What Tyre do I Need?

December 6th, 2021

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Tyres are the most crucial component to any drive.  Safety matters out there on the roads, and ensuring that you have a good set of tyres rolling beneath your car makes all the difference to aspects of driving like your stopping ability, road holding capacity and anti-aquaplaning.

What the heck is aquaplaning?  You may have experienced aquaplaning already when driving on a wet road and in the rain where puddles have formed over the road.  Hit these puddles at a reasonable speed, and the tyres can skid over the top of the puddles, causing complete loss of traction to whichever tyre is aquaplaning at the time.  Aquaplaning and sliding in the wet can and unfortunately does cause accidents.

Obviously, slowing down in the wet helps lessen the chance of having an aquaplane experience.  However, there are other aspects to the tyre which can affect how your tyres will cope with puddles and water on the road during wet driving conditions.  The condition of the tyre, the tread pattern the tyre has, and the amount of tread depth left on the tyre all decide how your tyre will cope with wet road conditions. These three components combined with how fast your car is travelling are the main players to whether or not you’ll roll through the puddle, displacing the water, or skid over the top of the puddle in much the same way as a skim board does in the shallow water at the beach.

Tyres are the only element of a car that is in contact with the ground while driving.  Choosing the right tyres can increase the entire performance of your vehicle.  Every tyre has its strengths and weaknesses.  Some tyres are long-lasting, while others offer better grip.  Some tyres are designed to be quiet and smooth while driving, while others have a tread pattern designed for better fuel consumption.  There are tyre testers out there like, Tyre Lab at www.thetyrelab.com, that single out tyres that perform best for all road conditions or for certain types of road conditions.  However, it is a fairly well-known fact that the more you invest in a tyre, the better the tyre quality will be and, consequently, the safer your driving experience.  That said, you might be surprised (or not) at which tyres are rated highly for braking, anti -aquaplaning and road holding by The Tyre Lab.

By law, in Australia the minimum tread depth for a tyre is 1.5 mm.  When it’s raining, the tread is responsible for securing contact between the tyre and the road, effectively pushing the water out from under the tyre as it rolls along.

Need new tyres?

First, find out the specifications in size and type from your car’s manufacturer, and this is the best size to go for.  You can also find out what kind of tyres you need, by looking on the side wall of your current tyres.  You will see a combination of characters which look a bit like this: 215/55R17 94H.  If your car has been mucked with, then make sure you check the manufacturer’s specs.

You will need to have an idea of how much you are going to spend at the tyre shop.  Choosing between a premium tyre and value is not always easy, or maybe it’s just too easy.  There are even budget tyres, which can be good if you aren’t into driving quickly, however, if you do go for these, they won’t have the best grip for all occasions and for emergency situations in the wet and dry.

Tyre choice really does come down to your own individual needs, the weather conditions and climate you’ll be driving in, how icy or cold the roads can get, how hot it is, and definitely how hard and fast you drive your car.

Not all tyres are the same.  So, if you buy a premium tyre that is designed with performance ability and grip for extreme hard and fast driving, but you drive like a snail, you’ll be perfectly safe in all road conditions.  If on the other hand you drive like a racing car driver, where you pass every other car in sight, and yet you are driving with budget tyres, your safety and the safety of others will be massively compromised.

There are those of us who drive within the law and try to maintain a decent speed in all road and weather conditions.  We will try and slowdown in the wet for example.  We all need to be driving safely, yet it does help to know just what sort of tyres are on the car you drive and what they are capable of out there on the road.  Just as equally-valid is knowing just what your tyres are not capable of.  There is nothing worse than losing traction or have a tyre’s integrity let go in a life threatening situation.

Every journey is dependent on the performance of your tyres and their effect on your driving.  Tyres impact on your steering, acceleration, handling, and braking. They’re also a key part of your car’s suspension and braking systems.  If you don’t have the right tyres for your car, tyres that are legal and in good shape, you’re putting yourself, your passengers and other road users at risk.

Budget tyres versus Premium tyres

Even though all tyres look pretty much the same, the difference between a budget tyre and a quality tyre is huge.  It comes down to the fact that the quality of the materials used in creating a premium tyre just can’t be replicated in a cheaply-made tyre.

Premium tyres have to meet high standards and are therefore made with more steel and specially formulated rubber and silica compounds.  These high quality tyre materials ensure that the final product is much stronger, longer-lasting, and one that offers better grip than a cheap tyre option.

Premium tyre manufacturers focus on research and development, and often they will be linked with the motorsport world where competition in tyres really matters.  Years of testing has proven that premium tyres do perform better and more consistently than a cheaper tyre alternative.

Premium tyres generally include names like: Dunlop, Michelin, Pirelli, Bridgestone, Kumho, Hankook and Continental.  Manufacturers of quality tyres will achieve higher standards than a budget or value tyre in all aspects of a tyre’s job prescription.  This will include: good grip for all driving conditions, exceptional wet and dry braking, superior handling at any speed, a higher impact damage threshold, better load-carrying capability, a longer service life (unless, of course, they are track racing tyres with a super-soft compound for ultimate grip on the track), better fuel economy, improved driving comfort; reduced noise, vibration and harshness.

We hope this was helpful.