Tag: Summer Tyres

Winter tyres in France, as the winter is approaching

France is a big country and it has parts of the Alps within its territory, so you have quite different winter conditions based on where you live, work or drive normally. If you live in the northern part, the Alps or other wintery areas or the south the tyre options can be very different. It can be from having dedicated winter tyres or then the option of all-weather tyres or then managing with summer tyres all year round.

The tyre option is important to make sure that you an enjoy problem free and safe driving. If you live in an area with proper winter, then you will be best off with a dedicated winter tyre, where you mount them before the winter weather arrives and then change to summer tyres as soon as the winter weather ends. This will give you the best performance and safety when it comes to grip and winter driving properties. You can choose between studded or non-studded tyres, where the studded will have better grip on icy surfaces. It can be the difference of getting up a steep icy hill versus not.

If you live in an area where you only have occasional winter weather but you want to make sure that you are safe when driving in winter conditions, a winter approved all-weather tyre is probably the best option for you. These can be used for all year round driving or then just as winter tyres and then you can change to summer tyres when the summer arrives. This will give you optimal performance during the summer and still provide you with sufficient protection during the winter if the snow would show up. This might be an option if you have a high performance car, where you don’t want to limit any performance during the summer, while you still want to be able to drive it all year round and you can accept not the optimal performance during the winter.

In Provence and other similar areas where it rarely snows, you are probably better off with just keeping the summer tyres on your car and if it does snow, then just refrain from using the car. If you absolutely need the car, then use all-weather tyres all year round.

For more information regarding the best winter tyres for driving in France, visit: www.nokiantyres.com

Winters around Europe are different

As Europe is a big continent the weather varies a lot. The northern parts have 4 clear seasons and some of the southern parts have basically no winters. Therefore there are no European tyre regulations covering the whole continent. There are even different tyre options available, where the Nordics don’t have all-weather tyres, as there is a real long winter present, so the dedicated winter tyres are a better and safer option. While in the central parts of Europe an all-weather tyre is a perfect option for areas that have sporadic winter weather, so a tyre change might not make sense. Here you can have all year round safety within one tyre. If you don’t have any winter weather presence, you can use the summer tyres all year round.

The Nordic has laws stating that you have to have winter tyres mounted during winter. For studded tyres there is an earliest date when you can have them on your car and there is a last date you can have them on in spring. Both these dates only apply if there are no winter conditions, if you still have winter weather common sense applies and you will not get fined. In central and southern Europe some countries have limitation on the use of and some have made it mandatory. In addition to the Nordics, it is mandatory to have winter tyres during the winter months in Estonia, Latvia Lithuania, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Croatia. Then you have a few countries where it is mandatory if the weather demands it, these are Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia. Where Italy, Spain and France have certain roads demands it. Then you have the countries where they studded tyres are prohibited. These include Germany, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary, Great Britain, Czech Republic and Poland. In addition they are not allowed in Switzerland on the highways.

These restrictions can of course cause some problems if you plan to drive through Europe with studded tyres. In Germany you will get fined and prohibited to continue before you can change to non-studded tyres. So this can be quite costly. So it is important to plan your trips and also take it into consideration when you make your tyre choice. When countries require winter tyres, you will need to have tyres that have been approved for winter conditions and have the 3PMSF-symbol on the sidewall.

For more information regarding winter tyres, visit: www.nokiantyres.com

Winter is approaching, so change your tyres

There are numerous articles written on this subject and most people are aware of it, but still every year people are caught badly prepared for the winter when it arrives. People are very reluctant to change to winter tyres too early, so they wait it out and then end up caught by surprise. It is true that winter tyres are to be used only during the winter season, the main reasons is because they have been optimized for cold temperatures and winter surfaces. There might be regulations, which make the studded tyres should not be mounted on your car outside certain dates.

Since winter tyres have been optimized for the cold temperatures, it means that it is enough that the temperatures drops before you should change. When you have temperatures below zero degrees Celsius, the winter tyres perform better than summer tyres. So you should just wait for the snow to arrive, as soon as you see that the night temperatures go below zero you can change your tyres. Having summer tyres and trying to drive in winter conditions is associated with danger, while having winter tyres and you have some warmer weather, the main drawback is slightly higher wear, but it is not associated with danger. So from a safety perspective it is important to do the change early.

