Anybody who has ever visited the northern European countries such as Austria, Germany, or anywhere in Scandinavia during the wintertime and operated a car while there will likely be familiar with winter tyres.
For most of us, it's unlikely that we've ever driven on winter tyres. And it's even less likely that we've contemplated switching our summer tyres to winter tyres as the wintertime approaches. Anyways, we do not have snow in the UK in recent years like northern European countries, except for some high-elevation places and isolated parts of Scotland. Why would you think about winter tyres at all?
We'll not only describe what summer tyres are or how these compare to the winter tyres in our newest tyre safety advice piece, but we'll also debunk a few myths about them.
What are the differences between summer and winter tyres
If you exactly what you're looking for, a few of the variations between winter and summer tyres are easy to spot.
Take a glance at the treads on your vehicle’s Continental tyres Burton on Trent, if you have one; notice how the tread on the winter tyre on the right slices into the Continental tyre in curved zigzag designs. Meanwhile, your summer tyre must have a more round tread! The distinctions become increasingly evident once you start examining closely, with some other being that winter tyres appear to be chunkier. Well, if you don’t have the Continental tyres, you can always buy the best Car Tyres Burton on Trent from us.
While tyre treads are obviously significant, it's the less visible, unseen difference that matters the most. In truth, summer and winter tyres are created from distinct rubber substances. One out of them is planned, researched, and manufactured to blend in to and perform well in a variety of driving circumstances.
For some, the number seven is a bad omen (you can just ignore it!)
It's difficult to imagine 7°C after a lengthy and generally warm summer. Yet this temperature has a huge impact on tyre performance.
When it's hot outside, your summer tyres are significantly safe.
Why? The best summer tyres are constructed with compounds that are originally developed for usage in temperatures over 7°C. If you are using them underneath this temperature, as most people do, they will harden quickly.
This results in the tyres losing their driving features.
It’s much safer to use the winter tyres when it's cold
If you would use summer tyres in the winter, the situation would be reversed. That's because winter tyres are made to be used in conditions below 7 degrees Celsius. Because it is usually excessively hot in the summer, they burn up too quickly. This has a considerable impact on their pace of wear. They're also less efficient in brakes in hot summer weather, which is very dangerous for drivers. It's for this reason that premium tyre companies such as Continental spend so much time and money studying and designing tyre compositions. It is for the various winter tyres in the market. As a consequence of this expenditure, winter tyres that operate effectively in colder weather and the various summer tyres that operate optimally all through the remaining months have been developed.
The idea that winter tyres are only for driving on snow is debunked here.
It immediately gives some idea about it correctly. Thousands of vehicles across the northern part of Europe change to winter tyres every year for reasons other than snow. While they may get more snow in some areas, it does not snow consistently from early October to April in Belgium, Germany, or Holland.
So, why else do they switch to winter tyres in the first place? They do this due to the rubber compositions used in winter tyres keeping travelling safer at temperatures below 7°C.
In the event that it snows, winter tyres are far better than summer tyres at keeping up with harsh weather conditions, enabling you to continue driving securely, or at least to safety. It's no coincidence that the UK takes to a crawl in the winter due to so many vehicles using summer tyres.
Unfortunately, because we don't get a lot of heavy snow in the UK, we aren't in the practice of replacing our tyres in the colder months. We occasionally make the mistake of thinking winter tyres are the same as snow tyres, to our detriment.
If you are looking for the best Car Tyres Burton on Trent, APS Tyres is the place for you. We have the best stock of top-quality tyres, fir for every requirement of yours. Don’t believe in our words? Why don’t you just come down for a visit?
