How are all-season tires labeled? Here is a scientific explanation of the difference between summer and winter tires The difference between winter tires and summer tires

How to choose the right winter tires

To change or not to change tires - the question is no longer relevant. Perhaps, today the emphasis should be on how to choose the right tires, especially for the winter season.

The point is that the choice winter tires- the matter is very complicated, since, alas, there is no universal option. So drivers have to, deftly maneuvering between options, choose what is needed, based on several factors at once.

Initially, it is worth taking into account the activity and the average operating conditions of the car. For example, a wonderful studded tire with a rough tread pattern will be ideal for a region where the weather is usually dry in winter and the road surface is densely packed ice.

But such tires make an order of magnitude more noise, are not suitable for beginners who try to drive more than 130 km / h, as well as for regions where snow porridge prevails on the roads - the spikes will not be able to provide sufficient grip and the safety of the machine will decrease. And since most of our roads are just like that, it's worth talking about winter non-studded tires.

Non-studded tires - features of choice

Winter tires of this kind are divided into two types. Manufacturers of such products supply to the world market:

European tires;

Scandinavian tires.

The choice between these two types is due to the fact that each option will be optimal in its weather conditions. Consider the rubber of each type in more detail.

European tires. Appointment. Ensuring the most effective grip of the tire with the road surface in bad weather conditions (rain, sleet).

Description. At its core, rubber is somewhat similar to ordinary anti-rain. It has a diagonal tread pattern with a large number of drainage channels, which, when connected, form a developed network together. You can also distinguish European-type rubber by the presence of thin slots (lamellas) and large lugs located along the edge of the tread.

Moreover, the ability of rubber to provide greater grip directly depends directly on the length of the slots. The greater this indicator, the longer each tread edge, with the help of which the tire literally “clings” to the road surface when the car is moving. At the same time, the same porridge gets into the slots, and the tire then contacts directly with the roadway.

Scandinavian tyres. Appointment. Ensuring optimal grip on icy

road and pavement with snow crust.

Description. It has a less developed pattern network, which is dominated not by slots, but by special figures that have a rectangular or diamond shape and alternate in a checkerboard pattern. These figures are located not too often, due to which the tread during the movement of the car easily breaks through the top layer of ice or snow crust, and then it is cleaned. Thanks to this pattern, the car is ideal for trips on rugged terrain.

Marking is everything!

Each tire is marked by the manufacturer. According to this marking, one can judge the qualities that rubber possesses. Let's start with something like this:

It looks like four digits on the sidewall of the tire (the first two digits are the week number of the year, the second two are the year itself);

Wear resistance. This parameter is called "Treadwear" and is calculated in units. Standard wear resistance - 100 units. They are usually enough for 48,000 km. mileage (for the season);

It is designated by the letters of the English alphabet - from N (140 km / h) to ZR (above 240 km / h). For those who are interested in driving speed and such an indicator as low wear, it is best to take tires marked "S";

Load indicator. At its core, it means how much weight is on each wheel. According to experts, this index should be within 30 - 35 percent of the curb weight of the car;

Tire type. At winter models rubber markings should be "M + S" (Mud + Snow) and / or "Winter", which means "mud and snow" and / or "winter". You should not take tires labeled "All season" - "All-weather" or "All weather" - "All-weather", since some tire manufacturers produce similar products for regions with a hot type of climate, where in winter the temperature drops only to zero and no more;

Certification. The letter "E" means compliance with the requirements of the European Union, and "DOT" - the requirements of the United States. Sometimes on some models both of these markings are present.

Additionally, indicators such as wet grip (from A to G), fuel efficiency (from A to G), as well as acoustic comfort (1 bar - optimal level, 3 bars - poor) are marked. It is also worth recalling that professional off-road and racing tires are not marked, as are welded, studded and some other types. This should be taken into account when buying.

So, let's sum up. We offer you a step-by-step educational program that will help beginners:

1. We determine which type of tires would be preferable for the car to be “on the go” (European or Scandinavian);

2. We decide on the manufacturer (branded ones (such as Michelin, Pirelli, Bridgestone); strong mid-range ones (for example, Firestone, Kleber, Toyo, etc.); cheap ones (Rosava, etc.);

3. We determine the specification, for which we study the size and type of tires acceptable for each specific car model. This information can be found in the service book. Knowing them, it is worth buying tires exclusively of the size specified in the service documentation. They provide the safest mode of operation of the machine;

