If you have recently bought a vehicle, or you have been driving your car or truck for a while but haven’t thought to check out what kind of tires you have, you may be wondering how to figure out what your vehicle is fitted with.
There are many different kinds of tires, and each has been designed for a different driving purpose, and for differing conditions. One main differentiating factor in tire type is what weather conditions it has been designed for – winter, summer, or all seasons.
If you are unsure what kind of tires are on your vehicle, then read on, as we have some quick and easy ways to help you identify them different types of tires, which is especially important if you are planning on buying new ones.
Fairly easy to identify, winter tires always have a pictogram with a snowflake and mountains on their sidewall. This symbol - called 3PMSF for Three Peak Mountain Snowflake - means that the tire meets international standards for use in harsh winter conditions, making it a safe and reliable tire for anyone who drives in snowy, slippery, and extremely cold conditions. The tread depth of a winter tire is always at least 4 mm, to ensure a longer life in severe winter conditions.
Winter tires temperature range
If you are curious about the optimum outdoor temperature range for winter tires, generally, this value is related directly to the rubber compounds used in their manufacturing. If they bear the three-peaked mountain and snowflake logo, it means these winter tires have been tested in winter conditions under 40 degrees Fahrenheit. While this might seem extreme, temperatures this cold do occur in parts of Canada from time to time. Regular winter tires marked with the M+S logo should be installed when the weather dips under 7 °C, or sooner if snow and ice start falling in your region.
If you are wondering if you have summer tires installed on your vehicle, there are a few features you can used to identify them. Summer tires are not quite as common as say, all-season tires, and tend to be found installed on high performance vehicles such as sports cars, or cars used solely during the summer months, such as vintage cars. Other features of summer tires include:
- Manufactured using a special compound that is meant to grip the roads more aggressively in hot temperatures, and on hot asphalt
- Feature a faster wearing tread due to the more pliable compound
- Designed with less tread depth, and wide tread blocks vs all season tires which feature a more moderate tread depth and more defined tread blocks
Summer tires temperature range
As you have read, summer tires are best suited for warm weather driving, but you may have questions about what the ideal summer tires temperature range might be. The suggested temperature range for summer tires is when the weather hits above 45 °F or 7 degrees Celsius. In most parts of Canada, this means that summer tires are best installed near the end of the spring season, or at the beginning of summer – and are taken off and replaced with your all-season tires at the beginning of fall, still depending, of course, on where you live.
All-season tires
One of the most popular types of tires is the all-season tire. If you are wondering if those are the ones equipped on your vehicle, then here are a few features to look for:
- Moderate tread depth and more defined tread blocks (vs summer tires)
- Moderate grooves and siping (the small, deep lines in your tires, that improve traction)
- Longer tread life averaging around 60,000 km
- Best suited for CUVs, SUVs and passenger cars
- Available in a wide range of prices and sizes
Temperature range for all season tires
Because they are called all season, these types of tires can be used all year round, as long as you are driving in average conditions. However, if you want to know the temperature range for all-season tires, you should install them when the temperature is between 30 °F and around the freezing mark in Canada of 0 degrees Celsius. These tires will perform well during the winter months, but if you live in a region where you get a lot of snow and ice, or you travel on less well-kept roadways, then you may want to think of putting winter tires on your vehicle when the snowy season begins.
Of course, if you have any questions about what kind of tires to install on your vehicle, or need additional help determining what kind of tires you currently have on your car or truck, it’s best to reach out to a team of tire experts, like the people at blackcircles.ca. Our team is available to answer all your questions on tires, and we can also help find the perfect set of new tires at the best prices in Canada. Just reach out to us by email, phone or use our online chat, and we will be happy to help you out.
