There will be no Game of Thrones jokes or smoothie stories in this text - we'll talk about history winter tires. Where did they come from and why, how this mysterious type of rubber products has evolved over the past 80 years and what awaits it in the future.
It is generally accepted that the first tire for use in low temperatures appeared in 1934 in Finland. In a country where the snow on the roads is longer than in Russia, the researchers came up with new type rubber compound, which retained elasticity in the cold and provided better grip on snow and ice. However, in the dusty archives, one can unearth patents that, in a sense, anticipated modern winter tires.
Back in 1896, Ernest Bruner patented bicycle tires for driving on ice. The innovation consisted in applying a primitive semblance of a tread to the surface of the wheel, and in those years even such a modest change could give a significant result.
A quarter of a century later, the Shannon brothers from the USA came up with a wheel for use in even more severe winter conditions. In order to improve grip with the coating, they introduced into the design ... spikes that protrude a few millimeters above the surface. But then, for the most part, wooden wheels were still in use, and metal “claws” were first screwed into a diagonal tire only 12 years later. The appearance of tires made close to modern options technology, had to wait even longer - until the 1960s.
How do engineers manage to keep tires flexible? Due to the special composition of the rubber compound. The rubber of winter tires contains more natural rubber, there are special natural oils with water-repellent properties, silicon oxide is often used. Therefore, the outer surface of the tire remains flexible, grips the surface better and stops the car more effectively. Already at a speed of 30 kilometers per hour, the difference in the length of the braking distance on cold asphalt between winter and summer tires is 8-10 meters - more than two car bodies! And if there is pure ice under the wheels, then the difference will increase exponentially.
Therefore, in fact, it is more correct to call winter tires low-temperature tires - because they will be useful even in those places where snow falls every few years
As soon as the average daily temperature drops below 7 degrees Celsius, we boldly uncover the second set of tires and go to a tire fitting. But you should not change your shoes ahead of time, because in warm conditions, a winter tire has a tendency to overheat, work incorrectly and wear out faster. As a result, handling suffers and braking distance increases.
That's why for a long time one of the main disadvantages of low-temperature (winter) tires was their high-speed qualities - more precisely, their absence. It is impossible to accelerate faster than 50 km / h on chains, and the first compositions of winter tires were prone to overheating already at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour. But today advanced winter tires practically caught up with their summer counterparts: several manufacturers have already certified models with a W speed index (up to 270 km / h).
Such a noticeable breakthrough in the pace of development of low-temperature tires was the result of the hard work of engineers involved in research and development of treads. The endless arms race between tire manufacturers has led, for example, to the appearance of microscopic air pockets, pulling water drops and ice particles out of the contact patch like a sponge.
Also, quartz is almost always included in the composition of winter tires, which helps the tread to better cling to snow and ice. And the behavior of "Velcro" latest generations on ice has been improved thanks to the introduction of microparticles in the form of crystals - they work like small spikes.
After all, unlike summer tires, which only sometimes need to deal with water, winter tires are designed with the expectation that during their operation already dry asphalt will be an exception. Therefore, on the surface of a winter tire there are several blocks of different shapes and structures, each of which plays its own role in the overall struggle for the “flu”. Part of the longitudinal and transverse grooves are engaged in the removal of water and snow porridge from the contact patch - depending on the degree of snow moisture, the tread either throws it back or keeps it inside - because snow itself clings best to snow.
Some edges, especially those located closer to the tread boundaries, look deliberately sharp, but they are needed in order for the tire to bite into the snow better. And thousands of cuts as thick as a hair, with which the surface of the tire is dotted - the very lamellas - cling even to microscopic cracks and irregularities in ice or rolled snow, like small claws.
If under the wheels of a car, out of all the variety of winter coatings, ice is most often found, then there is only one choice - spikes. Engineers at major tire companies have been trying to come up with the perfect studded tires for decades. What is the problem? First of all, due to the need to install metal elements, developers are forced to use a harder rubber compound for the tread, which worsens the grip of the tire on the road. The second problem is the need to maintain a sufficient area of the contact patch. On studded tires, this is usually achieved by increasing the number of sipes, which leads to excessive tread mobility and poor handling.
