ALL NEW TYRES - snow tyres winter tyres
Winter Tyres, Why its better to use winter tyres
Winter tyres
If you regularly encounter ice, unplowed snow, or slush, then you're going to need winter tyres (also known as “snow tyres"). Winter tyres will give you that extra traction, braking and handling you'll need to confidently drive on snow and ice. They have specialized rubber compounds and tread designs to handle the cold temperatures. The tread remains flexible to prevent snow buildup and help with traction on ice. Tests that has been conducted on ice show that even at 15mph,car equipped with winter tyres stopped from 1/2 to a full car length shorter than identical vehicles on all season tyres. Without winter tires you are more likely to fishtail on corners and spin out on that icy hill.
In many parts of mainland Europe where winter weather conditions are generally more severe and more predictable than in the UK it is common practice, or even a legal requirement, for drivers to keep two sets of wheels and tyres – a set of 'summer' tyres and a set of specialist 'winter' tyres.
Winter tyres use a tread rubber compound (high silica content) and tread pattern specifically designed to retain flexibility in low temperatures (below +7C) and give good braking/traction performance on snow/ice as well as on wet roads in cold conditions . The sidewall of a winter tyre will be marked with a symbol showing a snowflake or snow-topped mountains.
Winter tyres are not really suited to all year round use though – summer tyres will give better performance when temperatures are higher and roads dry – so two sets of tyres are required if you're going to choose specialist tyres for winter.
