel wheels that you can swap on when winter rolls around. Here at Car and Driver, we swear by them.
Tire Size and Other Factors
Most consumers choose to replace the worn tires on their vehicle with something equivalent in size and capability. This makes a lot of sense; your car was engineered to work well on the type and size of tires it came on, so fitting an identical or similar replacement set would maintain the performance and safety your vehicle was designed to deliver.
(We'll get to upgrading later on).
To inform your decision process, you'll need to know your vehicle's tire size and speed rating, and you'll also want to consider how many miles you'll get out of any new tires you are considering (this is called tread wear). Much of that information is printed on the sidewalls of the tires that are on your car right now. It's also available in most owner's manuals, online, and at tire dealers. (We suggest cross-checking those sources to make sure you've got the right information.)
Here's how to read the most important data imprinted on your tires' sidewalls. (For an in-depth look at how to read all of the information on a tire sidewall, click here.)
KEY: 1) Tire width; 2) Aspect ratio; 3) Radial-tire designation; 4) diameter; 5) Load rating with speed rating; 6) Heaviest spot on tire; 7) Tread-wear rating; 8-9) Traction and temperature ratings; 10-11) Mud-and-snow or three-peak-mountain rating; 12) Vehicle-specific marking; 13) Tire-materials list and manufacturing information
Tire SizeIf you're going to replace your tires with something equivalent, you will need to know the proper size.
The size of car and light truck tires is usually expressed in a short series of numbers and letters that read like this (as seen in the above illustration): 245/40-R18. The first number indicates the width of the tire at its widest point in millimeters. The number after the slash is what's called the aspect ratio, which indicates how tall the sidewall is as a percentage of the width. The higher the number, the taller the sidewall. The squat tires fitted to sports cars and muscle cars, called low-profile tires, have aspect ratios of 30–40. Family sedans and SUVs are in the 45-60 range or taller. The final number in the series is the diameter of the wheel in inches that the tire must mount to. The "R" indicates it's a radial tire, which virtually all of today's tires are.
Tires also carry a speed rating, which indicates not only how fast they can safely go for an extended period of time, but also the overall performance potential of the tires.
Tires for high-performance cars have a higher speed rating than those for mainstream family sedans and SUVs. The speed rating of the original tires that came on your car were matched to the maximum speed the car could attain—plus a significant built-in safety margin. This speed rating is expressed as a letter in the alpha-numeric code that immediately follows the tire size. Letters range from L to Y, and cover maximum speed ranges from 75 mph to more than 186 mph.
The are two pieces of data that will help you estimate how many miles you can expect from a set of tires: the tread-wear rating and the tire mileage warranty. The tread wear rating is listed as a number on the tire sidewall after the word "treadwear". The higher this number, the more likely the tire will last longer. But the tests that are used to determine treadwear aren't precise, so there is a lot of variability in this number.
A better way to gauge potential tire life, and to compare the expected longevity of different tires you might be considering, is to look at the manufacturers' tread-life warranties.
Many but not all tires carry a tread-life warranty in addition to manufacturing-quality/defect warranties. This information can be found online (like this example from tirerack.com), or in the tire maker's marketing materials. The industry's general rule is that about three-quarters of all drivers will find that their tires last at least last as long as the mileage listed in the tread life warranty. Generally, if your tires wear out before the guaranteed mileage bogey, you can get a credit for the percentage of miles you came up short, which you can then apply to the purchase of a new tire. (Tire dealers routinely handle this transaction.)
Numerous automakers fit their cars with run-flat tires from the factory. These tires are capable of driving for short distances at low speeds even after a puncture has left them without air, allowing you to reach home or a repair facility without needing to change a flat on the side of the road.
If your vehicle came on run-flats you have the option of replacing them with conventional tires and carrying a spare (but beware that some cars fitted with run-flats actually do not have a trunk compartment for a spare). Or, you can replace your worn run-flats with another set of run-flats. And now that tire-pressure monitoring systems are compulsory equipment in new cars, you could even fit run-flats on a car that didn’t originally come with them.
