Invisible tire secret

In this review, we focus on car tires. Namely, why it is so important to pay attention to quality products.

Many people still think of car tires simply as round tires with various tread patterns. In fact, they are an extremely complex result of many years of development and fairly advanced physics. A good winter tire consists of at least 12 different components.

Composition of winter tires

The main material remains natural rubber, but many other synthetic materials are added to it: styrene-butadiene (to lower the price), polybutadiene (reduces heat during friction), halobutyl (prevents air from passing through the tire).

The silicon strengthens the tire and also reduces heat. Carbon black improves wear resistance and, among other things, gives it a black color - without them, tires would be whitish. Sulfur additionally binds rubber molecules during vulcanization. Vegetable oils are often added to winter tires to soften the mix.

The main parameter of a good winter tire: soft grip.

Asphalt (even the most ideal) is far from a smooth surface to ensure that tires are in close contact with the road. In this regard, the tire material must penetrate as deep as possible into the bumps on it.

Replacement Recommendations

The problem is that at low temperatures, the material from which all-season and summer tires are made hardens and loses this ability. That is why winter ones are made up of special mixtures that remain soft even in severe frost. The difference is huge: tests on Continental tires, for example, show that at 50 kilometers per hour on snow, summer tires stop an average of 31 meters farther from winter tires - that's the length of six cars.

That is why you should not wait for the first serious snow to replace your tires. Most experts advise using winter when the temperature drops below +7 degrees Celsius. And vice versa, take off the winter if the air constantly warms up by more than +10 degrees, because above this limit the mixture loses its properties.

According to surveys, most people choose a certain period - for example, the last week of November - to change tires. But your winter tires will last longer and perform better if you install them according to the conditions, not according to the calendar.