Understanding Tires

Tires, those big round rubber things around your rims, play key roles in the way your vehicle operates. Making sure to keep your tires properly inflated, replacing them when they’re too worn, and getting them patched properly if there is a puncture, are just a few helpful tips to keep your car in good working order. 

All of that is pretty widely known. Some things that aren’t as well understood are the types of tires and why they can be so different. 

What Types of Tires Are There?

Seasonal tires are just what they sound like, and the types of seasonal tires include: 

• Summer Tires are usually meant to be on a car during temperatures that reach no lower than about 40-45 degrees Fahrenheit, and can work normally in both dry and wet weather conditions. Depending on the specific summer tire you get, you can have even more traction in dry and wet conditions. A lot of drivers will prefer these tires for daily driven sports cars because they will increase the level of grip and overall performance of the car when driving enthusiastically. This can also help to keep a car more stable, making it safer to drive. Types of summer tires in ascending order of lower to higher performance include: 
  • Grand Touring Summer
  • High Performance
  • Ultra High Performance
  • Max Performance 
  • Extreme Performance
  • Track Tires for road use
  • Track-Only

• Winter Tires are obviously meant for when the temperatures get colder, especially when the daily high temperature is regularly below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. They will keep better traction on cold road conditions, especially when it gets to 0 or below, as well as work well in the snow, on ice and slush, and freezing rain. You should still stay cautious when driving in these dangerous conditions, though. If you have a performance car such as the Golf GTI or Golf R, you can also get High-Performance winter tires. These are meant for sports and performance cars that use specific sizes of tires, allowing your car to be safely driven when the weather turns ugly. Types of winter tires can include:

• • • Studless Ice & Snow
    • Studded Winter – Meant for truly heavy snow and ice driving conditions. 
    • Performance Winter 

• All-Season Tires are getting better and better. For many years carmakers put them as stock equipment on various types of vehicles. They were okay in the summer and okay in cold weather. They never did anything great. However, these days most brands are making their all-season tires to be able to withstand temperatures in the 20s and 30s and handle some light snow driving, such as in areas of the Southeast part of the U.S. that don’t see a lot of snow except for a few times a year. And even their summer performance is becoming higher quality for spirited driving. Similar to Summer and Winter tires, you can choose from different levels of performance for both warm and cold weather conditions.

• All-Terrain Tires are reserved mainly for trucks and SUVs that allow you to use the vehicle on the road and light off-road duties. These include if a road becomes flooded with mud or dirt, or even if you have to drive on grass or certain types of mud. Basically, if you like to go camping or are into Overlanding, then all-terrain tires are right for those jobs. 

• Low Rolling Resistance Tires are a type of tire that is primarily used on Hybrid and Electric vehicles such as the I.D.4, they are sometimes used on other vehicles to help increase fuel mileage. They are made with shallower tread depth and thinner sidewalls, each manufacturer may have their own way of engineering their tire compound specifically. All of this is done to decrease the amount of energy needed for the tires to rotate when being driven. All of these features will help a vehicle achieve reasonably better fuel economy. 

At Volkswagen of Duluth, we are offering a $100 discount when you purchase a new set of 4 Bridgestone tires for your car. If you do have questions about what types of tires you are interested in for your Volkswagen, feel free to ask your service advisor, and they will be happy to give you every piece of information about the best tires for your specific vehicle. We look forward to helping you.