studded-tires-for-winter

Winter is quickly approaching and once the temperatures drop things like ice and snow start to appear on the roads. And that can only mean one thing – you need to start thinking about winter tires. If you go to any store where they sell winter tires you will see that there are two main varieties – studded and non-studded winter tires, so in this article I will explore each type of tire and will try to understand, which type tires are better and safer to use in the winter.

At first lets learn a little about each type of tires. Like their name suggest, studded tires are tires that have metal studs embedded in their tread. Although these studs are small, they are made from very durable metal that is able to dig into ice and snow and keep your vehicle steady even on the most slippery road. But even though they are very good in ice and snow conditions and will help you if there is a layer of ice on the road, when you drive on asphalt or any other surface that isn’t ice, these tires can actually damage these surfaces, because they are lined with metal studs. This means that these tires are perfect for cold weather climates, where there is ice and snow all through the winter, but you shouldn’t use them in non-winter months as well as when it is winter, but there isn’t any ice yet on the roads. And in some places it is even forbidden to use these type of tires, because on top of making your drive noisier, the studs also can damage asphalt quite a bit.

The second type of tires we are talking about are the non-studded or studless tires. Although these tires don’t have any metal studs, non-studded winter tires are made from special rubber and they have special deeper tread that allows them for better traction on the road, even if there is ice on the asphalt. If non-winter tires get stiff once it gets cold, special blend of rubber is used to produce non-studded winter tires, which allows them to be flexible and therefore maintain better traction with the road, which is one of the most important things in the winter. And also usually non-studded winter tires have tiny slits in their tread patter. They are called sipes and they, similarly to the metal studs in studded winter tires, dig into the ice and help you stay on the road better, even if it is clad with thick layer of ice.

The question that everyone asks is which are better. And there isn’t one answer to that, because each type of tires are meant for two completely different situations. If studded tires will be perfect to those who live in places, where there is a lot of snow and ice during the winter and who needs to do off-road driving even in the dead of winter, then the non-studded tires will be more suited to those who mainly drive in the city and on the roads that are cleaned and rarely very icy, because the sipes will still give you more traction on the road and therefore make for safer driving, but there won’t be any studs to damage the asphalt. And thanks to the technologies soon there won’t even be a need for studded tires even in off-road winter conditions, because studless tires are becoming better and better in combating ice and snow, just like studded tires would.

Billy Miller
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