4. We choose a reliable dealer who will not sell fake tires under the guise of branded ones;

5. We inspect the tires, while it is advisable to conduct a couple of practical tests. Of course, for your car. new tires no one will allow you to put it, but you can bring an ordinary textile work glove with you. It can be drawn in the direction of the tread pattern and if the glove glides normally, then the grip will be good;

6. We feel the tires to determine their softness. If the tires are soft and bend well under the fingers, then such tires will not harden and will perform their function well;

7. When buying, we look at the expiration date of the tire, it should not be more than 2 years (3- and 4-year-old tires may no longer have the same qualities). The date of manufacture of the tire can be found on the side of the wheel (four digits);

8. We look at the marking and ask the dealer for a certificate of conformity, which proves that this particular type of tire is suitable for operation on the territory of our state.

And the last thing to note is that you need to change tires at once on all wheels and you should not delay it so as not to risk costs and danger to your own life at the time of an accident, the likelihood of which is greatly increased due to poor adhesion summer tires with winter road. So as soon as the weather starts to deteriorate, and the air temperature drops to plus 7, you can safely go to the service station and change tires. Good luck!

So the winter period has come in most of the territory of Russia, which, as always, brings an increase in emergency situations to the roads of our country, and with them the average speed of vehicles is changing. Unfortunately, not all motorists change summer tires to winter tires in time. Moreover, many of the drivers are well aware that in this way and inaction on their part, they deliberately ignore and violate the law, endangering not only their own safety, but also the safety of other participants. traffic. Such unfortunate motorists are in no hurry to change their cars, they believe that summer tires can also be safely used in winter.

In our today's material, we will not once again scare those drivers who have not yet changed summer tires to winter ones. There are many other materials for this on our resource. There is also a lot of information about replacing seasonal tires on the Internet itself.

Today we will briefly try to tell our readers how summer tires differ from winter tires, naturally from a scientific point of view, that is, to tell our readers about the main aspect of this problem, namely about what happens at the molecular level with summer tires in cold weather and vice versa, what can occur with winter tires at high positive positive temperatures.

We hope that our story will not seem too boring and complicated to you. We also think that this editorial will still convince many car enthusiasts and eventually make them stop using summer tires in the winter.

Many car enthusiasts assume that summer tires differ mainly from winter tires only in the tread, which is designed for tire use at certain times of the year. This is partly true, but not entirely. After all, tire tread plays an important role in traction at different times of the year.

But you need to know that the tread itself is not the main difference in summer and winter tires Oh. What is most important for tires here is in what temperature range they retain their efficiency and their specifications. After all, probably many people know that summer tires become very stiff at low temperatures. Do you know why this happens?

Yes, many car enthusiasts know that this is due to the different composition of rubber used in summer and winter tires. But few people know what process occurs in summer tires in the cold, and even more so, few people understand what chemical process occurs in winter tires with an increase in positive temperature.

Let's try to explain.

Turn on subtitles and their translation if you do not know English

Differences between summer and winter tires

Winter tires, unlike summer tires, do not lose their flexibility in the cold and, due to the special chemical composition of the rubber, allow you to maintain high grip. Summer tires act differently, they provide optimal grip only at high temperatures. The point is the following. At high temperatures, the rubber compound of summer tires becomes more sticky and viscous.

There are also all season tires. This is something between summer and winter tires, which provide optimal grip on the road surface in a certain range of plus and minus temperatures. Unfortunately, there is nothing perfect in the world today. Therefore, the so-called all-season tires cannot provide the car with maximum grip on the road at high positive plus and too low minus temperatures.

We all probably know that car tires are based on rubber. Rubber is an amphora polymer, which, depending on temperature, can be in three states:

• - glassy
• - highly elastic
• - viscous

For example, at a temperature of -70 -72 degrees rubber changes from an amorphous to a crystalline state (crystallization). True, this process does not occur instantly but gradually. At such a low temperature, the rubber completely loses its plasticity and passes (phase transition) into a glassy mass.

The fluidity of natural rubber begins to occur at a temperature of plus 180- 200 degrees. Thus, the higher the temperature environment, the softer and more ductile the rubber becomes.

If you heat the rubber up to plus 250 degrees, it will decompose into gaseous substances and liquid products.

Like other polymers, rubber begins to change its chemical properties due to a phase transition to a certain temperature. True, changes occur gradually, as the temperature decreases or increases.

What is the phase transition temperature of rubber, is the temperature at which rubber molecules stop moving freely, which leads to a decrease in the energy properties of the molecules themselves. The less rubber molecules move, the less heat they radiate.

