Now, as the winter condition arrives, it is not enough that you managed to change tyres to winter tyres to be ready for the winter. You need to check and make sure that the winter tyres you mounted are in good condition. Winter conditions are so challenging to drive in that you need to get the best performance from your tyres. There are a few key items with tyres: the tread needs to be more than 4 mm deep; the tyre pressure should be as recommended by the car’s manual. In addition, the tyres should be free from any cuts or damages caused by the curbs or other sharp objects.
If you are using studded tyres as winter tyres, you should check that the studs are still looking good and that you haven’t lost too many. There shouldn’t be more than 25% in the stud density between the tyres. If you are unsure, it could be worth driving to a tyre service station to have them check the tyres for you to see if the tyres are still safe to drive within winter. Studded tyres create extraordinary grip on ice by using the studs, where the non-studded tyres instead use gripping particles and innovations in the tread. Non-studded tyre tends to perform worse than studded tyre on ice. When studded tyres have all its original studs, the studded tyre will better grip ice and packed snow.
Checking the tread depth is also important and changing to a new set when you reach 4 mm of tread depth and rotate the tyres once you detect a difference in depth of more than 2-3 mm between the front and the rear set. Having similar tread depth in all four positions ensures that you have a similar grip and, therefore, a balanced and stable driving experience. You don’t want your vehicle to behave unbalanced and under or oversteer once you try to maneuver your vehicle.
If the tyres aren’t in good condition, you might still believe that they are good and safe tyres, while the reality can be quite different. When a service station does the tyre change for you, they will check the tyres before they mount them; if you mount them yourself, you will not get a free evaluation of the tyre condition. They also make sure to rotate the tyres properly and ensure that there are no visible damages to the tyres.
The tyre pressure impacts the rolling resistance of the tyres, so if you have low tyre pressure, the resistance will be higher. High resistance is causing the tyre wear to wear faster, and it impacts the car’s fuel consumption, so it is higher, and it gets more expensive to drive. Your tyres performance will also be impacted, and if the tyre pressure is too low, it can feel like you have a flat tyre. Therefore, checking the tyre pressure should be part of your routine when you stop at the petrol station anyway.
For more information regarding winter tyres, visit: https://www.nokiantyres.com/