Winter Tires: What’s The Difference
Winter tires maintain better traction on icy, snowy or otherwise compromised roads. According to Bridgestone, this is because the rubber used to make these tires is softer, allowing it to grip the road better. The treads on these tires are also often deeper than usual and specialized to funnel slush and snow toward the outside edge of the tire and away from the car. If you live in an area with particularly cold and icy winter weather, you can also opt for studded winter tires.
These tires have little metal studs embedded in the rubber that dig into ice, giving you a lot more traction. They should only be used in extreme weather conditions and shouldn’t be used on dry pavement, as they can damage the road. Because of this, some states have laws restricting or totally limiting studded tire use. For example, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Iowa and Kansas only allow studded tires during winter months. Michigan and Florida only permit them with rubber stubs affixed over the metal, and Hawaii doesn’t allow them at all. But then again, you’re probably not going to need them there. A full list is available from AAA .
What Is The Best Price For A Tires For Sports Cars
A tires for sports cars is supposed to be a lifelong companion. You will enjoy faster opening times, better quality, and a better view by paying more for your product. It would cost between $$$ and $$$ for a new tires for sports cars. The only downside is that you wouldnt have some luxury features.
Michelin Pilot Sport 4s
If the name of this tire is familiar it’s because the Michelin Pilot Sport is the tire used by Bugatti to allow the Chiron Super Sport to reach over 300 mph. These ones are not cheap! In fact, they use the same technology Michelin developed to help NASA land the space shuttle. They are used in hot and fast competitions and don’t do well in weather or wetness, and frankly, almost cost too much for most people to be fine with.
The people who would benefit from these are those who have cars worth spending a certain amount on, super and even hypercar owners who want to really pull out all the stops to get record lap times, win races, or just experience the best their car has to offer. They aren’t tires that will hold up well for a long time, but they will offer a great clean track grip for the more performance-minded sport’s drivers.
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Michelin Pilot Sport A/s 3+
Michelin is one of the leading names in the automotive industry that has a vast user base. This French company offers an unparalleled steering feel. Youll have a positive experience with his ultra-high performance, all-season tire.
The tires respond to the input blazingly quick. We have to appreciate how Michelin designed this tire to sync with the drivers on-road habits. If you like to speed while driving on the highway, this tire can help you with that.
Braking and cornering happen to be the specialties of this Michelin tire. Traction and grip will be the least of your worries when using the Pilot Sport A/S 3+. Besides, the tire also has high-speed stability.
- Falls in the expensive category
When To Buy Performance Tires
One of the easiest and most impactful modifications you can make to any vehicle is to upgrade its tires. You dont need to drive a full-on performance car to get a benefit from the tires either. Buying performance tires at any point will increase your vehicles grip and performance, but tread carefully if you live in cooler climates, as you may not get the best out of the tires in winter months.
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Winter Vs All Season Tires: Pros And Cons
Tuesday January 2, 2018
Category: Driving Tips | Road Safety
Snow has been falling across Ontario and this means a return of winter driving conditions. Snow, slush, freezing rain, ice and road salt is all part of winter driving in Ontario. With slippery winter conditions, have the right tire can make a world of difference in staying safe on the road and keeping your insurance rates low. In this article, we discuss pros and cons of Winter vs. All Season Tires.
All-season tires are low-maintenance and you can keep them on year-round, for a few good years. On the other hand, winter tires offer the best grip when the road is filled with ice and snow. But how can you tell which ones your car needs?
Michelin: Best Tires Overall
One of the most popular tire brands in the U.S. and throughout the world, Michelin sells quality tires in virtually every category. From run-flat tires to summer tires to all-season tires, Michelin tops recommendation lists from consumers and industry experts alike.
The company offers original equipment tires and replacement tires, both of which can include a limited warranty for up to six years if there are any manufacturer defects. Michelin also offers long-lasting mileage warranties with many of its models, like the Michelin Defenders 80,000-mile coverage. Compared to other tire brands, this warranty length is above average. Michelin tires are a strong option if youre driving a passenger car, SUV, light truck, or sports car.
Shop deals for Michelin tires on Tire Rack and Discount Tire.