Run-flat tires do have downsides. Their stiff sidewalls, which are required to hold the tire up when deflated, tend to make the car ride noticeably harder over rough pavement, but tire tech is continually improving and run-flats aren’t nearly the penalty they were a decade ago. Choice is also more limited than with conventional tires and run-flats are premium-priced.
In general, we'd recommend swapping to conventional tires and carrying a spare or mini-spare if possible.
There's one more decision you need to make: do you simply replace the tires on your vehicle with something equivalent, or upgrade?
If you're going to replace what came on the car with something equivalent, you're ready to go. Peruse the online resources like Tire Rack to compare tires, and then either buy from one of them or head to a local tire store. The advantage of buying online is that you can get the exact tires you want; different brick-and-mortar tire stores sell different brands of tires. The online retailers have relationships with the chain tire stores, which will mount the tires you bought on the internet on your wheels (for a small fee) even though you didn't buy them there.
Tire Rack has a decision guide to help you find the tires that fit your car.
This is more complicated than simply replacing your tires, as you have several ways to go. You can choose a higher-performance tire of the same size on your current set of wheels by substituting, say, a high-performance all-season tire for a standard all-season—if you can find one that fits exactly. Or you can choose a set of wider, lower-profile summer or high-performance all-season tires, but this is trickier. You need to know if the tires will fit without rubbing on the suspension or body parts—a definite safety issue. Here, consulting one of the experts at Tire Rack is a must, as they have this information for many cars. You can also try checking an online forum for your make and model of car (if one exists).
Many vehicles can be had from the factory with several different tire sizes—Honda Civics, for example, come with tires ranging from 215/55-R16 to 245/30ZR-20—so going to a larger-diameter wheel might work.
But know that fitting lower-profile rubber will almost always require a larger-diameter wheel. The outside diameter of your tires needs to remain constant; everything from your vehicle's suspension to its ground clearance to its gearing is affected by the overall size of the tires. As the sidewall gets slimmer, the wheel must grow to compensate. Use this size guide to see how switching to a lower-profile tire affects wheel diameter.
Wider, lower-profile higher-performance tires can also make the car ride rougher, wear faster, be noisier, and influence the steering, possibly causing you to have to make more steering corrections on the Interstate. Low-profile tires will also probably be more prone to damage from potholes, something we experienced with one of our long-term cars, which blew out a dozen of its low-profile tires in the course of 40,000 miles on our rutted Michigan roads. And they'll almost definitely be more expensive, plus you'll have to buy a new set of wheels.
You'll need to consider all of these issues carefully before you make the leap.
For everything you need to know about buying and maintaining tires, click here.
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The road is covered in a sheet of snow when the truck in front of you jams on the brakes. You hit the brake pedal and feel the tires gripping, safely bringing you to a stop just short of the truck’s rear bumper.
If something like this has happened to you, then you probably took the time to choose the right tires for your car. Picking tires that can handle weather and road conditions you encounter is one of the most important decisions you can make.
After all, your car’s tires are your only connection to the road.
So when it’s time for new rubber, consider the following factors to ensure you choose the best tires for your car:
When it comes to purchasing tires, “a good place to start is to consider buying the same ones that came on the car,” says Dan Edmunds, director of vehicle testing for car site Edmunds.com.
If you like the way the car rides and handles, buy the original equipment, or OE, tires your car came with from the manufacturer.
This is the easiest option: Since the tires were designed for your car, you know they’ll be a good fit. You can find out which tires came with your car by looking in your car’s owners manual or doing a quick search on an online tire retailer’s website.
But if you want to change the ride characteristics of your car, you’ll need to do a bit more research. Edmunds says to read online tire reviews or refine your search for specific characteristics (more on that below).
Locate a placard on the driver’s side door that indicates what size tires fit your car. For example, your tire size might read P215/65 R15. This string of numbers and letters denotes the tire width, the height compared to the width, and the diameter. In most cases, your new tires should match this size.
If you shop for tires online, you can easily find your tire size on a retailer’s website, such as TireRack.com. Just enter the year, make and model of your car and you’ll find the tire size and a list of tires that match the size and will work for your car. You can then compare tire reviews and prices.
“Tires define the personality of the vehicle,” says Gene Petersen, tire program manager for Consumer Reports, which tests and reviews tires. He tells drivers to choose tires that are not only the right size, but that also optimize the car’s handling and braking ability.
