It is clear to everyone that the color of the car should match the handbag. Questions cannot arise here, as long as we follow the latest fashion trends a little. On the other hand, gentlemen who like pants up to the ankles should definitely match their socks with the color of the car – so also with the handbag! But what fashion trends dominate the choice of tires? If only the pattern of the tread should match the pattern of fishnet socks? It turns out that everything is not so simple here. As we all know very well, there are three types of winter tires in nature – studded tires, “Nordic” or Scandinavian-type tires and, finally, soft or European-type winter tires. How not to get confused and choose the right ones? There is only one recipe here – to understand where and under what conditions our roads will mainly lead during the long winter months. Only then can we go to the store and stretch beautiful and black rims with the appropriate marking towards the trunk. Latvia is quite unique in terms of winter tire selection in that any of the three types mentioned will work equally well here. For example, Nordic and studded tires dominate in Scandinavia and Estonia. Lithuania and Poland prefer European and rarely “Nordic” type tires. On the other hand, we accept everything, so it is especially easy to shoot wrong!
Studded tires
Many mistakenly believe that studded tires are the ones that will allow the car to handle the best in Latvian winters. Misguided because the studs are designed for better traction on ice and packed snow. If we are well aware that these kinds of roads will be the most part of our winter routes, then studs are for us. Mainly, such tires will be useful for rural residents, whose daily route leads through roads of second and even third importance. They are not always well cleaned and, if anything, sprinkled with anti-slip materials. Just like a cat’s claws, the studs protrude from the tire and dig into the slippery surface. It must be understood that the asphalt, no matter how slippery it is, is too hard for the studs to do their job. On city roads and highways, the effect can turn into a defect and rigid steel studs can slip on the road without providing sufficient grip on the tire surface. Of course, it’s not a bad thing to turn into the city with studded tires from time to time, but the level of attention and caution should be several levels higher. Especially if you happen to drive on old granite pavement. By the way, today the use of studded tires is prohibited in such countries as Montenegro, Croatia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Germany (except for some municipalities near the Austrian border), the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Portugal.
Scandinavian type tires
Here we can already talk about a much wider application in everyday traffic. Turn as you like, we are more of the harsh northerners, so icing on our roads is a noticeably more frequent phenomenon than, for example, in nearby Poland. That is why this type of tire is called “Nordic” or Scandinavian – they are perfectly suitable for driving in good winter conditions. The composition of the tire is a little softer than European tires, but the tread pattern is more robust. And it’s no wonder, because this type of tire must be able to replace studs, which are not allowed in many places. Even though the tire is quite large nowadays, the contact with the road is good if it is the size of one medium-sized palm. So the only thing that keeps us on the road is four hands. Four hands and at least one and a half tons of construction, including ourselves. The task is not easy, so the composition used in Scandinavian tires is especially soft, which does not harden, which is also a major disadvantage. The combination of soft composition, tread pattern and special lamellae, the working surface of this tire works like a suction cup, almost sticking to the road surface. On the other hand, the sharp edges of the tread allow you to successfully deal with snow. Of course, Scandinavian tires also have a good water drainage system, but it lags behind European or solid tires. That is why Scandinavian, “Nordic”, also called ice tires, will be useful for those motorists whose route includes both carefully cleaned highways and the city, as well as extreme sections of ice and compacted snow.
European tires
A solid compound winter tire with more pronounced water drainage technology and a smaller number of lamellae. As a rule, such car “shoes” are chosen where ice and compacted snow are rare. Starting from Lithuania and all the way to Switzerland or northern Italy.
The main task of this type of tires is to create a good grip with the road when the temperature outside the window does not exceed minus five degrees Celsius. In small minuses, icing rarely forms, but slush on the roads is not uncommon. Here, water drainage technologies await their star hour, preventing the danger of aquaplaning.
After the experiment, we can throw an ordinary kitchen tray into the puddle and try to force it. The tray will swell like crazy, because water remains between two planes – a sufficiently dense substance that the tray will not fit the bottom of the puddle anyway. Such an effect is cleverly called aquaplaning, but for a motorist it means only one thing – DANGER!
For city dwellers and those who mainly travel along the Jūrmala highway or a similar road, European or solid compound tires will be exactly what the doctor ordered. Observations show that large highways and city streets are most often, if not shoveled, then spread with anti-slip materials.
Of course, you shouldn’t think that when you hit ice, a solid compound tire stops working completely and permanently. It certainly isn’t. In the laboratories of tire manufacturers, smart people perform thousands of calculations to ensure that any of the named tires is maximally efficient on any road surface. Quite simply, on rougher sections of the road, you should reduce your speed and turn on extra caution.
All-season tires
This is a section that absolutely could not have existed, if only the motorists of our climate zone were a little more prudent. For many, the word “all-season” works like a detonator for a stick of dynamite. However, we have to accept that in Latvia such tires are the last thing that should be considered as a potential purchase. What exactly are these all-season tires for? Elementary! Both here in Europe and in other parts of the world, there are quite a few countries where winter is not at all the same as what we understand by this word. Winter is an air temperature below plus fifteen degrees Celsius. Winter is puddles and mud. Winter is a nasty slush in the form of liquid snow that comes along well if only once every five years. All-season tires are designed to feel safe in such southern winter conditions. Tires that are effective enough on a good road on a sunny day and that, if necessary, will allow you to stay on the road in case of unexpected snow flurries. That is why Latvian legislation stipulates that tires with the tempting inscription “M+S” cannot be used in winter conditions, unless there is a winter tire symbol next to the mystical letters – a triangle with a snowflake in it. If someone has not yet gotten a fresh set of winter tires, then this is it. the right moment. The right moment not only to submissively buy the first tires at hand, but to carefully consider which of the three winter tire options will be more suitable for us. Good and suitable winter tires
2023-10-14 20:34:38
#winter #tires #suit #car
