Do you remember when you bought car tyres what were the factors that were on your mind? Surely you must have thought about its size. You must have also taken into consideration the tyre type and even its tread depth. But did tyre tread pattern ever cross your mind? We know it didn’t because rarely would anyone believe that tyre pattern is not just a design but serves a specific purpose.
Believe it or not, tread pattern plays a critical role in a tyre’s performance and is directly related to your vehicle’s safety. Big words, we know, but true nonetheless. Every tyre has a unique tread design that is made for a specific purpose. These tread patterns provide much-needed traction to the tyres and affect the overall handling of the car.
Factors Affecting Tread Pattern
Unlike race car tyres that are devoid of any tread, regular cars are required to have tyres with a legally prescribed tread depth and pattern. Tread patterns influence a lot when it comes to your car. Be it driving comfort, traction, handling, fuel consumption, or even noise, a tyre’s tread pattern is directly related to it all.
Even tyre manufacturers develop tread patterns to address specific driving requirements. Thus, when you want to buy tyres in Newton Le Willows, it’s important that you also give the tread pattern enough thought.
Keeping that in mind, let us look at a few factors that tie directly to a tyre’s tread pattern:
Depth
We can never discount the importance of tread depth. The grooves in the tyre and how deep they affect a tyre’s ability to displace water, snow, mud, and pretty much anything that comes in between a tyre and the road. The part of a tyre that comes in direct contact with the road is called the contact patch. And it is the tread depth that decides how easy it will be for the contact patch to keep in touch with the road.
Groove Spacing
After depth, you can also notice that tyres have grooves running like a channel laterally and circumferentially around them. This creates space between two grooves, or rather, two channels. This space directly affects a tyre’s road grip. Meaning, a tyre with more spacing will have a better road grip, even on a surface that has gravel, sand or mud.
Block Shape
Then comes the shape of the tread blocks. It is basically the section of a tyre that is raised a bit higher (not flat) that makes contact with the road. Thus, these blocks are designed to improve car handling and stability. Some tyres have angled or even curved blocks that improve the cornering and braking of your car.
Rubber Compound
And finally, we have the actual rubber compound, the material a tyre is made of. Thus, you can imagine its significance. Soft rubber compound allows tyres to have a better grip, while hard rubber might be durable and last longer while sacrificing some handling.
Different Types Of Tread Patterns
Every major tyre manufacturer offers three different types of tread patterns. You can even look for Churchill tyres in Newton Le Willows and choose any of the following tread patterns according to your driving habits and terrain.
Symmetrical tread
This tread pattern is found almost everywhere, being one of the most used tread patterns. Choosing a tyre with a symmetrical tread will allow you to experience a smoother drive and low rolling resistance. These tyres are also known to be fuel-efficient and make less noise on the road. As such, they are mostly used in passenger vehicles as they are the most flexible when it comes to tyre rotation. Furthermore, the tyres will also last longer. However, they are only suitable for normal weather conditions and do not perform as well on wet roads.
Directional tread
Then we have tyres with directional tread patterns that offer extra traction, thus making them the correct choice for harsher roads such as mud or snow. However, these tyres are made to rotate only in a single direction. This makes them a costly choice, as you have to replace two sets of tyres to properly rotate them. Also, the grooves in these tyres are positioned at the same angle on either side of the tyre. It is also a hassle to mount these tyres as they have to roll in the same direction.
Asymmetric tread
Lastly, we have tyres with asymmetric tread patterns, which are basically a combination of two separate tread patterns. Such tyres have different patterns on the outer half and the inner side. The outer side helps with road grip, while the inner side is responsible for water displacement. But just like directional tread patterns, you have to pay extra for tyre rotation.
Importance Of Tyre Tread Pattern
We have already explained how tread patterns affect your driving and are responsible for your overall safety. Here are a few points that highlight their importance:
Traction and Handling
As we already know, tread pattern is directly responsible for traction. Different tread patterns perform differently according to the surface you’re driving on. This generates different degrees of traction that affect your car handling accordingly. When you drive on a wet or snow-covered road, different tread patterns will perform differently.
Noise and Comfort
Tyre tread pattern can also affect the noise made by your car, and is responsible for the overall comfort (or the lack of) you experience while driving. A tread pattern with a wide gap will generate more noise as it will displace more air, however, narrow tread, which is commonly seen in symmetrical tread design, will reduce noise and improve your comfort.
Wear and Tear
Lastly, tread pattern also impacts the longevity of your tyres. Some tyre tread patterns favor weight distribution and allow tyres to wear out evenly while others may deteriorate faster. True, proper maintenance does play a huge role when it comes to your tyre’s lifespan. But you can always pick a tyre with a tread pattern that will wear out slowly.