Finally, search for tires that reduce road noise and provide a comfortable ride.
However, keep in mind that there will only be a few brands of tires that are developed specifically for your car, Edmunds says.
“They are chosen to achieve the ride and quietness and handling that creates the personality [the manufacturer] wants that car to have,” Edmunds says.
You’ll also need to decide whether you want all-season, winter or summer tires. Here’s a description of the differences among those tire types:
All-season tires are the most popular because, as the name indicates, you can leave them on the car year-round. “All-season tires provide some modest grip and traction on ice and a good compromise of dry and wet grip,” Petersen says.
Winter tires are not designed for all-year use. This means that you’ll either have to buy an extra set of wheels or have an installer swap them with your summer tires as winter approaches.
Winter tires are made of a pliable rubber compound that performs best in cold temperatures. They also have a deeper tread and more slits (called “sipes”) to break ice and bite into snow.
Summer tires are best suited to sports cars for performance driving and provide good grip on dry roads in warm temperatures and at high speeds. However, the soft rubber compound does not provide good traction below about 40 degrees or on snowy surfaces.
Don’t wait until your tires are dangerously worn before you begin shopping. Petersen suggests checking your current tires by inserting a quarter into the tread. If the top of George Washington’s head (pointing down) is even with the tread, it’s time to begin the shopping process. If you insert a penny and the tread is even with the top of Abraham Lincoln’s head, the tires are becoming unsafe and you should buy new ones right away.
If you get started early, you’ll have plenty of time to research tires and shop the best prices. Once you know your tire size, and the type of tire and characteristics you want, you can read reviews and check out ratings from sites like Consumer Reports and SaferCar.gov.
When you find and price the tires you want online, you may be able to get a brick-and-mortar tire shop to beat that price. If not, you can order the tires online, have them sent directly to a local installer and then bring your car in when they arrive.
So plan ahead — you’ll wind up with a smooth and safe ride, and you might even save some money.
About the author: Philip Reed is an automotive expert who writes a syndicated column for NerdWallet that has been carried by USA Today, Yahoo Finance and others. He is the author of 10 books. Read more
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Konstantin Ishchenko
experienced motorist
Much depends on the condition of the suspension, springs and shock absorbers, but tires provide direct grip with the road. Wrong or worn tires can cause accidents. In this article, we will tell you how to avoid this.
In the spring - from winter to summer. There are no strict requirements in the regulatory documents: it is recommended to use winter tires from December to February, and summer tires from June to August. There are requirements for studded tires: they cannot be used from the first of June - for this they can be warned or fined 500 R. From winter to summer, they change shoes at an average daily temperature above +7 ° C. After this mark, winter tires wear out quickly and hold the road poorly.
Rules of the Customs Union "On the safety of wheeled vehicles"
In autumn - from summer to winter. It's time to change tires if the average daily temperature drops below +10 °C: summer tires become dull, grip becomes worse. In autumn, it is much more difficult to sign up for a tire fitting: the closer the frost, the longer the appointment. People are afraid of ice, the prospect of hitting someone else's car or flying into a ditch.
What to do? 02/21/20
Wheels scratched at my car service
Car tires are consumables. In addition to seasonal replacement, it is important to replace them as soon as they are worn out or seriously damaged.
When the tire is worn. Each car tire has a wear indicator - a special jumper between the tread islands. As soon as the tread wears off and matches the level of at least one of the indicator jumpers, it's time to change the tire. Such a tire is dangerous, especially on wet surfaces.
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Insufficiently high tread poorly removes water from the tire contact patch with the roadway. Where you can confidently drive 70–80 km/h on new tires, on worn tires you can lose control of the car already at a speed of 55–60 km/h.
Indicator bar on a tire that has been through a season and a half Some manufacturers apply their own wear indicators in addition to the standard ones. For example, on Nokian tires, numbers are cut in the middle of the tread: the larger the number, the deeper the cut.
A relatively new tire will have a lot of numbers, a worn one or two will remain - the rest will be erased. A drop with a cross is applied to the sidewall of the Continental tire. As soon as it is worn down to half, the tire should be considered worn out and replaced. But all these are rather exceptions - most tires do not have such indicators.