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Nexen Tires: Best Tire Brand For Value
- Very affordable
- Good quality for the price
- A wide range of tires
- Read our full Nexen Tires review
Nexen Tires is the budget king when it comes to car and truck tires. That doesn’t mean it’s the cheapest around, but it combines decent quality with a wallet-friendly price. In some cases, its tires are better than the competition at a fraction of the cost, so if you’re looking to save money, this is the best tire brand for you.
Nexen has four main brands, NFera for performance, NPriz for car passenger, Roadian for SUV and Light trucks and Winguard for snow and ice.
Not all its tire models are worth considering, but the ones that are, like the Aria AH7, perform brilliantly and often undercut the competition on price. This is Nexens strongest point and why we rank them as the best budget tire brand.
According To Your Vehicle
Different vehicles require different performance, tread, stiffness, etc., from tires. Using the right type will help you achieve the best fuel economy and improve safety.
Passenger Vehicles: Sedans, Crossover Utility Vehicles , Minivans
These cars need adequate wet and dry surface traction, and often snow grip as well. Some luxurious sedans may also need a higher speed rating. These vehicles dont require high load-carrying capacities, except for the minivans.
For a passenger vehicle you may need:
- Touring tires.Touring or grand touring tires provide all-season traction and aim for the highest comfort of ride. They are more responsive, which makes it easier to handle turns and stop faster. Such tires often come with asymmetrical tread patterns, which help them be as quiet as possible. They will be the best tires for your car if you prefer quiet street use, or if you often go on tours with your family in a minivan.
- Performance tires.Performance tires provide superior handling and performance, at the expense of ride comfort. They are mainly for all-season or summer use, equipped with larger grooves for more grip on wet surfaces. These tires are rich in silica, which is aimed at great performance no matter the weather. Such tires usually have lower profiles, to improve their looks and function. Performance tires are best if you have a sports sedan, as they have higher speed ratings than touring tires.
On- and off-road vehicles may need:
- Performance tires.
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Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R
The Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R is a road-going semi-slick tire that is best suited to track usage only. They will wear extremely quickly on the street, so if you go for these soft and sticky tires, you may want to get a second set of wheels as your track only wheel and tire set.
These tires will provide extremely good dry traction, but may rob your car of some steering feel due to their extremely high levels of grip. They are also extremely loud on the road.
So while the Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R is one of the best high-performance tires on the market today they wont perform well on the road as they wear quickly, are noisy and have low wet weather grip.
Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 $308
Okay so we’ve seen 4S and A/T 4’s, but what the heck is this “Cup 2” doing here, and why is it more expensive than the 4S by almost $100 per tire? Well, my good friend, the answer lies, as usual, in the quality. The Cup 2’s don’t even come in an ST size, but if the rims and wheel wells were a few centimeters wider they would cost this much at the cheapest. That’s because the Cup 2’s aren’t made for wet… at all.
That’s right, zero accommodation exists for cold, wet, or snowy road conditions and, as you can see, these things have massive smooth space a sign of a high-quality pure sports tire made for 100% pro performance, massive contact patches, and no compromise when it comes to great durability! Yes, even with what Michelin terms “Michelins Variable Contact Patch 3.0 Technology” that will put more rubber to the asphalt when you need it, these tires are built for many, many tough laps, in part this can be contributed to the large, flat tread that resists wearing, opposite of a finely-treaded snow tire.
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We Pick Out The Best Performance Tires That Will Give You The Most Grip For Your Sporty Driving Adventures
Sami Haj-Assaad
Sami has an unquenchable thirst for car knowledge and has been at AutoGuide for the past six years. He has a degree in journalism and media studies from the University of Guelph-Humber in Toronto and has won multiple journalism awards from the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada. Sami is also on the jury for the World Car Awards.
When winter comes to an end, its time to remove all that specialty rubber and put on some warm-weather appropriate tires.
Performance tires are made of no-compromise rubber that is perfect for warm weather. This is in contrast to all-season tires , which are designed to cover a lot of conditions and end up not being perfect for any of them.
Summer performance tires are grippier in dry conditions and wet conditions when compared to all-season tires. This is due to a number of reasons including compound and tread patterns. Theyre impressive, but the downside to performance tires is that theyre completely unusable in snowy and winter conditions. Generally, you dont want to drive on them in temperatures below 40°F/4°C. You definitely have to be proactive about switching tires at the right time of the year and have the storage space to have two dedicated sets of tires. But the advantages beyond having superior performance in the summer is that your tires last twice as long. Unless you drive like we do
There are four sub-categories to performance tires:
Here are a few good bets in each of those categories.