Due to the low energy properties of the molecules, the rubber composition becomes less plastic.

That is, hardening or vitrification of the rubber begins to occur, the friction between the rubber and the road surface decreases, and this leads to a decrease in the grip of the car with the road.

Here's what can happen to summer tires in the cold

As you already know, there is a big difference in tire chemistry between summer and winter tires. This is done on purpose so that each rubber has its own phase temperature transition.

Summer tires have a not very low temperature threshold at which rubber molecules begin to affect its plasticity.

For example, rubber molecules in summer tires change their properties, which affect the plasticity of tires, already at positive positive temperatures, approximately in the range from 4 to 7 degrees.

Accordingly, the higher the temperature, the better the grip with the road surface. As you already understood, at negative temperatures, the efficiency summer tires will drop significantly and, first of all, due to a decrease in the plasticity of rubber (the glass transition process begins in rubber), and secondly, due to a decrease in its adhesion to the road.

Winter tires have a low phase transition threshold. This allows it to maintain maximum traction (due to more friction with the road) even at very low freezing temperatures.

Did you know that positive temperatures can also have a negative effect on rubber. The fact is that as the positive temperature increases, rubber, becoming more ductile, begins to wear out faster. This is due to the increased grip on the road. That is, at high positive temperatures, the rubber itself simply becomes sticky.

As you have already understood from the above, winter and summer tires have different points of temperature phase transition with an increase in positive plus temperature. For example, in winter tires, the phase temperature point at which rubber molecules begin to move freely is in a positive value not far from 0 degrees.

Accordingly, at a positive positive temperature outside, winter tires become too sticky much earlier than summer tires that have a completely different polymer composition.

As a result, it turns out that at high positive temperatures, winter tires will wear out faster than summer tires.

That is why it is impossible to make universal tires that would be suitable for use in a wide range of operation, both at negative and at positive temperatures. Therefore, tire manufacturers for each season use their own chemical composition of rubber, which provides tires with optimal performance in a certain temperature range.

By the way, even external factors do not affect this temperature range. For example, when driving in the rain on summer tires, the temperature range for optimal performance Tires are usually not changed.

We also all know that summer tires provide better grip when driving in the rain, thanks to their special tread, which allows excess water to be removed from under the wheels, which protects the car from aquaplaning in such a situation.

In addition to all this, the tread of summer tires has a special configuration that provides the car with a certain grip at speed when cornering.

In general, the task of summer tires is to provide the car with maximum grip on the road, both on dry pavement and on wet pavement.

Unfortunately winter tires have a different tread, which is designed for driving on a slippery road surface, on ice or on snow.

By the way, new winter tires have a deeper tread than the same new summer tires. This is necessary for more efficient movement in the snow.

Due to the depth of the tread, winter tires provide better grip on snowy surfaces when compared to summer tires, which, unlike summer tires, have a shallow tread.

And the last. Winter tires are additionally equipped with spikes or zigzag grooves on top of the tread for better grip on ice. For example, the special tread surface of winter tires provides better grip on snow or ice.

Many will say that the main difference between one automotive rubber from the other is the tread pattern. The pattern is really different, the side of the winter tire is covered with a large number of zigzag-shaped cuts called sipes. Such frequent notches increase the grip of the tires on the road covered with snow or ice. But this is far from the only feature.

Imagine what will happen to the school eraser in the cold? It will lose its flexibility and be easily broken. illustrative example. The same principle of exposure to cold on summer tires. Therefore, winter tires are formulated with special tread additives that provide additional flexibility and elasticity, which is maintained even at low temperatures. Typically, the chemical composition of rubber is developed by the manufacturer, taking into account different temperature conditions.

Tires for all weather

When to use winter tires

Velcro is a more durable winter tire than studded tires, and also cheaper.

As for summer tires, their feature is the possibility of full implementation dynamic characteristics car on a dry road. As well as the ability to ensure the fight against aquaplaning, due to the presence of a large number of longitudinal grooves that help drain water from the tire.

According to the rating of the magazine "Behind the wheel", the best summer tire in 2013 was Continental ContiPremiumContact 2.

Tires should be changed on time. But after the replacement, the question arises about the proper storage of the second set of rubber. If the tires are off the rims, it is recommended to place them vertically. If the wheels are stored together with the disks, then they can be placed horizontally on top of each other. With this method of storage, periodically turn the rubber over.

Many readers of my blog often ask me what is the difference between summer tires and winter tires, except for studs and tread. And why you can’t drive on winter tires in summer, and on summer tires in winter. I decided to reveal all these questions in the next article. For those interested, read on...