Wear may be uneven. If the tire has been inflated, the center of the tread will be worn off. If the tire pressure was too low, it will be relatively fresh and the sidewalls of the tread will be worn out.
Non-standard wear indicators. From left to right: Nokian with numbers - summer and winter, Continental summer - with a drop and a cross Tire that was pumped over: wear on the central part of the tread is much stronger It also happens that either the inner or outer side of the tread wears out on one wheel. This means that the camber is broken - the angle of the wheel relative to the vertical plane. In this case, it is important to sign up for wheel alignment - this is a service during which the wheel alignment angles are adjusted.
It happens that the angles of the wheels are not adjusted. For example, if the car has been in a serious accident and its power parts of the body or suspension parts are deformed. In this case, you will have to eliminate these malfunctions, and then go to the wheel alignment stand again.
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Sawtooth or comb wear occurs on winter tires if the toe-in is broken - the angle of the wheel position in the horizontal plane. Sign up for a wheel alignment so that the same wear does not appear on the new tire.
Uneven tread wear. The tire was on a wheel with unadjusted camber Comb-shaped tread wear. Source: mashintop.ru When the tire is damaged and it is noticeable. It is quite easy to damage a tire: cut the sidewall, run into a piece of reinforcement or get hit, in place of which a hernia will come out. All sidewall damage is a good reason to buy a new tire: repairs will be expensive and ineffective. Damage to the working part of the tire - the tread - is less critical.
When damage is present but not visible. Hidden damage may appear on the back of the wheel. For example, a driver caught a hole, felt a good hit, got out, saw that everything was in order, and drove on. And on the reverse side, a piece of rubber was torn out and the cord became visible - the metal carcass of the tire. Such damages are found only when inspecting the chassis or at a tire fitting, and this is bad: they can cause an accident or serious damage to the car.
Service life of car tires. The tire life recommended by most manufacturers is five years, but this does not mean that they cannot be used for the sixth year. The expiration date is not limited by any documents.
GOST R 52900-2007
Tire manufacturers estimate tire service life differently. Nokian provided the most detailed explanation: “Tire life is not defined by law, but tires can only be considered new if they have been manufactured within the last five years. The recommended tire life is 6 years and the maximum is 10 years. Then the tire loses its consumer properties: grip deteriorates, vibration may appear on the body or steering wheel.
5 years
tire life recommended by most manufacturers
Storage location - less than a meter away from direct sunlight and heaters. In the sun, near the battery and in the rain, the tire will quickly lose its properties: the rubber will dry out and collapse. Permissible temperature - from -30 to +35 ° C, humidity - 50-80%. Do not leave the wheels dirty; they must be thoroughly washed before seasonal storage. Tires can be stored under a canopy in the open air for no more than a month.
GOST 54266-2010
The method of storage depends on the set: either tires separately or wheels as an assembly. Tires up to 205 mm wide can be stored in even stacks up to 2 m high. Tires from 210 mm are stored vertically - on edge. Every three months, all tires, regardless of width, should be rotated to change the footprint.
GOST does not explain how to store the wheels as an assembly, but Nokian has a visual manual for storage. Continental recommends hanging wheels by rims or storing them in a stack, similar to tires, turning them over every 4 weeks. It is advisable to reduce the air pressure in the tire to 1-1.5 atm and not make stacks of wheels - a tire plus a disk - more than four pieces.
Nokian Tire Storage TipsPDF, 2.1 MB
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First of all, you need to decide which tires are suitable. All important characteristics are written on the sidewall of the tire.
It is important to consider the dimensions of the tire when selecting it for a specific car and rim. All options provided for by the design of the car are written on special plates.
Depending on the brand of car, they can be found on the gas tank flap or on the B-pillar in the driver's doorway. The recommended tire pressure is also written here.
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Decal with Mini John Cooper Works tire parameters in the doorway: size and recommended pressure at different loads Decal on the gas tank flap Skoda OctaviaTire sizes are indicated in the format xxx/xx Rx. They are on the sidewall of the tire.
