Tread is the most essential part of the tyre that comes in contact with the road surface. If you look at the various available car tyres Birmingham in the market, you will notice a different tread pattern and style for every tyre. Well, what is different about them? The tread pattern is known to have a unique design that improves the overall grip and handling specifications of the driving. It is the tread that saves the vehicle in specific road conditions and climates. To understand the tread type of the tyre, check the track impressions it leaves on the road surface.

Four basic components of a tyre tread

  • Ribs are the elevated areas of the pattern usually made of tread blocks.
  • Grooves are the channels that are aligned circumferentially around the tyre.
  • Blocks are the lifted rubber segments that contact the road surface.
  • Sipes are small and very thin slots shaped inside the tread blocks.

When all these above four components are configured in a unique pattern they affect the performance of the tyre in terms of noise, traction, handling and wear. The combination of ribs, grooves, blocks and sipes allows the manufacturer to develop tread patterns for various driving needs of the customer like dry handling, wet braking, ice traction etc. You can find the best tread deals at Car Tyres Birmingham.

Next, let’s discuss the different types of tread patterns which your car can have.

Symmetrical tyre tread

The symmetrical tread is the commonly used type of pattern among passenger car tyres. However, this type of tread is not suitable for high-performance applications. Tyres with this type of tread have unbroken ribs or separate tread blocks across the complete tread region. While, both the halves of the tyre constitute the same pattern. Swift driving, high stability, low rolling resistance are some of the key features of this tread. Symmetrical tyre tread offers great flexibility to the drivers in terms of tyre rotation without impacting the car’s performance. Moreover, these tread designs have a longer life and are highly fuel-saving. One thing that is not likeable is that they are unable to adapt to the variable road conditions, especially wet road conditions.

Directional tyre tread

Directional treads are designed to roll in one direction only. The lateral groove pattern joins the middle of the tread, depicting the shape of an arrowhead. Though these treads serve more than a sporty aesthetic they are capable to withstand aquaplaning via a V-shaped grooves pattern. Another benefit of using directional tread is high traction that offers excellent levels of drive handling on snow or muddy surface. That’s why all-season tyres usually have this directional tread pattern. Resistance against aquaplaning, better handling on snow, efficient road handling are some of the features of directional tyre tread. One point that you must always remember about directional tread is that the tyre rotation may turn complicated as they can be rotated vertically only.

Asymmetric tyre tread

Asymmetric tread usually consists of two separate tread designs, one at the inner half side and the other at the outer half of the tyre. Though that might look unusual, both halves serve a different application. For instance, the inner tyre tread works to displace water and protects against aquaplaning. While the outer tyre tread contains rigid blocks for high lateral stiffness. This is helpful at the time of cornering and driving over dry surfaces. Thus the combination of Asymmetric features makes it a popular choice for ultra-high-performance cars. Excellent handling, high stability, good wet gripping are some of the key features of asymmetric tyre tread.

Final Thoughts

When you are buying new tyres for your car, never mix the different types of treads, brands or sizes in a single-vehicle. To maintain optimum results, try to keep the same make and model as you had the last time on your wheels. This will help in bringing out the best performance for your car. Another important fact one must remember while replacing their tyres is that never change a single tyre. Always replace the pair of tyres, while keeping the new tyres at the rear axle and the old tyres to the front axle.

Additionally, drivers must ensure that the replacement tyre is having a similar tyre tread pattern to the other tyre on the same axle. Mixing the different treads will ultimately disturb the handling characteristics of the car and hence might lead to potential danger as well. Rikfit Autocentre is amongst the top choices in the UK for buying desired car Tyres Birmingham at affordable prices.