In addition, studded tires, as a rule, have a more massive tread design than friction tires, thus compensating for increased wear rubber. Therefore, studded wheels are heavier, and this increases unsprung mass, reduces comfort and impairs handling.
But the spike itself over the past decades has come a long way from a simple needle to composite structure using several types of metal and tips of the most complex shapes. For example, Pirelli company recently developed a "double claw" spike - it has a complex shape in the form of a hollow trapezoid, one side of which works better during acceleration, and the other - wider - when braking.
The most extreme versions of studded tires are found in motorcycle speedway ice racing, where needles three centimeters long are screwed into the tires. IN front wheel they fit 90 pieces, and on the back - up to 500! And in car racing, the most complex winter tires are used at the WRC stage in Monte Carlo, where pilots have to move between asphalt and snow sections within the same special stage. Therefore, special summer tires with manually screwed spikes, and between the special stages, mechanics can manually cut additional grooves in the tread - in the event of a sharp cold snap or snowfall.
For road bikes and sportbikes, there is not yet a single serial winter tire with spikes, but this does not stop the most frostbitten, in every sense, riders. They manually install spikes in the likeness of "Monte Carlo" tires and go out onto the ice to drive at speeds of over 250 kilometers per hour.
So which is better, velcro or thorns? There does not seem to be a clear answer to this question yet. As there is no answer to the question of which is better - BMW or Mercedes, and which is more reliable - Toyota or Lexus.
But soon these disputes may be meaningless. In 2015, a prototype tire with retractable studs was shown. And they do not sink under the force of pressure, as on many modern tires, - they are controlled by electronics. Depending on the condition of the road, the computer or the driver independently decide whether to release the claws or not. Another advantage of this development is that it is possible to increase the number of studs per wheel, as well as their size, without violating the existing in many European countries restrictions on the use of studded tires.
So the winter period has come in most of the territory of Russia, which, as always, brings an increase in the roads of our country emergencies, and with them changes average speed vehicle traffic. Unfortunately, not all motorists change on time summer tires for the winter. Moreover, many of the drivers are well aware that in this way and inaction on their part, they deliberately ignore and violate the law, endangering not only their own safety, but also the safety of other participants. traffic. Such unfortunate motorists are in no hurry to change their cars, they believe that summer tires can also be safely used in winter.
In our today's material, we will not once again scare those drivers who have not yet changed summer tires to winter ones. There are many other materials for this on our resource. Also a lot of information about the replacement seasonal tires contained in the Internet itself.
Today we will briefly try to tell our readers how summer tires differ from winter tires, naturally from a scientific point of view, that is, to tell our readers about the main aspect of this problem, namely about what happens at the molecular level with summer tires in cold weather and vice versa, what can occur with winter tires at high positive positive temperatures.
We hope that our story will not seem too boring and complicated to you. We also think that this editorial will still convince many car enthusiasts and eventually make them stop using summer tires in winter period time.
Many car enthusiasts assume that summer tires differ mainly from winter tires only in the tread, which is designed for tire use at certain times of the year. This is partly true, but not entirely. After all, tire tread plays an important role in traction at different times of the year.
But you need to know that the tread itself is not the main difference in summer and winter tires. What is most important for tires here is in what temperature range they retain their efficiency and their specifications. After all, probably many people know that summer tires become very stiff at low temperatures. Do you know why this happens?
Yes, many motorists know that this is due to different composition rubber used in summer and winter tires. But few people know what process occurs in summer tires in the cold, and even more so, few people understand what chemical process occurs in winter tires with an increase in positive temperature.
Let's try to explain.
Turn on subtitles and their translation if you don't know English language
Differences between summer and winter tires
Winter tires, unlike summer tires, do not lose their flexibility in the cold and, due to the special chemical composition of the rubber, allow you to maintain high grip. Summer tires act differently, they provide optimal grip only at high temperatures. The point is the following. At high temperatures, the rubber compound of summer tires becomes more sticky and viscous.