The first parameter is the tread width in mm. The size step is 10 mm, always 5 at the end. Next is the tire profile, or its height as a percentage relative to the width. The width of a tire with parameters 235/55/R16 is approximately 129 mm, and for a tire 195/55/R16 it is 107 mm.
R - an indication of the type of tire, in this case, that it is radial. There are also diagonal ones, but this is an outdated design. These have not been used for cars for a long time. The difference is in the design of the cord. A popular misconception is that R is a radius.
The last two digits are the diameter of the rim in inches, on which the tire can be placed.
It is undesirable to deviate from the tire parameters recommended by the car manufacturer. This can adversely affect handling, as well as cause the tire to rub against the wheel arch or suspension parts: this will damage the tire and increase the likelihood of an accident.
It happens that on the front and rear axles from the factory there are disks for rubber of different sizes. Usually we are talking about the width - the rear wheels can be wider than the front. In the people, such a set of disks is called a different-wide one.
Tube or tubeless construction. Previously, a car wheel consisted of three main parts: a disc, a tube, and a tire. The tire was responsible only for traction and overall strength, the chamber was a container for air. This design had serious drawbacks:
Now you can find a tube tire on a car only in a museum or in your grandfather's garage: the technology is outdated.
Modern tubeless tires do not have these drawbacks. Special protrusions in the disks — hubs, for which the tire clings, help to maintain the tightness of the tubeless wheel.
Manufacturers still mark tubeless tires with a special tubeless mark, and those intended for use with a tube - tube type, but now these are only rare domestic models Cord construction type. Each tire is multi-layered, a single rubber product will not be able to provide the desired shape and strength. Therefore, inside the tire there is a cord - a kind of carcass. The cord can be metal, synthetic fibers or textile threads. According to the method of laying the cord, tires are divided into radial and diagonal.
| Bias tire | Radial tire |
|---|---|
| 2 or more cords | 1 ply cord |
| Smaller footprint | Larger road contact patch |
| Tire heavier than | Tire lighter |
| Used on commercial vehicles | Used on passenger cars |
| Cheaper than | More expensive |
Bias
Radial tire
2 layers of cord or more than
1 layer of cord
Less contact stain with an expensive
SPECTION with an expensive
tire
Lighter
are used on commercial equipment
used on cars
Cheaper
More expensive
Radial tire cords are parallel to the wheel circumference, on top of each other.DOT marking. The name comes from the American Department of Transportation - an analogue of our Department of Transportation. In 1978, this department approved mandatory labeling for all automobile tires, which includes Treadwear, Traction, and Temperature grades marked on the sidewall. Now most manufacturers use this system, selling tires without such marking is illegal in the USA.
Treadwear. Some people want tires to last as long as possible, others want good grip. So far, these qualities have not been learned to combine in one tire.
The wear rate of a tire is indicated by the Treadwear index. Typically, for products for passenger cars, this parameter ranges from 100 to 600. In terms of kilometers, this is approximately 10,000-15,000 km per hundred points. For example, index 240 corresponds to 24,000-36,000 km. At the end of the range there will be tires that were used with a calm driving style.
Traction also shows the grip class, but unlike Russian traffic rules and technical regulations, the classification is based not on distance in meters, but on the deceleration coefficient - G, which the tire can provide. According to Traction, all tires are divided into classes according to their ability to effectively stop a car on wet asphalt and concrete: from the best AA to the worst C.
| Class | G on asphalt | G on concrete |
|---|---|---|
| AA | More than 0.54 m/s² | 0.38 m/s² |
| A | More than 0.47 m/s² | 0.35 m/s² |
| B | More than 0.38 m/s² | 0.26 m/s² |
| C | Less than 0.38 m/s² | 0.26 m/s² |
Grade AA
G on asphalt
More than 0. 54 m/s²
G on concrete
0.38 m/s²
Grade A
G on asphalt
more than 0.47 m/s²
G on concrete
0.35 m/s²
Class B
G On the asphalt
more than 0.38 m/s²
G on concrete
0.26 m/s²
Class C
G on asphalt
less than 0.38 m/s²
9000 G on concrete0.26 m/s²
Temperature curve, Temperature. All tires are divided into three classes according to resistance to heat generation during movement: A, B and C. Class A tires effectively remove heat at speeds over 185 km / h, class B - from 160 to 185 km / h, class C - from 137 up to 160 km/h. For passenger cars, there are almost no tires on sale, except for class A.
