Summer Tyres

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Tips for driving in winter conditions

When winter comes it is usually will causes quite a bit of chaos in the traffic. This is true even in areas where people are used to driving in winter conditions. The appearance of snow and ice on the roads, will almost always cause problems and some will be caught by surprise and trying to drive with car tyres that are not meant for winter conditions. Driving on snow and ice can be intimidating even for the most experienced of drivers, even with the correct tyres, i.e. tyres that are approved for winter use and have the Alpine symbol.

Some things to keep in mind when driving in these conditions is that braking distance becomes longer so it is important to increase the distance to the car in front of you. You also have to start braking a lot earlier when you approach crossings and stop signs. In areas where a lot of people have been using their brakes are more prone to become icy and slippery. Probably the most important thing to ensure safe driving is to equip your vehicle with good quality winter tyres which are available either as studded tyres or non-studded tyres. You also have the option of using winter approved all-weather tyres. Those eliminate the need to change between winter and summer tyres. You also don't have to worry about the weather forecast and risk missing putting winter tyres on your vehicle before the winter weather arrives.

It is also important that the winter tyres are in good condition before winter arrives and that they have adequate tread, no less than 4mm in depth. Proper tread helps protect against aqua- and slushplaning due to either rain or slush as deeper channels are needed to move the water or slush away effectively. Aquaplaning occurs when the water on the street can't be effectively removed from the surface it forces a layer of water underneath the tyre, allowing the tyre to plane on the water and a loss of control over the car. If your car starts to plane, there are a few things to keep in mind; do not slam on the brakes, maintain steering in the current direction and take your foot off the accelerator. Most of the time this phenomenon last just for a split second so try not to panic and make use of the above-mentioned advice to regain control of your vehicle.

Another safety tip is to maintain tyres properly inflated, this in addition lowers rolling resistance, decreases fuel consumption and thereby saving on fuel and unhealthy emissions. Other things to keep in mind when driving in snow is to slow down, don’t stop abruptly. Make sure to accelerate and decelerate slowly while remembering to keep a longer distance to the cars in front of you. Never over accelerate uphill as this can cause the tyres to spin on snow covered roads. Even if not experienced driving on snow, following this advice and equipping your car with good quality tyres will help you stay safe while driving in winter.

For more information on winter tyres, visit https://www.nokiantyres.com/

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Winter tyres options in Europe as the winter is approaching

Europe has quite different winter conditions based on where you live, work or drive normally. If you live in the northern part, you will definitely have dedicated winter tyres during the winter season, the same goes for areas in Central Europe like around the Alps or other wintery areas. While in the south the tyre options can be very different, as you might not see any winter weather and can manage with just summer tyres for the whole year. When you get to areas that have only some occasional winter weather during the winter season and feel that mounting winter tyres every year is a bit of an overkill, the all-weather tyres can be a perfect option.

You can get all-weather tyres that are approved for winter use and have the Alpine symbol on the sidewall, which most countries that require winter tyres during the winter season demands. It is not anymore sufficient to have the M+S marking on the tyre. The M+S marking can be added by the tyre manufacturer based on their discretion while the Alpine marking also often referred to as the 3 peak mountain snowflake (3PMSF)-symbol is based on passing performance tests in winter conditions.

The tyre option is important to make sure that you an enjoy problem free and safe driving. If you live in an area with proper winter, then you will be best off with a dedicated winter tyre, where you mount them before the winter weather arrives and then change to summer tyres as soon as the winter weather ends. This will give you the best performance and safety when it comes to grip and winter driving properties. You can choose between studded or non-studded tyres, where the studded will have better grip on icy surfaces. It can be the difference of getting up a steep icy hill versus not. Certain roads will require that you have snow chains on your car. The studded tyres are not allowed in all the European countries, so having them can cause problems if you are travelling across country borders.

If you live in an area where you only have occasional winter weather but you want to make sure that you are safe when driving in winter conditions, a winter approved all-weather tyre is probably the best option for you. These can be used for all year round driving or then just as winter tyres and then you can change to summer tyres when the summer arrives. This will give you optimal performance during the summer and still provide you with sufficient protection during the winter if the snow would show up. This might be an option if you have a high performance car, where you don’t want to limit any performance during the summer, while you still want to be able to drive it all year round and you can accept not the optimal performance during the winter.

