Buying car tyres can be challenging. Once you understand the basic difference between different types of tyres and what their application is, you can make a better decision.
A simple way to categorize tyres is by understanding the two major types of vehicles:
- Passenger Touring Vehicle
- Trucks and SUVs
Tyres for passengers vehicles
Passenger vehicles are designed to be driven on well-paved surfaces such as roads and highways. The tyres designed for these vehicles focus on delivering a smooth ride experience, extensive tread life and ideal traction on dry and slippery roads.
Let’s discover different types of tyres for passenger vehicles:
All-season tyres
Whether it’s the scorching heat of the sun or freezing winds of winter, All-season tyres are made to perform in all weathers. These offer great ride comfort and handling on highways. Coming with an asymmetrical tread pattern, these tyres have long tread warranties which last for years.
Touring tyres
Touring Tyres, often called Grand Touring Tyres are quite similar to all-season tyres, however, these feature enhanced and responsive handling. Also, these tyres have a slightly higher speed rating than all-season tyres and come with an asymmetrical tread pattern.
Performance tyres
Feature bigger grooves, Performance tyres offer great traction in rainy weather. Another difference is the dense siping and silica tread compounds which enhance the gripping abilities of the rubber. Performance Tyres have higher speed ratings than both all-season tyres and grand touring tyres.
Summer tyres
Summer tyres, as the name indicates, are designed for hot weather. These also can resist hydroplaning. They are quite similar to performance tyres. However, they are created for places which experience extremely hot weather conditions.
For instance, in Dubai, the temperature even exceeded 43 C in July and August. Normal tyres can start to wear down when the temperature gets warm. However, summer tyres are specially crafted to withstand these hot weather conditions. Moreover, the can also maintain optimal levels of traction on slippery roads and highways.
Truck tyres
Larger vehicles like big SUVs and pick-up trucks require truck tyres. There are three most popular types of truck tyres including:
- Mud tyres
- Highway tyres
- All-terrain tyres
Mud Truck tyres
We like to call them maximum traction tyres. Some people call them off-road tyres. Mud tyres can maintain perfect traction on uneven surfaces like loose gravel, slippery ice or hard rocks.
While mud tyres also grip roads and highways, they are ideal for rugged terrains. If you take them to roads or highways, you might hear noises in the cabin or feel vibrations. If you usually drive on well-paved roads, then don’t buy mud tyres.
We recommend these to those who spend most of their time exploring rough terrains and hardly go on roads and highways.
Highway Truck tyres
Perfect for daily routine and office commutes, highway truck tyres provide the best ride comfort, handling and responsiveness. These also feature the longest tread life that you can get in any truck tyre type.
However, buying highway tyres means you cannot take your truck to any rugged surface. If you do so, there is a chance that the tread can get damaged. The sidewalls and tread of highway truck tyres are kept smooth to maintain the ride comfort.
If you mostly drive on roads and highways and want to enhance the on-road performance of your vehicle with great ride comfort, superior handling and no noise, then go for highway truck tyres.
All-terrain truck tyres
Jack of all trades, All-terrain truck tyres do it all, from taking on steep hills to driving on highways and roads. If you have a truck that you use for your daily commutes but you also depart for off-road adventures, then you need a set of rubber that is versatile enough to adapt to any condition.
All-terrain truck tyres are designed with a unique tread that can grip rough surfaces, while they also offer great levels of traction on roads and highways.
However, this does not mean that all-terrain truck tyres can provide better grip in off-road conditions better than mud tyres. Moreover, they make less noise than mud tyres when driven on roads and highways but that does not mean they will provide a better ride than highway truck tyres.
These tyres are made for pick-up trucks and larger SUVs. For commercial trucks, you can find other tyres. For instance, Falken RI151 Tyre is a commercial truck tyre that delivers a stable ride with a long tread life.