Runflat. This rubber has a thick and stiff sidewall. It can be driven up to 80 km at speeds up to 80 km/h after a puncture or side cut with a complete loss of pressure.
It is important that the machine is equipped with a tire pressure system, otherwise the driver may not recognize a flat tire, exceed the recommended speed, or drive more than 80 km, which at best will lead to damage to the rim, and at worst, to an accident.
Many vehicles come with runflat tires from the factory. Especially on those who do not have a spare tire. Such tires are 1.5-2 times more expensive than ordinary ones, they make driving less comfortable: due to the hard sidewall, such rubber smooths out bumps much worse and is heavier than conventional tires.
But you don't have to call a tow truck: you can almost always get to the tire shop on your own. If you drive on a relatively flat road, there will be no damage to the alloy wheel: it is still a few centimeters from the road surface.
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Load and maximum speed indices. Load Index is a two- or three-digit number that indicates the maximum weight that the tire can support. The speed index is denoted by a Latin letter. It shows the maximum allowable speed that the tire can withstand. All indices are summarized in tables.
| Speed index | Maximum speed, km/h |
|---|---|
| L | 120 |
| M | 130 |
| N | 140 |
| P | 150 |
| Q | 160 |
| R | 170 |
| S | 180 |
| T | 190 |
| U | 200 |
| H | 210 |
| V | 240 |
| W | 270 |
| Y | 300 |
| Z | 300+ |
Speed index
Maximum speed, km/h
If you want to know how to read the load index, find your value in the table.
Load index
Mass per tire, kg
100
800
101
825
104
900
105
925
106
950 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 108
1000
109
1030
110
1060
111
1090
112
1120
113
11502
114
1180
115
1215
116
1250
117
1285
118
1320
119
1360
120
1400
121
14000 22222 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000 9000,000,000,000 9000,000,000 9000,000,000,000 9000,000,000,000 9000,000,000,000,000,000
| Load index | Weight per tire, kg | Load index | Weight per tire, kg | Load index | Weight per tire, kg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 62 | 265 | 83 | 487 | 104 | 900 |
| 63 | 272 | 84 | 500 | 105 | 925 |
| 64 | 280 | 85 | 515 | 106 | 950 |
| 65 | 290 | 86 | 530 | 107 | 975 |
| 66 | 300 | 87 | 545 | 108 | 1000 |
| 67 | 307 | 88 | 560 | 109 | 1030 |
| 68 | 315 | 89 | 580 | 110 | 1060 |
| 69 | 325 | 90 | 600 | 111 | 1090 |
| 70 | 335 | 91 | 615 | 112 | 1120 |
| 71 | 345 | 92 | 630 | 113 | 1150 |
| 72 | 355 | 93 | 650 | 114 | 1180 |
| 73 | 365 | 94 | 670 | 115 | 1215 |
| 74 | 375 | 95 | 690 | 116 | 1250 |
| 75 | 387 | 96 | 710 | 117 | 1285 |
| 76 | 400 | 97 | 730 | 118 | 1320 |
| 77 | 412 | 98 | 750 | 119 | 1360 |
| 78 | 425 | 99 | 775 | 120 | 1400 |
| 79 | 437 | 100 | 800 | 121 | 1450 |
| 80 | 450 | 101 | 825 | 122 | 1500 |
| 81 | 462 | 102 | 850 | 123 | 1550 |
| 82 | 475 | 103 | 875 | 124 | 1600 |
Pressure index is another name for the load index.
Euro label. Manufacturers put special stickers on tires. They have three parameters that are not written about on the bus itself. These stickers appeared in 2012. Since then, they have been on any tire sold in the EU.
Label according to EC Regulation 1222/2009. This is a complex document with formulas and parameters like rolling resistance - it does not have the usual values like fuel consumption or braking distances. The sticker describes the tire according to three characteristics: noise level, fuel economy class and wet grip class.
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Noise level shows the noise level in decibels. One black sound wave is 3 or more decibels below the 2016 European norm. Two waves - at the normal level or quieter, but less than 3 decibels. Three - noisy tire, out of limit.