For more information regarding the best winter tyres for driving in Europe, visit: https://www.nokiantyres.com/

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The best tyres for autumn

For autumn, you will basically need some premium summer tyres that can handle the rain and wind that is often associated with autumn weather. You also have to be ready to change to winter tyres when the winter is approaching. Here it is prudent to put winter tyres on your vehicle already as the temperature drops below zero degrees, as winter tyres outperform summer tyres when it comes to safety at low temperatures. This is why you are better to put on the winter tyres early well before the snow arrives, because for sure the temperatures will drop late autumn.

For the wet roads, summer tyres are though the best option, as they are designed to have good grip on both dry and wet roads. With evolving tyre technology the tyres have improved and for the summer tyres, the biggest improvements have been on tyre wear and wet properties. The biggest improvements and innovations have been geared towards reducing the risk for aquaplaning. A high degree of accidents during autumn are due to aquaplaning, where drivers lose control over their vehicles when driving in heavy rain or on wet roads.

By reducing the risk for aquaplaning, the tyres become safer and more stable to drive with during wet conditions. It does require that you do your research before choosing new summer tyres, so that you select tyres that are good in wet conditions. You also need to make sure that you change to new tyres once they good tyres are worn out. New tyres should be mounted when the tread depth is below 4 mm, which is when a lot of critical properties start to decline.

During autumn, all-weather tyres is also a good choice as they can handle both autumn weather and winter weather, which both can be present during the autumn month. The advantage is that all-weather tyres are a safe and convenient choice as you can use them all year round. They are designed to handle both wet and dry roads during the summer and icy and snowy conditions during the winter. This makes them ideal during autumn, as you will not be surprised by sudden changes in weather and stuck with summer tyres in winter conditions, which would make any driving dangerous and would create a big hassle if you are dependent on the car for daily transportation.

The best option will depend what type of winter conditions that you have and if you therefore will need dedicated winter tyres, or you can use summer tyres all year or all-weather tyres. Dedicated tyres always have better performance, but you do have the challenge of making the change in time so that you don't risk having summer tyres in winter conditions. There is always a bit higher investment initially to invest in two sets of tyres with rims for the year. The tyres will though last longer as they are only used half of the time. When you use one set of tyres for the whole year, rotation has to be done during the year to even out any differences in wear between the front and rear set of tyres.

For more information regarding the best tyres for rainy autumn weather, visit: https://www.nokiantyres.com/

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Understand how to use the EU tyre label and various tyre tests

When you are buying a new set of tyres, you will need a lot of information prior to taking the decision. This is regardless if you buy summer or winter tyres. There are some things that are more important to focus on for summer tyres and for the winter tyres where you live and how you will use them will play a key role in the tyre selection. For some areas you also have the option to choose all-weather tyres, which can be used all-year round, so that you can eliminate the need to change between summer and winter tyres.

There is a big difference between the EU tyre label and the tyre tests, where the EU tyre label is an energy efficiency label regulated by EU to simplify the selection process for consumers to choose a low energy appliance or product. When it comes to tyres, the label shows fuel efficiency when it comes to the gasoline consumption attributed to the tyres. The fuel efficiency is associated with the rolling resistance of the tyre, where high-quality tyres tend to have lower resistance than cheaper tyres of lower quality. High rolling resistance also leads to heat build-up and tyre wear, so the tyres wear out faster than tyres that have a low resistance. In addition to showing the fuel efficiency, the label also shows external tyre noise and wet grip. The tyre noise can be seen as a measure of driving comfort and the wet grip is one measurement of the driving safety.

When to use the EU tyre label

The EU tyre label is a great way to get a good overview and to compare between different tyres without having to know much about them. They are great for tyres that are used during the summer as they are tested during summer conditions and test wet grip on warm wet tarmac. They are not good for selecting winter tyres, as they don't include anything related to snow grip or grip on ice. They are also not measured at temperatures that represent winter conditions, so when you look at rolling resistance, the tyres will be too soft at summer temperatures to give a reliable value.

When to use tyre tests

When it comes to tyre tests, they should be done by an independent of a tyre manufacturer and not be biased towards a certain brand. Usually motor magazines will do these both for the years summer and winter tyres. The test will need to represent the driving conditions that you tend to drive in and for your vehicle type. You need to therefore select the correct tyre test and find the tyres that show good properties for your driving conditions.

Conclusion

Both the EU tyre label and the tyre tests show how good or bad certain tyres are. By combining them you can often select the best tyre for your vehicle and conditions. Once you selected a few good tyres from the tyre tests, you can check how well they perform on fuel efficiency and wet grip and then select the tyre you should invest in.