At first glance, it can be distinguished purely visually. Winter option it has a rougher and deeper tread, as well as a completely different pattern, which, as a rule, does not look like a pattern on a summer model, it also has spikes for good grip on a winter road, for example, with ice (by the way, there are a lot of them now, we read) . But the difference lies not only in the pattern and in the presence of spikes, here the guys are much more complicated.

Summer tires are made from a specific compound rubber compound which withstands very high positive temperatures. Asphalt is quite hot in summer, and the wheels must withstand these temperatures during acceleration and braking. It should be noted that it is much tougher than winter. But as the temperature drops below zero, summer tires become completely inelastic, a car on such wheels can easily go into a skid. A simple example - put an ordinary eraser in the snow in the cold and leave it for two to three hours. Then take an eraser and try to bend it. The eraser will lose its elasticity and break easily. The same thing happens with the summer version in the cold, it becomes dull and wears out very quickly, and driving on such tires is simply not possible!

Remember! Summer tire - should be used to minus temperatures, that is, minus one, we immediately change it, even if there is no snow.

The winter version also has a certain composition. Only the direction here is completely different. Winter does not please us with warm days, almost always the thermometer is in the minus zone, sometimes even over -35 passes. And the task is to remain elastic in such frosts and provide maximum traction. The difference between winter tires and the opponent is in its softness, that is, it is much softer than summer tires. A high tread and are already struggling with snow and ice. Therefore, it looks much more massive, with a high tread. You just need something to cling to and dig the snow. However, it is absolutely not adapted to positive temperatures, and especially to rain. A car on spikes in puddles like a “cow on ice”, poorly controlled. Yes, and hot asphalt quickly wears out a soft winter tire. Try to heat the same eraser and run it over the asphalt, it will leave a trace of small pieces of rubber, when heated, it collapses very quickly. Approximately the same thing happens with the tire, its soft base literally melts in the heat, with hot asphalt.

Remember! This type must be used up to the plus mark. If the snow has melted and it is already plus one at night, then it is better to change it.

Sometimes it may seem, especially when driving on asphalt, that winter tires are much harder than summer tires, but this is not so. The hum that occurs when the car is moving is caused by spikes and high tread, not stiffness.

Now guys a very useful comparison video, though on English language however, you can catch the main points, look.

That's all, I tried to be as accessible as possible, explain about the differences, I hope you liked it

Many drivers who until recently were pedestrians with the advent of the winter season ask the same question: how does winter tires (bottom) differ from summer tires (top). All over the world there is a rule that every car owner must follow: in summer, drive on summer tires, and in winter, change tires to winter ones.

Summer tires are made from durable rubber that is able to withstand high temperatures. Unlike winter tires, summer tires have a different pattern, this is due to the fact that they are often used in the rain or for driving on dry roads. It can also be noted. That summer tires are several times wider than their winter counterparts.

Winter tires

The main difference between winter and summer tires are the following criteria:

1. Rubber composition;
2. Design;
3. The number of layers in the tread and their composition.

Tires designed for use in the winter season are made of soft rubber, which allows vehicles to not slip on ice. This is due to the fact that at low temperatures soft rubber acts as a sucker.

Some models of winter tires have special studs in their structure, which are designed to increase friction on ice. Most often, this type of rubber is purchased in the case of constant driving on country roads, because spikes are not required in urban conditions.

Many experts do not even recommend the use of studded tires in urban areas, because roads in megacities are cleaned and sprinkled with a special salt substance, on which studded tires hold much worse than without them.

Summer tires

The main criteria for choosing summer tires are:

• Quality level of adhesion at high temperatures;
• Reliable handling in turns;
• Noiselessness;
• Low resistance;
• Durability.

From the above points, it can be understood that the technology for manufacturing winter and summer tires is significantly different. In turn, both types of tires are divided into:

• Radial. Differ in comfort and softness;
• Diagonal help save fuel;
• Tubeless guarantee good sealing;
• Chambers are easy to repair.

How to distinguish winter tires from summer

Visually distinguish winter tires from summer possible according to several criteria. First of all, it is of course the presence of spikes on it. However, if you have non-studded winter tires in front of you? Let's say you want to buy tires from your hands, how to determine its seasonality?

Especially for winter tires:

• deeper tread
• herringbone tread pattern
• the presence of a large number of lamellas (thin slots)
• feels much softer to the touch. summer tires

Now, knowing how summer tires differ from winter tires, you can make right choice and equip your iron horse with high-quality rubber.