The Pros and Cons of Summer Tyres
by Brian, under Cars, Safety & Advice.
Summer tyres are meant to perform well in hot weather and bear the heat and dry conditions that are very troublesome for normal all-season tyres. The debate on the use of tyres especially made for summer has been on since a long time and peaks during the time preceding the onset of summers. This article will highlight the pros and cons of these tyres and will help you in making the right decision.
Advantages and Disadvantages associated with Summer Tyres
The huge variety available in for summers is the first advantage of opting for tyres especially designed for summers. You can choose between three broad categories based on your driving style and the driving conditions in which you drive. Hence, you get the advantage of fitting the right set of wheels of the most comfortable and safest drive.
The first set is suitable for driving in very high temperatures. The rubber used in this tyre is made with compounds that do not melt at very high temperatures. There is less use of natural rubber and the compounds are synthesised to bear heat and friction. They can even endure temperatures above sixty degrees.
The next set of summer tyres is meant for driving in urban areas where most of the driving roads are made of concrete and asphalt. The tyres are meant to bear the heat of the environment as well as the heat generated by high-speed driving on multiple-lane roads. The tread of these tyres are designed in a way that they prevent the tyres from skidding when the brakes are applied at very high speeds as well. These tyres can also endure wet roads safely.
The last variety is the one that is meant especially for high-speed driving. Like the requirement of racing cars. These tyres are not suitable for the conditions mentioned above and are mostly known as ‘slick tyres’. They have very little grooves and the tread is also designed to assist the racers in tackling dirt, mud and rough driving conditions.
Hence, summer tyres give you the option of picking the set that comes close to your driving requirements. The compounds and tread assist in handling high temperatures and dry roads with dust and mud. With all these extraordinary advantages, the summer wheels also have some disadvantages.
The primary disadvantage is that these tyres give the best performance only in hot weather when the temperatures zoom up rapidly. However, as the temperatures begin to drop the performance of these tyres also drop as the rubber starts becoming stiffer and the grip on the roads becomes lesser day by day.
The other disadvantage is their performance in wet season. Though these tyres can manage the occasional showers that provide respite in the soaring temperatures, they cannot work well when roads become extremely slippery or muddy due to rains. Hence, their performance deteriorates in such conditions. It is better to use such tyres for conditions they are meant for; do not use them otherwise.