Fuel economy class. A is the most economical. The lower the class, the more the tire resists rolling and the higher the fuel consumption. There is a 7.5% difference in fuel consumption between the most economical class A tire and the most "wasteful" class G. That is, for an average car with a consumption of 10 liters per 100 km and an annual mileage of 25,000 km, class A tires will save up to 187 liters of fuel - 8000 R.
Road grip. The same letters, but without color indication. This estimate was obtained when checking the braking distance on asphalt. The shorter the stopping distance, the closer the letter is to the beginning of the alphabet. The difference between A and G is more than 18 meters: A is the minimum stopping distance, B is plus 3 meters to A, C is plus 7 meters to A, D is plus 10 meters to A, E is plus 12 meters to A, F is plus 18 meters to A.
Sticker on a new tire Color markers on tires. There are another colored stripes on the tire tread - these are technological marks, they are of no use to the buyer. These drawings guide the production line, and they can also show the batch and release date.
The most pedantic car owners may try to buy a set of new tires with identical stripes, but it is better to focus on the stamp with the release date on the sidewall.
Features of the choice of all-season tires. Theoretically, they can be ridden all year round. The rubber compound works in the temperature range from -7 to +15 °C. In severe frosts, rubber hardens like summer tires at temperatures below +10 °C, and in hot weather it becomes softer, like winter tires at temperatures above +7 °C. In any case, all-season tires are not suitable for either hot asphalt or ice ruts.
All-season tires are chosen when they want to save on tire fitting and buying an extra set of tires. This is true for crossovers and SUVs with relatively low annual mileage.
Features of the choice of summer tires. There are models for quiet city driving. Such tires will help save fuel, please with a low noise level and will last three to four seasons. At the same time, they will not tolerate overheating, will not provide perfect grip on the road and will not allow you to drive a car with great comfort.
The opposite - tires for those who like to push the gas to the floor. Such tires will make noise, increase fuel consumption and wear out in one or two seasons. In return, the driver will get excellent grip and driving pleasure.
Features of the choice of winter tires. There are three types of winter tires.
The studded tires are good for driving on ice and packed snow. They have relatively hard rubber, deep tread and studs. And they also hold the road well on asphalt: the spikes have been hidden in the tread for a long time.
Ideal conditions - ice cover above -15°C. The ice is soft enough for the spikes to grip most effectively.
Disadvantages: they are very noisy, they have a low speed index. Usually, you can drive on studded tires no faster than 160-180 km/h. And they are also banned in many European countries because they spoil the asphalt.
Scandinavian style friction tires, aka Velcro, studless and made for harsh winters. Rough tread pattern, soft rubber compound and many sipes - horizontal slots on the islands of the tire tread.
Ideal conditions are snow and ice below -15°C. They are noticeably quieter, you can move at a much higher speed on them.
Disadvantages: such tires wear out quickly, almost do not hold the car on melted smooth ice at temperatures above -5 °C. There is a small distance between the tread islands, such tires do not drain water well from the contact patch with the roadway.
Alpine type friction tires without studs and made for mild winters. There are 1.5-2 times fewer sipes on the tread, the grooves for water drainage are much wider. This is the most wear resistant winter tire.
Ideal conditions - puddles, asphalt, -5 to +3 °C. Well remove water from the contact patch with the roadway.
Disadvantages: poor grip on any ice and packed snow.
According to the Rules of the Road, different tires cannot be put on one axle of a vehicle. This is considered a malfunction in which the use of a car is prohibited.
p. 5 of the Traffic Regulations of the Russian Federation: wheels and tires
At the same time, the rules do not prohibit installing tires of different brands and models on different axles of the same car, but it’s better not to do this. The car and all its systems are designed for the same tires with the same grip.
This is especially true for modern cars with many electronic assistants: stabilization systems, brake force distribution. You can drive on such a combination of tires, but no one knows how the car will behave in an extreme situation.
Like everywhere else, there are premium brands and there is something cheap. But cool brands have failed models, while budget brands have successful ones.
There is a lot of research and testing behind famous brand tires. Before entering the market, large companies test each new model in the most extreme conditions. Tires can be rolled on arctic ranges or in the desert.