There are also all-season tires. This is something between summer and winter tires, which provide optimal grip on the road surface in a certain range of plus and minus temperatures. Unfortunately, there is nothing perfect in the world today. Therefore, the so-called all-season tires cannot provide the car with maximum grip on the road at high positive plus and too low minus temperatures.
We all probably know that car tires made from rubber. Rubber is an amphora polymer, which, depending on temperature, can be in three states:
- - glassy
- - highly elastic
- - viscous
For example, at a temperature of -70 -72 degrees rubber changes from an amorphous to a crystalline state (crystallization). True, this process does not occur instantly but gradually. At such a low temperature, the rubber completely loses its plasticity and passes (phase transition) into a glassy mass.
The fluidity of natural rubber begins to occur at a temperature of plus 180- 200 degrees. Thus, the higher the temperature environment, the softer and more ductile the rubber becomes.
If you heat the rubber up to plus 250 degrees, then it breaks up into gaseous substances and liquid products.
Like other polymers, rubber begins to change its Chemical properties due to a phase transition to a certain temperature. True, changes occur gradually, as the temperature decreases or increases.
What is the phase transition temperature of rubber, is the temperature at which rubber molecules stop moving freely, which leads to a decrease in the energy properties of the molecules themselves. The less rubber molecules move, the less heat they radiate.
Due to the low energy properties of the molecules, the rubber composition becomes less plastic.
That is, hardening or vitrification of the rubber begins to occur, the friction between the rubber and the road surface decreases, and this leads to a decrease in the grip of the car with the road.
Here's what can happen to summer tires in the cold
As you already know, between summer and winter tires there is a big difference in the chemical composition of tires. This is done on purpose so that each rubber has its own phase temperature transition.
Summer tires have a not very low temperature threshold at which rubber molecules begin to affect its plasticity.
For example, rubber molecules in summer tires change their properties, which affect the plasticity of tires, already at positive positive temperatures, approximately in the range from 4 to 7 degrees.
Accordingly, the higher the temperature, the better the adhesion with pavement. As you already understood, at negative temperatures, the efficiency of summer tires will drop significantly, primarily due to a decrease in the plasticity of rubber (the glass transition process begins in rubber), and secondly due to a decrease in its adhesion to the road.
Winter tires have a low phase transition threshold. This allows it to maintain maximum traction (due to more friction with the road) even at very low freezing temperatures.
Did you know that positive temperatures can also have a negative effect on rubber. The fact is that as the positive temperature increases, rubber, becoming more ductile, begins to wear out faster. This is due to the increased grip on the road. That is, at high positive temperatures, the rubber itself simply becomes sticky.
As you have already understood from the above, winter and summer tires have different points of temperature phase transition with an increase in positive plus temperature. For example, in winter tires, the phase temperature point at which rubber molecules begin to move freely is in a positive value not far from 0 degrees.
Accordingly, at a positive positive temperature outside winter tires becomes too sticky much sooner than summer tires that have a completely different polymer composition.
As a result, it turns out that at high positive temperatures, winter tires will wear out faster than summer tires.
That's why it's impossible to do universal tires, which would be suitable for their use in a wide range of action, both at negative and at positive temperatures. Therefore, tire manufacturers for each season use their own chemical composition rubber, which provides tires with optimal performance in a certain temperature range.
By the way, this temperature range is not affected even external factors. For example, when driving in the rain on summer tires, the temperature range for optimal performance Tires are usually not changed.
We also all know that summer tires provide better grip when driving in the rain, thanks to their special tread, which allows excess water to be removed from under the wheels, which protects the car from aquaplaning in such a situation.
In addition to all this, the tread of summer tires has a special configuration that provides the car with a certain grip at speed when cornering.
In general, the task of summer tires is to provide the car with maximum grip on the road, both on dry pavement and on wet pavement.
Unfortunately, winter tires already have a different tread, which is designed for driving on slippery road surfaces, on ice or on snow.
By the way, new winter tires have a deeper tread than the same new summer tires. It is necessary for more efficient movement over the snow.
Due to the depth of the tread, winter tires provide better grip on snow covered surface when compared with summer tires, which, unlike summer tires, have a shallow tread.
And the last. Winter tires are additionally equipped with spikes or zigzag grooves on top of the tread for better grip on ice. For example, the special tread surface of winter tires provides better grip on snow or ice.
