Tire Buying Tips

Tire Buying Guide and Buying Tips

The first thing most new car, truck and SUV owners do is usually buy new custom rims and Tires. It's an urge that is just too powerful to ignore. Why? Because there is nothing in the automotive world that can personalize a car faster than a new set of larger custom wheels and tires. However, the beauty of new rims and tires will also give hugh gains in your car's performance with out making any other changes. With the right choice you can corner like your on rails and launch from stop lights. improved safety is also a bonus.

Tire Tip No.1: The Tires that are used on our cars, trucks and SUVs fall into three broad categories. Mass market, high performance and ultra high performance. How a tire is classified depends on it's design parameters. Tires that are designed to grab are going to wear out quicker. While, tires designed for corning will give your car a stiff ride.

Tire Tip No.2: Mass market tires are the kind of tires that automobiles manufacturers put on low end cars and trucks. Example are the so called all season tires. These tires are designed for ride comfort and long tread wear. So these tires are not going to stick in a corner very well.

Tire Tip No.3: Ultra high performance tires are built to withstand extreeme top speeds of 149 MPH or more. They provide quick responsive handing usually at the expense of tread life and ride comfort. Ultra high performance tires will cost more but buyers want a tire that will stick when driving a twisting mountain road.

Tire Tip No.4: High performance tires fill the gap between ultra high performance tires and mass market tires. High performance tires are rated at 125 to 130 MPH. Their construction gives them quicker handling response and better traction than mass market tires. These high performance tires ride a little softer and wont be as hash over pot holes. Expect to pay more for these tires.

Tire Tip No.5: To avoid as many fitment hassles keep the over all outside diameter of your tire the same as the wheel grows inside it. This is called "Plus Sizing". For each inch in diameter the wheel grows, the sidewall height has to shrink a corresponding inch to keep the over all diameter the same. Not following "Plus Sizing" effects your speedometer, anti-lock brakes and acceleration.

Tire Tip No.6: Going from a 15 to 16 inch rim is considered plus-1. When "Plus Sizing" as the side wall height gets shorter, the tire needs to get wider in order for it to maintain the same air volume, and therefore maintain its load carrying capacity. Decreasing tire air volume will cause excess heat build up, the leading cause of tire failure.

Tire Tip No.7: A tire earns it speed rating based on lab testing and is express as a letter. Q=99 mph, R=106 mph, S=112 mph, T=118 mph, U=124 mph, H=130 mph, V=149 mph and Z=149 mph plus. For tires rated at 168 mph look for the letter W and a Y for tires rated at 168 mph plus.