Autumn foul weather is the right time for tyre change
Tyres are a part of a vehicle that are often downplayed by some drivers – especially nowadays, when many think that equipping a car with modern safety systems is enough. Tyre is not just a piece of rubber, but one of the most important safety elements of a car and the only one which links the car and its safety systems to the road. In the autumn and winter season, only winter and all-season tyres with the ‘Alpine Symbol’ are able to guarantee an adequate safety margin and better performance during colder temperatures, rain or snow. Good technical condition of tyres is important for the safety of all road users.
Winter tyres mean better grip in autumn and winter
Winter tyres are thoroughly tested for parameters affecting safety – that is grip and braking distance on wet, dry, snow-covered and icy surfaces. Fuel efficiency and wear resistance are also tested. Good winter tyres not only have high safety parameters, but also ensure fuel consumption and noise levels comparable to those of summer tyres. In addition, they provide a significant advantage when accelerating, maintaining traction when cornering and shorten the braking distance. Do not be late this year! It's time to change tyres!
Tyres should only be changed in professional auto shops that ensure that no elements of the car are damaged and do not use old machines of dubious quality. Unprofessional removal of tyres from the rim may very easily cause damage to the tyre bead or breakage of its bead core.
If you have two tyres of good quality and two slightly worse, remember – the better ones should always be mounted on the rear axle – regardless of whether or not you have front or rear drive. Why? Thanks to it the vehicle will stay in its lane and the back of the car will be easier to control while cornering or during sudden braking. Better traction and predictability of the car are more important than a quick start – eventually you have to stop.
How do SUVs with 4x4 drive manage without winter tyres?
SUVs are heavier and have a higher centre of gravity compared to regular passenger cars. The more important is the use of good quality tyres, because they need appropriate grip on the road – on rain, snow or ice. Four-wheel drive is useless when summer tyres are as hard plastic – even if the car moves forward, such tyres will not help much during braking and will impair the grip while cornering. The braking distance for heavy SUVs can be even longer than that of lighter cars with two-wheel drive. No matter what car we drive, driving on tyres that are not appropriate for given weather conditions is gambling with our own lives.
The traps of using summer tyres in the winter
When driving on summer tyres at a temperature below 7°C, the risk of an accident increases with the speed of the car. This applies not only to snow-covered roads but also to wet or slippery surfaces. The insurer may refuse to pay compensation – blaming the driver for gross negligence and maladjustment of the tyres to the conditions on the road and thus causing a collision or accident. In addition, cars with tyres without winter homologation cannot enter most European countries – this requirement is already applied in 26 European countries and all of Poland's neighbours, with the exception of Ukraine. You'll brake faster on winter tyres when it gets cold! It's time to change tyres!
– In such weather like now, when the mornings are getting colder and it often rains, good winter or all-season tyres with winter homologation are a guarantee of safe driving. Do not wait for the first frosts or the first snow. It does not matter that in the morning, on a completely dry road, summer tyre gives an advantage of 20-30 cm in the length of braking, when in the evening when returning home this road may be wet, and then the difference in braking distance on summer tyres significantly exceeds the length of our car? How many of us change tyres several times a day, like rally drivers during the competition? – alarms Piotr Sarnecki, general director of the Polish Tyre Industry Association (PTIA).
Modern winter tyres made by reputable manufacturers provide safety in a wide range of weather conditions – they are effective even at a temperature around 10-15ºC on a dry road, but also on wet surfaces, when it gets chilly and all through serious winter. The longer you wait to change to winter tyres, the more you put your life at risk. Your life and the lives of others. Such difference in braking distance is a matter of life and death for a pedestrian. Don’t run that risk by postponing your visit to the auto service and letting yourself be guided by myths about winter tyres. When the weather gets bad, you may not even get there.
Source: Polish Tyre Industry Association