For more information on selecting tyres with the help of EU tyre labels and tyre tests, visit: www.nokiantyres.com

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Best timing to purchase new tyres

You should always buy new tyres when your current tyres are worn out. The big question is maybe when are they worn out and how do I know it? When you go below 4 mm tread depth of your tyres, means that you will lose a lot of the safety properties associated with the tyres. These include grip, braking distance, ability to prevent aquaplaning and wet grip. These are key for keeping you safe. You will need to regularly check the tread depth of your tyres so that you are aware as you approach the 4 mm mark.

If you feel that you are not getting the same performance from your tyres than you used to get or feel that it is declining, then you should always check the tread depth to see if you are below 4mm depth. If the tread depth is above 4mm and you still have bad performance, there might be other issues that are lowering the performance of the tyres. You should then check the tyre pressure to make sure that you have the correct pressure in all the tyres. Very low pressure can make the car skid and feel like you have a flat tyre. Low pressure can also damage the sidewalls of the tyres, as well as increasing the heat buildup in the tyre. This increases the tyre wear and will increase the rolling resistance. High rolling resistance translates to higher fuel consumption.

Over inflated tyres is also not good as it changes the profile of the tyre, so you will change the contact area between the road and the tyre. This leads to worse grip and not optimal performance. Braking distance is prolonged, so that you might not be able to avoid accidents. Low tread depth will also prolong the braking distance and increase the chance for aquaplaning. Aquaplaning will need a high groove volume to disperse as much water as possible to ensure that the tyre doesn’t lose contact with the road surface. Failure to get rid of the water will cause the tyre to lose contact with the road. When the tyre doesn’t have any contact, you will lose the ability to steer the vehicle and an accident could be imminent.

Modern tyres have improved a lot in this area. New innovations in how to design the tread for optimal water removal have been implemented. It has significantly reduced the chance for aquaplaning. The main cause for accidents during thunderstorms is due to aquaplaning, so the danger should be realized so that if you plan to purchase new tyres, you need tyres that are good at preventing aquaplaning. If you need winter tyres, the they need to be able to prevent slushplaning, where the wet snow will cause the effect as with water. Similar innovations have been made here to prevent slushplaning.

For winter tyres you also want to ensure that you have the best possible grip for the conditions that you will be driving in. Often a good timing to change to new tires is when you are changing between winter and summer tyres.

For more information regarding good tyres, visit: nokiantyres.com

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New summer tyres is a good way to enjoy the summer

New summer tyres are the most optimal tyres for the summer season and are better than winter tyres and all-weather tyres, then you have the. They perform better than what compromise tyres do when the sun when you have hot summer weather. All-weather tyres are designed to cope with a larger temperature range, while the summer tyres are only designed for being used during the summer season and can therefore optimize it for the warm usage. This is why they can excel during the summer conditions with a tread design that is designed for optimal performance on dry and wet roads. Most people enjoy driving during perfect summer conditions on dry roads with the sun shining. It is a perfect day to just drive for the fun of it or to drive to a cafe for a coffee.

Summer tyres are also optimized for handling summer rain and wet roads with excellent control. Wide grooves are able to push more water away from the surface to avoid aquaplaning, but other tread designs that tyre manufactures add to the tread will improve the ability to push away water even further. Some of these include hydro grooves, which are elliptical indentions that can store water when the tyre is pressed against the surface. Another one is providing polished grooves that enable the water to flow more rapidly allowing more water to move away from the surface to keep the contact between the tyres and the road surface, so that you don’t lose control over your vehicle and can remain safe.

Aquaplaning is the main reason for accidents during the summer, where a sudden thunderstorm can quickly jeopardize your safety and cause aquaplaning as the road surface starts amassing water. It should be recognized as a real danger when driving in wet conditions. The ability to avoid aquaplaning with good tyres improves your safety drastically. Good wet grip and ability to remain in control even in wet condition and good wet grip ensures that you have a short braking distance in order to avoid accidents. Older tyres are more susceptible to aquaplaning as the risk increases with decreasing tread depth. Once you go below 4 mm tread depth the risk is drastically increased and the tyres should be changed for a new set of tyres.