To ensure road safety, every driver should use car tires depending on the season. There are two types of tires - summer and winter, which in turn are classified, design, rubber composition, operating conditions, etc. The right choice of tires will ensure your safety and ensure a comfortable ride.
To understand how winter tires differ from summer tires, let's look at the main characteristics of each of them.
Chemical and physical properties
You can understand how to distinguish winter tires from summer tires by connecting tactile sensations. A winter tire feels much softer than a summer tire because it contains more rubber. When used in winter conditions, the rubber becomes even softer and more elastic, thereby enhances traction.
If you ride winter tires in the summer, you notice how they melt and wear out more.
Summer tires do not heat up when driving, even though high temperature air in summer, they retain high rigidity. In winter, summer tires become even stiffer, which leads to a decrease in the contact patch with the track surface, handling and control over the car drops.
Tread pattern
The obvious difference between winter and summer tires is the pattern and direction of the tread. IN winter version it catches the eye and attracts attention with its depth of location and complex shape, and in summer it has a large area, there are no lamellae. When choosing the right shoes for your car, you need to pay attention on that important factor, because it depends on it whether the rubber is suitable for the region of operation. Perfect tires not yet invented, but you can choose the most suitable for you.
On each of the road surfaces, a certain tread will be effective. If you often move on a well-packed and not very snowy road, then in this case, choose tires that do not allow slippage and respond quickly to the brake pedal.
If there is sludge on the road, then tires with a high degree hydroplaning, timely removal of water and melted snow from the contact patch with the road surface.
When driving on a dry track, maximum grip is required.
It is impossible to achieve all of the above characteristics in one tread pattern, so the manufacturer, when releasing each of its models, focuses on its strongest points.
Marking and symbols
If it remains unclear to you how winter tires differ from summer tires, pay attention to the marking. Conventions, which will tell about the characteristics of the product, is applied to the side of the tire.
- XL means that the tire is reinforced;
- M+S - all-season or winter tires;
- All Season - all season;
- Snowflake sign - for operation at low temperatures;
- Rain or umbrella - for use in rainy weather;
- Drawing sun - summer tires.
In addition, the manufacturer indicates the information:
- load and speed index;
- brand;
- manufacturer;
- date of manufacture;
- camera type;
- construction details, etc.
conclusions
In this article, we looked at summer and winter tires, what is the difference between them and how to make right choice without relying only on the advice of the seller. Do not forget to use tires according to the season, because your safety directly depends on this.
Because of this, the driver may have difficulty making a choice. This article discusses in detail decoding tire markings for cars . The reader will learn how winter, summer and tubeless tires are designated, as well as receive answers to other questions related to marking. At the end of the article, you can watch a video about decoding the symbols on the tires.
General concepts
So, we open the owner's manual to find out what kind of rubber we need to buy. Here we find tire options for different conditions. They depend on the following indicators:
- Season - tires are summer, winter and all-weather;
- Engine - type power plant and its power;
- Disks - rubber is selected depending on the material from which the disks are made.
Tire markings are applied to all tires. From it you can find out the size, speed and load index, as well as the manufacturer. The tire consists of a bead, carcass, side part, tread and breaker layers. If you turn the side of the tire towards you, you will see the designations on the tires in the following sequence: width, profile and diameter. The example below shows a tire with a width of 225, a 45Z profile and a diameter of R17:
Differences in tire markings depending on the season
We will immediately point out the differences in the marking of winter, summer and all season tires. You can determine belonging to the season by the following signs:
- Summer tires - there are no special markings on summer tires indicating that they belong to the warm season;
- Winter tires - the index “M + S” is applied to it, and the tire may also have an image of a snowflake or the word “Winter”;
- All-season tires - they can also be marked with winter tires, but there are also distinctive abbreviations "AS" (all seasons, All Seasons), "R + W" (all-weather for cold regions, Road + Winter), "AW" ( all-weather for any conditions, Any Weather).
