Types of Tyres?

Tyres are round-shaped elements that surround the rims of your vehicle. They transfer your car's load through the wheel onto the road and provide traction. They're usually pneumatically inflated and act as a cushion to absorb shocks when you go over rough surfaces.They're made from different natural and synthetic rubber, wire, fabric, and carbon black chemical compounds to ensure optimum support and traction to your car. Manufacturers always aim for a balance between performance, traction, energy efficiency, durability, and comfort.

Choosing the Right Tyre Model for Your Car

A tyre is designed with a focus on different performance features under various conditions which involves matching the tread pattern and composition with the conditions in which it's used. With so many options available on the market, you should carefully the right type of tyre for your car.Establish the tyre size you need, select the right section width, aspect ratio, rim diameter, load & speed rating. You should aim for top quality models for increased durability and performance, however, budget variants are also an option.

Tyre Types

Competition Tyres

Rally tyres integrate special chemical compounds and tread patterns to meet the rough conditions of a rally. Their thick and rigid sidewalls are engineered to guarantee increased resistance against various hazards that come with rallies. Some manufacturers add ribs to race tyres to resist punctures and redirect any rocks. The tread patterns are chunky and designed in blocks to optimize traction in rough conditions. Through the 1 - 2 straight tread block strips on the inside of a competition tyre you're guaranteed extreme grip during braking and acceleration. For superior traction around corners, the outside tread patterns are designed with a focus on performance during turns.The compounds of rally tyres cover soft, medium and hard variations. Depending on the road surface, temperature, and weather you can decide on the right option for your car. If the roads are abrasive, you should opt for a tyre with a hard compound to guarantee durability.On the other hand, when it comes to drifting you need a flexible and deep treaded tyre type on the front while on the back axle your tyre should be rigid and shallow. Drift tyres are wide and have lower-profiles for increased grip and less force required to spin the car. However, you should consider that a smaller sized tyre is more suitable for acceleration but doesn't perform well for top speeds and a taller tyre will give you better speed but won't improve acceleration. Bias ply models are the best for drifting because of their rigidity compared to a radial tyre. Also, you should choose smaller sized sidewalls for increased stiffness and excellent feedback.

Road Tyres

A road tyre is designed for daily use and comes in three variations including summer, winter, and cross-climate models.Summer models have a simple design featuring a surface that provides grip in dry and wet conditions. You can use summer a tyre in above freezing climate conditions. It has straight grooves and angled sections towards the outside. Because of the soft compound, they offer great performance on the road.Winter models are designed specifically for temperatures below zero and to withstand slippery road conditions. They hold grip in cold weather conditions because of their specific chemical composition. Their treads are separated in blocks with multiple sections and grooves to resist against snow and water as well as to increase traction over ice surfaces.Cross-climate models are highly adaptable to various weather conditions. Their unique chemical composition reacts perfectly in all climates. They include a combination of summer and winter tread patterns with deep grooves and sections as well as variations of simpler layouts which are more suitable for warm climates.Although they don't achieve the performance of a specifically designed summer or winter tyre they integrate a good mix of specs for all-year-round use.

Off-Road Models

The off-road tyre features deep tread patterns to improve grip and traction on surfaces like mud, sand, or gravel. The wide and deep grooves help treads dig into mud or gravel surfaces to increase the inertial energy of the vehicle.In dirt conditions, the edges of the tread sink into the ground and optimize grip. Some off-road models are made for low inflation pressure in difficult surface conditions and have decreased rigidity to allow for the tread to adapt to the terrain. However, depending on the design, an off-road tyre can be made for all-terrain use which means you can use them both off-road and on-road with a few compromises.

Wrapping It Up

With continuous improvements in design and chemical compounds, the industry is constantly releasing tyre upgrades which optimize performance in extreme conditions and ensure safety. Also, design engineers are experimenting with new tread patterns and layouts to improve grip and traction in various environments.