Editor’s Pick: Michelin Pilot Super Sport
If youre looking for a high-performance tire and dont mind dropping a bit of cash, you dont have to look any further than the Michelin Pilot Super Sport.
This has long been the segment leader among ultra high performance tires. Not only does the Michelin Pilot Super Sport provide some of the highest levels of grip among all ultra high performance tires, they are well balanced. They perform well both in the dry and the wet, offer good road noise and comfort and are very durable.
If youre still not convinced of the Michelin Pilot Super Sports superiority, they are the factory tire on a myriad of performance cars, such as the BMW M3. So not only do enthusiasts trust the Michelin PSS, manufacturers do too.
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Best Tire Brands 202: Tires For Cars Suvs Trucks And More
The best tire brands can get your vehicle running more safely while saving you money at the same time.
The best tire brands have been in the game for a long, long time so they know how to make the best possible tires at the most cost effective level. Get the right tires for your vehicle and you’re looking at not only a more road-hugging drive with safer handling, but also more efficiency that could save you on gas and more.
Find the right model from the best tire brands and it could last you a lot longer than a more budget option which could mean you end up saving money over the longer term. Generally speaking all weather tires are the ideal option for most, driving on the highway or in cities. But there are specialist options for snow, sport and wet weather that you might want to consider too.
Tirerack is a service that will arrange fitting with a local supplier. It sells all the best tire brands and other accessories itself too, so you can get all you need in one place.
You can either get the tires and install them yourself or have a local garage source and install them for you. Either way it pays to know the brand you want, the size you need and the pressure for your car. Most of those details are found in your car’s manual or online.
Our Recommendations For The Best Tires
Choosing the best tires largely depends on your vehicle and driving habits. The best tire for you may not be the best tire for someone else. The information above can help guide you in the right direction in terms of types of tires and best brands, but you should check your owners manual or your vehicles Tire and Loading Information label to make sure youre getting the right size.
Once you figure out the correct tires youll need, compare between brands to see what best suits your budget. You can start shopping at Tire Rack and Discount Tire.
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Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus
These tires aren’t ones you put on the track. In fact, they might just be the ones you take off to go to the track, but if you decided to race in them you would still have a very good fighting chance. The first goal of this tire was to make your lightweight car drivable all year, the second was to make your car fast and responsive.
According To Driving Style And Needs
A particular type of tires may work well for a particular driving style:
- HP and UHP tires will be the best tires for your car if you are a rough driver. They provide good responsiveness and performance, sharp reaction, and little braking distance.
- Touring tires will be best if you like quieter drives on streets or highways. They give stability, good handling, and greater ride comfort.
- ATV tires are best if you own a heavier vehicle and like both highway speeds and off-road curvy drives. They provide superior stability, tough rubber, and universal tread patterns, which can carry you anywhere.
- AP tires are good if you drive on roads the most. All-terrain tires are suitable if you drive 50/50 on- and off-road. Mud-terrain tires will work well on any terrain if you use your vehicle mostly off-road.
- Any type + winter tires are best if you have to drive on snow and ice. They have lots of sipes and grooves to bite and channel snow, as well as soft rubber compounds for below-zero temperatures.
- Any type + summer tires are best if you like or have to drive more in summer, on clean wet or dry roads. They provide adequate speed ratings, good wet traction and hydroplaning resistance, and high temperature resistance.
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Keep Tire Age In Mind
One of the most important parts of the tire code is its age. Its the number of years that have passed since the tire manufacture. You can see the information within the DOT code of the tire. The last four digits are the week and the year of manufacture.
Tires last for 6-10 years, depending on their type, the maintenance you provide them, and your vehicle. Make sure you dont buy new tires that are already 5+ years old. Rubber has deteriorated rapidly at that stage, even if the tires werent mounted before. You can also learn more on tire date codes here.
Winter Tires Last Longer If Properly Maintained
Another advantage of Winter Tires is that you only use them for a few months instead of year-round, which allows you to re-use them from 4 to 5 seasons. If you go for seasonal change, remember that you need to store the spare set in a cool and dry place. Each tire should be kept in an individual air tight bag and stored vertically.
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