Your car tires will wear out over time and sooner if you drive a lot. If you purchase tires of high quality the tires will wear longer than if you buy cheaper tires of inferior quality. Your maintenance of the tires will also impact the service life of your tires, where for example tire pressure can have a big impact and where the wrong tire pressure can shorten the life of your tires significantly. Tire rotation is another way of extending the life of your tires, where you monitor the tread depth difference between the front and rear tires and change place of the tires when the difference becomes more than 5/64 inches. This will extend the life of your tires. This is important for your all-season tires to ensure good grip on dry and wet roads and for winter tires to ensure good ice and snow grip. For all-weather tires you will need to ensure that you have good dry, wet, snow and ice grip.
Your driving style will also impact how long your tires will last as well as where you drive. Aggressive driving with a lot of accelerations and stopping will wear out the tires faster. The same goes for city traffic versus highway driving, where the smooth speed driving on highways wear less on the tires than the stop and go driving in cities.
As your tires wear out the key properties start declining and you will need to ensure that you extend the distance to the cars in front, as your braking distance will increase. The tire’s aquaplaning properties will also decline, so that you are more likely to lose control as you drive in heavy rain or on very wet roads. This is why it is important to change tires once you go below 5/32 inches, so that you can keep the grip at a safe level. With low tread depth your braking distance increases and the wet grip decreases.
When you rotate your tires, the more worn tires should always be put on the front and the better should always be installed at the rear, and the main reason is safety. When using better tires on rear, it is easier to avoid oversteering, where you would be losing rear axle grip of the road. In an intense situation while driving, oversteering is more dangerous than understeering. This is also why you should always try to purchase a full set of four tires when you need to replace your tires.
Incorrect tire pressure could have serious consequences. If tire pressure is too low, breaking distance will be longer and the vehicle will be harder to maneuver, worsening situations like aquaplaning. When tires are at the appropriate pressure driving will be more comfortable, steering more precise and the journey more fuel-efficient. Consult your tire shop immediately if the tire if the tire can’t keep its pressure or if you notice external damage to the tread or the sides of the tire, such as punctures, cuts, abrasion, or uneven wear
For your winter tires, the studded tyres it is important to check the quality of the studs and if they are still attached. Studs that bends will not penetrate the ice and will have weak grip on slush and snow. According to the legislation, the maximum allowed variation in the number of studs between the tires is 25%.
For more information regarding tire wear and maintenance, visit: nokiantires.com