News

A great car can suddenly become a not-so-great car with the wrong tires. Knowing the basics of tire types, composition, and tread patterns gives you a leg up when making important decisions about what tires to buy that best suit your vehicle and driving needs.

Types of Car Tires

There are many different types of car tires available for purchase, but the average consumer only needs to consider four main types. What type you choose to go with may depend on the time of the year, where you live, or how much driving you typically do.

• Touring Tires - provide long tread life, smooth ride, and reasonable wet/dry traction control
• Performance Tires - focus on responsive handling, shorter tread life, and provide a sporty overall feel
• All-Terrain Tires - built for off-roading, reasonable tread wear life, and loud when riding on paved roads
• Snow Tires - provide better traction control during winter weather
• Competition Tires - developed for the racetrack and other sporting type strips, nimble handling, and short tread wear life

Car Tire Composition

When many of us look at tires, all we see is a big, round, and heavy piece of rubber, but in fact, there are 9 layers to tires.  The textile and steel industry provides necessary materials for some of these layers. In all, the average tire contains about 25 components and up to 12 different types of rubber compounds. The nine tire components are split into 3 major sections of the tire.

Tread: Grips the Road to Provide Traction

• Tread: made of natural and synthetic rubber and provides grip on the road
• Jointless cap plies: single, strong cord of nylon that enables traveling at high speeds
• Steel cord belts: provide tire rigidity and shape retention

Casing: What Happens Inside the Tire

• Textile cord ply: made of rubberized rayon or polyester that controls the internal pressure of the tire
• Inner liner:  a layer of butyl rubber that seals the air in the inner chamber and is the inner tube for tubeless tires
• Sidewall: made of natural rubber and forms the outer wall, protecting the casing from damage or atmospheric conditions

Bead: Connects the Tire to the Wheel

• Bead reinforcement: made of nylon or aramid (heat-resistant synthetic fiber) that enhances directional stability
• Bead apex: a stabilizing wedge of synthetic rubber that provides steering comfort
• Bear core: a steel wire embedded in the rubber to keep the tire on the wheel frame

Tire Tread Patterns

The tread on your tires determines how they handle on the road and the types of conditions they will be able to withstand. The tread has four components: ribs are the raised sections; deep channels called grooves; tread blocks of raised rubber sections that touch the road, and sipes that are the tiny slots molded into the tread blocks. Combining these four components creates unique tread patterns that provide a range in road performance.

• Symmetrical Pattern: This is the most common type of tread pattern and is commonly used for tires on passenger cars. Symmetrical tire tread patterns are not for high-performance use. This tire type allows for smooth driving, high directional stability, and low rolling resistance.
• Directional Pattern: Directional tires are designed to roll forward and are designated with lateral grooves in the shape of an arrowhead. These types of tires provide extra traction for the vehicle operator. Key features are high resistance to hydroplaning, better handling in the snow/mud, and good road handling when reaching high speeds.
• Asymmetric Pattern: This type of tire tread pattern contains two different patterns on the inner half and the outer half of the tire. The two different types of treads handle different road conditions – hydroplaning protection from the inner pattern and higher lateral stiffness for quieter noise inside the cab of your vehicle from the outer pattern. Key features include excellent handling, better grip during wet road conditions, and high curve stability.

If you aren’t sure what type of tire is the best for your vehicle, the professionals at Highland Tire can help. On the tire sidewall is where you find the sizing information you need to make sure your tires are a good fit. Connect with us today to see what tire types we have for sale.