The good driving experience of when you have ultimate control with stable handling and logical steering with excellent grip in both wet and dry conditions means that you will have full control, while driving and taking curves and corners. You will be able to maneuver your vehicle even at high speeds without risking losing control; this does however require that you have high quality tyres. High quality tyres will have the best driving properties combined with low rolling resistance ensuring low fuel consumption and wear. This is a great addition to both save the environment with using less fuel, tyre waste and limit the emission of greenhouse gases.

For more information regarding good new summer tyres, visit: nokiantyres.com

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Tyre dimensions can be used when searching for new tyres

If you are in the market for a new set of tyres, you will need to make sure that you select tyres that fit to your vehicle. It is essential that you follow the size recommendations from the manufacturer and stated in the car's owner’s manual. If you fit the wrong dimensions your car, the car's behavior will not be as intended. You will not have the same balance and the car can easily over- or understeer.

When you know that you need 215/65R16 summer tyres, you have a good starting point in your tyre selection as you can search for all available tyres in that dimension. This will exclude at least some tyres. After that you can focus your tyre selection on the key requirements that you have in mind for your tyres. When it comes to summer tyres, most of us are looking for safe tyres with good performance and low fuel consumption. This tends to leave out some of the cheaper tyres, which will have worse performance and higher fuel consumption.

For summer tyres we tend to be helped by the EU tyre marking, which in my mind is not as effective for winter tyres, but for summer tyres it gives a good indication for certain factors. These include rolling resistance, which results in higher fuel consumption and tyre wear, wet grip, which shows their safety on wet surfaces. You also have tyre noise, as that can impact the driving comfort. This can be very important for electrical cars, which are inherently quiet and thus tyre noise can be disturbing. It can potentially also be dangerous if the noise level is too high, as it can potentially cause loss of hearing.

You might have other requirements for your tyres, like high speed ratings or heavy loads, or you might be in need for tyres that are recommended for use on electrical tyres, then this becomes more important than the factors listed on EU tyre marking. This is why you shouldn't always stare blindly at these and believe these are the most important ones for tyre selection, but more like a late stage selector once you have identified a few suitable candidates.

Purchasing tyres of high quality doesn't mean that they will last forever. They will outlast lower quality tyres if they are well maintained. You still need to ensure that you use them properly and that you use them for the season they are indicated for. You also need to ensure that the tyre pressure is correct and in accordance with the recommended pressure as stated in the owner's manual. Too low tyre pressure can reduce the tyre life drastically as well as add costs as you drive due to higher fuel consumption. Therefor cheap tyres can quickly turn into a costly ordeal and you will for sure not have saved any money and in addition you probably drive around with less safe tyres.

For more information regarding tyres selection based on dimensions, visit: nokiantyres.com

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Time to look for summer tyres

This time of the year most people are looking for new summer tyres, as they notice that their summer tyres that should be mounted are not in good enough condition. However, there are also some people that are looking to replace their winter tyres as they are coming to an end of the season. The reason for this is that there is no need to store a set of worn out tyres, which is often the case, as the rims will be kept for the winter season, thus it makes sense to already now purchase a new set of winter tyres.

If you purchase a new set of tyres from the service station that changes your tyres, they can fit them on your rims and then store them for you. They are also able to dispose of the used tyres and recycle also the balancing weights. They will also balance the new tyres, so that they can balance out any side forces. This will save you a lot of problems once winter comes around, as you already have new tyres for the season. You only have to worry about getting the timing correct, so that you have the winter tyres mounted before the snow arrives. 

You should also consider if you are better off and safer by changing the current summer tyres to a new set, as you will improve the safety performance. If the tread depth is below 4 mm, you should immediately change to a new set of tyres. Important safety performance like braking distance and prevention of aquaplaning will drastically start to diminish once you reach this threshold. This the main reason why it is important to measure and keep track of the tread depth over time. You also need to rotate the tyres so that the wear will even out between the rear and front tyres. It is also important to realize that the wear is higher with electrical cars, due to the higher weight and torque, so they will require a more frequent rotation. If you alternate between winter and summer tyres, this timing of rotating the tyres might not be sufficient. It is also important to choose tyres that are recommended for use with electrical vehicles, as you will need more wear resistant tyres.

When you purchase new summer tyres, you have some good sources of help. You have a lot of online resources, but you also have the EU tyre marking. The EU tyre marking was launched so that it would make the selection process easier, as you have 3 different characteristics to compare between. You have the rolling resistance which shows you the fuel efficiency but tends to also impact the wear rate. You have the wet grip, which shows braking distance on wet roads, which indicates the safety and finally the tyre noise, which is important for driving comfort. These should help and guide you to make a better informed tyre choice.