Often, rubber is tested in the conditions of sports competitions and only then the technology is sent to the mass market. The more famous the manufacturer and the more expensive its products, the greater its budget for the development of new models.
There are also very cheap tires, often from China. They can directly write that they copied the tread pattern of a prestigious model, but this is not enough: there is also a rubber composition, cord design and other parameters.
Prices for tires of the same size may differ by multiples. The smaller the profile and the larger the width, the greater the difference.
To look at something other than the brand and choose what you need, there is an algorithm:
Specialized stores. There is a large selection, manufacturers' catalogs and competent advice. This will appeal to those who buy car tires for the first time or are simply not very interested in the technical side of cars. There is a service here - there will be a guarantee for tires, there is tire fitting and seasonal storage. The one-stop principle works: you can arrive on spikes and leave on a new summer and with an empty trunk.
Online hypermarkets and warehouses. Rubber is sold by large Internet sites and small shops. The option is suitable for those who want to find cheaper, are ready to take risks and waste time for this. Here, the entire responsibility for checking the parameters of the tire, the date of its release and, in general, compliance with the order lies with the buyer. If something goes wrong, you will have to take all four tires to no one knows where and change them. Tire fitting and storage is the buyer's concern.
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Flea markets, car club forums and ad services. Avito, Yulia and specialized automotive forums offer a lot of rubber. You can buy a completely fresh set at a good price, or you can buy rubbish and expensive. There is a great risk of buying tires with hidden damage: the fact that the tire is crooked will only be opened at a tire fitting, many hernias will be visible only on an inflated tire.
Sometimes the ability to measure depth and read parameters does not help. To put the correct year on an old tire, there is a special stamp. The tread depth can be machined, and a tire that is white from old age can be treated with ink.
With the help of special equipment, you can even remove the remnants of the old protector and stick a new one. It remains to hope for the reputation of the seller and look at the goods that he sells or sold. I try to avoid those who sell used rubber all the time.
First of all, the size. The larger the diameter, the more expensive. But at the same time, the lower the tire profile, the more expensive it is. This may seem counterintuitive, as less material is used.
Tire inner layers and construction play an important role. Due to the low profile height, the sidewall of such a tire must be much stronger than the same tire with a high profile.
Tire make and model affected. Rubber from large, famous brands with a century of history is more expensive, but the budget lines of well-known companies will allow you to save a lot. Tires of young, unknown manufacturers, especially Asian ones, will cost even less.
Tires with runflat technology are more expensive than conventional tires, because their sidewalls have special requirements.
Is it worth buying retreaded tires? It is almost impossible to buy such tires for a passenger car in Russia in 2021. The cord design of car tires for projector restoration is not intended, unlike truck tires, for which this is a very popular service. In some countries in Eastern Europe, you can buy retreaded tires in popular sizes, but their properties are mediocre: long braking distances, poor handling.
When is the best time to buy tires? The popular theory that tires are best bought between seasons is no longer valid. You won’t be able to save money this way: the price of tires almost does not change throughout the year.
The tire business is seasonally cyclical, and it is not worth hoping for discounts on studded tires and its wide selection in June. For the next winter season, it will be delivered in August, and summer tires in March.
But by the season, the freshest tires will be on sale. This is true for those who drive very little, or for sports tires. The fresher the tire, the better the grip will be: the rubber compound loses its properties over time.
Always make sure that your tire pressure is correct: it is critical to tire health. If you lose pressure, do not continue driving on an empty wheel: this may destroy the tire.
Try not to store tires and the car within half a meter of heaters.
Old tires cannot simply be thrown in the trash or buried. This is hazard class 4 waste, they must be disposed of.
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Tires can be sold on Avito or other ad service. It will turn out if there is no serious damage and the tread depth allows them to be used further.
Old tires are readily picked up by a tire shop. Free if the tread is enough for the season. If the rubber is completely worn out, they will accept tires for recycling and take 100-250 R for one tire.
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Tires can also be recycled on your own. There are organizations that accept used tires for recycling and do not ask for money for it. It happens that they organize special collection points, containers, or come for tires.
Container for receiving tires for recycling
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