How to choose tyres according to the road surface

Tyre types include all-season, mud-terrain, high performance, all terrain, and more. Here’s a quick explanation of each so you can determine what works best for your location and lifestyle. Most of these tire types can be found for a range of vehicles including cars, trucks, minivans, SUVs, and crossovers.

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• All-terrain tyres: If you enjoy taking your vehicle off the beaten path, all-terrain tyres may be your perfect match. These tyres are created to tackle all surfaces, from mud to sand to rocks. These tires can certainly handle the beaten path as well! Take these bad boys on normal roads and highways and you’ll experience the comfort and handling of everyday “on-road” tires.

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• Touring tires: Touring tires are premium tires engineered for drivers who value smooth, comfortable driving and superior handling. They offer reliability, a long tread life, and minimum noise. Most touring tires are all-season and can handle the typical wet and dry conditions, but they cannot handle extreme weather conditions.

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• Mud-terrain tires: Mud-terrain tires can handle soft surfaces, like deep mud and sand, better than any other tire. Consider mud-terrain tires a more aggressive variation on all-terrain tires! The deep, rugged tread pattern helps your vehicle get solid traction on the least solid terrains. Their intense design is perfect for off-roading, but won’t be quite as smooth, silent, or comfortable on normal roads.

• Spare tires: When the unexpected happens, spare tires are here to save the day. For spares, you have the option to get a full-size or compact tire ‘saver’. A full-size tire is simply a fifth tire for your car. Pop it on your car when one of your tires fails and you’re relatively good to go for the long-term. A compact tire is a temporary fix. It will take up less room in your car than a full-size tire, but it can’t handle high speeds or sub-optimal road conditions. A compact spare will get you to the puncture repair guy so you can get it fixed and that’s about it.

• All-season tires: All-season tires are created for exactly what the name implies… all seasons! They’re engineered for a smooth, quiet ride, fuel efficiency, and good tread life. However, because all-season tires are created to handle every season, they’re a compromise and don’t do well in extreme weather. 

• Performance tires: High-performance tires are created for drivers who really care about speed and performance. These tires harness every ounce of your engine’s horsepower and grip the road like race tires, but they also have reduced tread wear ratings and typically don’t last as long as other types of tires. You’ll often see high-performance tires on sports cars.

Source: Firestone