For more information regarding the task of purchasing new summer or winter tyres, visit: nokiantyres.com

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Soon time for summer tyres

The summer season is approaching and if you have been driving around with winter tyres you will soon need to change to summer tyres. There is a big difference between summer and winter tyres as they have a different rubber compound and completely different tread pattern. This is why they have different behavior and shouldn't be used outside their intended season for use. It is more dangerous to use summer tyres during winter conditions than it is using winter tyres during summer conditions, so make sure that you try to extend the use of your winter tyres to avoid driving with the summer tyres during the times that you have snow.

The rubber compound used in winter tyres is aimed for use at low temperature and thus has additives that will keep the rubber soft even at very low temperatures. The rubber compound used in summer tyres on the other hand doesn’t have the same additives and will therefore become hard at low temperatures. They will however not get too soft during very hot summer days. When you use winter tyres during summer conditions the tyres might get a bit too soft, which increases the grip and therefore the wear. However, you have sufficient grip, so you are not in danger from not having bad grip. While if you drive with summer tyres in winter conditions, you might end up with almost no grip with hard summer tyres on snow or ice.

You also have the tread pattern that is different, as the summer tyres mainly have to deal with dry tarmac or wet roads. The winter tyres on the other hand have to deal with snow, ice and slush. They will need to create grip on very slippery surfaces, while still being able to handle occasional rainy wet roads at temperatures close to zero. This puts a lot of more stress on the tread and you will need an excellent combination of the correct rubber compound and tread pattern to manage the winter conditions.

When you purchase new tyres you will need to make sure that you get premium tyres of high quality that can handle the changing temperatures and you will need to make sure that you change tyres on time to ensure that you can benefit of the features of each tyre to handle the challenges that you will face during the different season.

If you would opt for cheaper tyres you are already putting yourself at a disadvantage. They will not exhibit the same performance or properties as the better tyres. You will have a worse safety performance and with cheaper tyres the rolling resistance, which will cause them to wear out faster. It will also cause the vehicle to consume more fuel as you drive. So, you have both increased tyre wear and fuel consumption working against you with cheaper tyres and this also make them a worse environmental choice as you will dispose of the tyres sooner and have higher CO2 emissions. So quality tires really pay off!

For more information regarding summer tyres, visit: nokiantyres.com

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Check the conditions of your winter tyres before removing them

As you come to the end of the winter season, you should be looking at putting on summer tyres. As the winter season comes to an end you will need to check the condition of the winter tyres to see if they are still good. Once you go below 4 mm of tread depth you will need to change the tyres to new ones when it is time to change back to winter tyres. Since you are only changing the tyres and not the rims, if might be worth to already purchase new tyres and have them fitted on your rims, so that you are storing tyres that are good for use once they will need to be used.

If the winter tyres look worn out, have some damages or that the tread depth is below 4 mm it is time to change the tyres to new ones. You should either choose to have the same tyres brand and model that you currently use, or them go for an improved version. If you go for a better model, make sure that the dimensions will be correct so that you don't buy tyres that are too small. If you already have 195/65/15 winter tyres, then that is what you should be looking for regardless if they are studded or non-studded tyres. This will ensure that your driving properties are not impacted and that you will not have abnormal wear of the tyres.

The advantage of not having to store useless tyres make sense, so if you store your tyres at the tyre service stations storage, then it makes sense to invest in a new set once they are already changing the tyres to summer tyres. IN a similar way if you are planning to bring the tyres home to store them, you are better off is leaving the worn out tyres for them to recycle them. If you buy new tyres or not, you at least are not storing tyres that you will not use again and you can then just store the rims, or then you store brand new tyres that are ready to go once you need them and you don't need to start looking for tyres before the winter arrives when the focus should be on ensuring that you have the tyres on your vehicle before the snow arrives.

Also, your summer tyres that you will mount will need to be in good condition and they need to be balanced and have the correct tyre pressure. If you mount summer tyres that are not in good conditions, your safety will be impacted. The tread depth here should also be above 4 mm, so that you can drive safely and have sufficient braking distance, aquaplaning prevention and grip. Tyre pressure is important, but so is the condition and tread depth, they all work in harmony to create the optimal safety while you drive your car.

For more information regarding storing winter tyres that are in good condition, visit: nokiantyres.com