It is easy to forget that your SUV will need proper SUV winter tyres. It is just as important to change to winter tyres on your SUV before the temperature drops and reaches winter temperatures. People seem blinded by the fact that the SUVs are big and powerful and they have big rugged tyres. This makes people think that they can manage even during winter conditions without having proper winter tyres mounted. This is by all means incorrect. There are big differences between summer and winter tyres, as they are optimized for totally different conditions.
The rubber compound in a winter tyre will not get hard and lose its agility. This is a very important property of the tyre, that it is able to follow the surface pattern and allow for the rubber to be pushed into its microcavities. This phenomenon increases the friction and thus the traction of the tyre. When the tyres are hard, the friction between the tyre and the surface is reduced and you will not have the grip you need to be able to drive safely. They also have a different tread design, which are not adapted for snow, ice and slush but instead for dry summer roads. A winter tyre is has to be able to manage snow, slush and ice, so they require a tread that can create grip on these surfaces as well as be able to channel slush away from the road surface. You will not get far if you try to drive in these conditions with summer tyres.
The better tyres you purchase the better their ability will be to handle winter conditions. Having tyres that can handle well on snow, ice and slush will be essential for your safety. The driving performance will also be better, so that you can drive with better control and stability even in bad weather.
SUVs are heavier and bigger vehicles that really require as good grip as possible to get these heavier vehicles to stop in short distance and have good traction for accelerations and taking corners. The decision between SUV studded or SUV non-studded tyres will depend on where you live. Since the studded SUV tyres will have better grip on ice, they will fare better in areas that are close to the coast or tend to have a lot of icy roads. Since SUV studded tyres aren’t allowed everywhere in Europe as they are banned in Germany and Poland, if you live in one of these two countries the option isn’t there for you. In addition, it is not a good choice if you tend to, or plan to, visit or drive through either of them.
The most flexible options are SUV non-studded tyres for the areas that have long harsh winters, but it isn’t dominated by ice. If you have less of a winter on a yearly basis you might even be able to cope with SUV all-season tyres that are winter approved, as these can be used all-year round and have excellent performance and safety both during the summer and winter.
For more information regarding winter tyres, visit: https://www.nokiantyres.com/
