Tires more than rubber on the road

By Barry Lake

YOU'RE driving home late at night on the toll road and it's raining steadily.

Suddenly, a driver a few cars ahead brakes -- hard. The first couple of cars pull up safely, but the rest are too close and start to pile into one another.

You're already hard on the brakes and now your only escape route is to swerve into the next lane, then straighten the car again and stop in a short distance.

"Thank heavens I ordered my new car with ABS brakes," you think to yourself.

Yes, the antilock braking system (ABS) will allow you to brake and steer at the same time, no matter how hard you've stood on the pedal.

But there is one more important ingredient: How well the car brakes and still steers, ultimately, depends on the grip between your tires and the road.

If the road's wet and your tires are smooth, even ABS can't cope. Chances are, you'll slide helplessly into the wreckage ahead of you.

As with most things, with tires, you get what you pay for. Cheap tires are rarely good tires.

If the tires you've bought were aimed at those who want a bargain price and rubber that will wear "forever", you can bet they will have a hard rubber compound as well as unsophisticated carcass and tread designs.

Hard rubber wears longer but it lacks grip compared to softer compounds -- especially in the wet.

Studying the tread patterns doesn't tell you everything.

But it does provide some good clues.

Wide, deep channels running around the circumference of the tire aid in clearing water from between the tire and the road, as does a pattern that guides water from the center out to the edges of the tire.

But some tires are merely "styled" to look the part, in the same way that a sporty coupe might look a million dollars but might have very little power and handling that is no better than the average Kijang.

It isn't possible to build one tire that does everything superbly.

There's usually a trade-off of some kind.

Tires that are very good in the wet can sometimes generate more road noise on a dry surface, and they usually wear at a faster rate.

Similarly, low-profile tires generally will provide better handling, steering and braking, but usually sacrifice some ride comfort in the process.

Wider tires tend to provide more stability and greater grip, but widening by more than one small step will require the purchase of wider wheels -- and there are many traps in buying wide wheels.

They have to be designed specifically for your car, with the correct hub fittings, wheel-stud pattern and "offsets". Shop carefully and only listen to expert advice.

Tires can be too wide as well as too narrow. Don't go for the overkill just to have the fattest tires in the street.

The wider the tire, the harder it is to channel water out from under it when it's raining.

And wet conditions are when you most need your tires to be working for you.

Even the best tires won't work well if they're not inflated correctly.

It is important to check your tire pressures regularly, using your own, good quality, tire gauge.

Service station gauges are often damaged and give incorrect readings.

It is preferable to err a little on the high side with tire pressures rather than to be too low.

Overheating, rapid and uneven wear, and a lack of stability are the consequences of low tire pressures.

Retreaded tires are not really recommended. Sure, they can save you money, but they will never be as good as a new set of good-quality tires.

If you absolutely have no option but to buy retreads, remember that they won't be as good as the tires on most of the cars around you and drive accordingly.

Keep your speed down and your safety margins up.

But isn't that the way you always drive?