Marking tires and deciphering their designations is important, but for starters, it’s worth giving a few words to the types of tires. Tires can be winter, summer and all-weather. The main difference between them is the tread pattern. Picking up summer tires, you will see well-defined grooves for water flow, also on summer tire missing micro-drawing. Such design features provide reliable grip on wet or dry road surfaces. Velcro marking of winter tires does not differ from ordinary winter tires, you can notice the spikes themselves visually.
Distinguishing winter tires from summer tires is quite simple, you don’t even need to decipher the markings of winter tires. Winter tires have a pronounced tread pattern. Tires of this type provide safe movement on icy and snowy roads. Using the summer version can cause a serious accident. Concerning all season tires, then it demonstrates quality grip on dry, wet, icy and snowy asphalt.
Parsing marking
Now we know what the marking of all-season tires looks like, deciphering the rest of the abbreviations is no less important for the motorist. The image below details each index and designation:
Let's analyze the marking using the example of a 175/70 R13 91T tire:
- "175" indicates the width of the profile, the size can be specified in millimeters or inches;
- "70" reports the percentage of the height of the tire profile to its width;
- "R" stands for frame type, in this case it is radial;
- "13" refers to the fit diameter, measured in inches;
- "91" indicates the degree of load on the tire, expressed in digital designation;
- "T" indicates the maximum speed mode for this tire.
We have analyzed the main markings, but there are also additional designations which you also need to know. The inscriptions "Left" and "Right" indicate belonging to the side, left tire can only be placed on left wheel, A right tire, respectively, to the right. There is a rubber that must be installed strictly asymmetrically, on such tires there will be inscriptions "Outside" and "Inside". The sidewall with the inscription "Inside" should be placed inside, and the sidewall "Outside" - outside.
IMPORTANT! If you need to put tubeless tire, then you should look for tires with the "TL" index. What marking tubeless tires we have already figured out that for models that are used exclusively with a camera, they will have the letters “TT” on them.
Conclusion
As you can see, deciphering tire parameters is quite simple. It is important for a novice driver to remember the basic parameters for his car, depending on the season. You can always come back to this article and refresh your memory.
The cold is approaching, which means it's time to think about winter tires. Why do you need to change tires and what is its difference from summer tires, and which tires are better - studded or not? These are the questions we will answer in this article.
Why do you need to change tires and what is the difference between winter and summer?
The difference between summer and winter tires is very large, and the most important distinguishing feature is the composition of the material from which they are made. If summer tires start to “tan” already at +7 degrees, then winter tires remain soft at low temperatures, which provides better grip. Therefore, the car must be "changed shoes". And you have to do it twice a year. If winter tires remain on the car in the summer, then most likely they will not reach next winter, without that soft rubber Under the action of heat, it softens even more and wears out faster. Tires also differ in tread. Winter car tires It has a deeper tread and sipes that bend when braking, exposing the edges, resulting in more efficient braking.
Studded tires, in contrast to non-studded ones, have less such a transverse pattern (lamellae), and braking occurs, among other things, due to various types spikes. In modern tires, studs are mounted on different levels, asymmetrically to provide better grip.
Thus, we smoothly moved on to the question:
Which tires are better studded or not?
Before choosing one or another rubber, you must clearly understand in what environment and place you are going to use it. Tests have shown that, in general, the braking efficiency of both types is the same, but there are situations when one or another tire behaves worse or vice versa better.
So, here's what the tests showed:
Studded tires
It behaves well on the road with ice and with snow porridge under which there is a crust of ice. In this case, the air temperature should not be lower than -15 °C. If you get on the ice at lower temperatures, then on such rubber you will be like on skates, the spikes will not cling to a hard surface.
Velcro
Accordingly, on an icy road up to -15, covered loose snow, this rubber is inferior to studded, but on a cleaned road at lower temperatures it wins. Braking distances will be less.
Conclusion: if you live in a city where roads are cleaned, then it is better to choose Velcro, if you often have to go outside the city, where roads are covered with snow in winter, your choice is studded tires.
On snow, both tires behave the same, but studded tires are much noisier!
And also in some countries studded tires are completely prohibited for use.
And most importantly, do not save money, and when worn out, it is better to buy a new one from well-known manufacturer After all, your and someone else's life depends on it!
