Car tyres Influence both driving comfort and road safety. Their functions are vital for the performance and stability of your vehicle. Car tyres make direct contact with the road surface. Moreover, they stop your car at the correct distance when you apply your car brakes. So, they are also a part of the car brake system.
The outermost layer of your tyres is the tread that touches the road surface directly. If you observe different sets of tyres, they come with different tread designs. These designs are essential for better traction and stability in varied road conditions.
In this blog, we are going to explain the most common things about tyre tread.
Tyre tread depth
The tread is present in tyres with different aims. Providing grip and traction on dry and wet roads is its main function. The gripping ability of the tyre tread is essential when you accelerate and turn your car as well. Moreover, cleaning water, snow and slush in wet or snowy conditions is also the responsibility of the tyre tread.
Tyre tread performs its functions with the help of optimum tread depth.
In the UK, experts measure the tread depth in millimetres and the minimum legal tread depth for tyres is 1.6mm. You have to note that some manufacturers recommend changing the car tyres when the tread depth reaches the level of 3mm tread depth.
Proper tread depth is essential for car tyres because of the need for grip and traction. Reducing tread depth will reduce the efficiency of the tread pattern to hold the road surface as well.
You have to keep the tyre tread depth at the correct level with proper maintenance. However, you cannot stop the process of degradation forever.
Multiple factors reduce the tread depth over time.
Tyre tread depth goes down because of ageing. Moreover, factors like heat, friction and speed are also responsible reduce the tread depth.
You can keep an eye on the tread depth in multiple ways.
Let us have a look!
Using the penny coin:
This is one of the easiest ways to check the tread depth. You need a penny to perform this task. Place the penny coin in the tyre groove. If you can observe the head of the coin, your tyres are surely experiencing tread wear.
Using the tread depth gauge:
If you want more precise results, you have to buy a tread depth gauge to check the tread depth. These gauges are available in the market or you can buy them online.
The gauge will provide correct findings to you after the use. If the tread depth is not at the optimum level, you have to change your car tyres as soon as possible.
Tread wear bars:
Nowadays, vehicles come with tread wear indicator bars. These bars are not visible when the tread depth is at the correct level. You will observe these wear bars only if the tyre tread depth is below the legal limit. So, looking at the wear bars is also a good idea to check the tread depth.
Risks of bald tyres
Several risks have a link with tread wear. You have to preserve the tread depth to get optimum traction on both dry and wet roads.
If you ignore the tread depth, you may face the following bad results:
Bald tyres are not legal. Therefore, you may face legal steps because of the illegal tread depth.
Bald tyres have lost their efficiency and strength against wet roads. So, they would not be able to save you from issues like hydroplaning.
Tyres with low tread depth are more prone to punctures and blowouts.
Tyres lose air pressure at a higher rate after they have lost optimum tread depth.
Tyres show poor heat resistance because of low tread depth.
The level of driving comfort, safety and stability goes down because of low tread depth.
As you see, you have to face several risk factors because of your bald tyres. Therefore, you have to check your tyres regularly to detect the signs of tread wear.
Types of tyre tread
Tyres come with different tread patterns. Different sets of tyres may have symmetrical, asymmetrical or directional tread patterns.
Symmetrical
You can see this tread pattern commonly in passenger vehicles. This tread pattern is symmetrical. It means the tyre has a similar design and pattern in the outer and inner sides of the tread pattern. These tyres are ideal for dry roads but you should not use them on wet roads.
Directional
These tyres perform excellently against aquaplaning because of their directional tread pattern. This pattern has an arrow-like pattern to perform efficiently in wet conditions.
Asymmetrical
Asymmetrical tread pattern comes with two different designs in the inner and outer parts of the tread. This pattern allows the tyre to perform well in both wet and dry conditions.
You can buy a suitable type of tyres according to your preferences and driving objectives. If you want to make the process easier, you can buy different types of tyres, such as winter tyres, summer tyres, all-season tyres, all-terrain tyres, run-flat tyres etc. In this approach, you do not need to look at separate features like the tread pattern of Car Tyres Warrington. You will get a complete set of specific features if you choose a type of tyre.
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