Higher wear is often also associated with low tyre pressure or low quality tyres, so change tyres early, but make sure that you have high quality winter tyres to reduce wear during the times when you drive before the winter arrives. Make also sure to check your tyre pressure so that you have the right pressure in the tyres to ensure that you have low rolling resistance and thus low wear. High rolling resistance also negatively impacts your fuel consumption so it is important to check it. The pressure is correlated with temperature, so that when the temperature drops, so does the tyre pressure. So the pressure will not be constant, which warrants a regular tyre pressure check when you visit the petrol station.

Changing tyres to winter tyres is all about safety and performance. You want to make sure that you can drive safely and stay on the road during the winter. So make sure to change early enough before the winter starts for the best results.For more info regarding changing to winter tyres, visit: www.nokiantyres.com

Winter tires improves the safety for you and your passengers

Proper tyres improve the safety for everyone in your car, but also for the other cars that are around you. Proper winter tyres are very important for your driving safety as they dictate how well you will be able to stay on the road, how short your braking distance will be and what grip and control you will have. This is why it is so important that you select tyres that are matching the environment where you will drive. If you live in an area that have a few months of proper winter, you should get proper winter tyres that are optimized for these conditions.  They will need to be mounted before the winter weather arrives and will be changed to summer tyres when the winter has passed.

This will give you the best possible grip on all winter surfaces and will work better than summer tyres when the temperature drops below zero degrees, where the summer tyres start becoming too hard to provide you with the sufficient grip that you will need for safe driving. This is why you will need to make sure that you have winter tyres mounted well before the winter starts. You don’t have to wait for the snow to arrive, it is enough that the night temperatures go below zero degrees. The longer you wait with changing the higher the risk is that you might have some unexpected snow arriving. If this happens you should avoid driving and find alternative transportation to get to your destination. So if you are really dependent on your vehicle it is better to change a week too early than risk getting caught by an unexpected weather change. This is also true when it comes to changing back to summer tyres, don’t do it too early.

When it comes to selecting the winter tyres, you can choose from studded tyres or non-studded tyres. Some areas might restrict the use of studded tyres, where you have to go with a non-studded tyre. In these cases you can often choose between a year round tyre like an all-weather tyre or then the seasonal winter tyre. The seasonal is the correct choice if you will have a few months of proper winter, where as the all-weather tyre is perfect for more irregular areas where it is good to always be prepared.For more info regarding winter tyres, visit: www.nokiantyres.com

Winter tyres early enough is the key to good driving safety

Winter tyres are absolutely necessary for driving safely during the winter, if you have sub-zero temperatures. When you also have ice, snow or slush, your summer tyres don’t stand much of a chance to keep you safe on the road. This is why winter tyres are so important and it is very important that you make sure that they are mounted before the cold winter weather arrives. This is very important if you are dependent on your car for everyday use. You will otherwise have to leave your car behind if you still have summer tyres mounted when winter conditions arrive unexpectedly before you change.

Trying to drive with summer tyres on your car in winter conditions, regardless of how short of a drive you plan to do, is associated with great danger. That is why you shouldn’t attempt it and why you should make sure that you change the tyres early enough so that you don’t put yourself in that situation. Weather can be quite unpredictable, so it is sometimes difficult to know just how early the winter weather will arrive. From October the risk at least increases and you should almost surely change before November even if the winter hasn’t arrived, but you know it will not be far away once you enter into November.

If you have studded tyres, then you might have date restrictions of the earliest date that you can change to studded tyres, while with non-studded tyres there are not any restrictions for how early you can mount them. So you might as well mount them on a certain date and not risk anything or jeopardize your safety. Winter tyres have been designed for tackling the challenging weather such as snow, ice and slush. You need to have the special treads that have been designed to handle those conditions.

Both non-studded and studded tyres are great at handling winter conditions in a safe and reliable way to give your car the control and grip that you need for safe driving. Their tread is optimized for cold weather and the winter conditions to provide you with the safest alternative for the winter season. When the winter has passed, then it is time to change back to summer tyres. Don’t change back too early but also not too late as the tyre wear will be higher if you drive with winter tyres longer than necessary.

For more info regarding winter tyres, visit: www.nokiantyres.com

Ways to improve your car the summer performance

There are a few ways that you can improve the performance of your car during the summer.  The best way is to ensure that you have the best possible tyres on your vehicle.

Make sure that you have high quality premium summer tyres. High quality tyres will have lower rolling resistance and a higher tyre wear, and this will lead to substantial savings while you drive versus cheaper tyres.

For more information regarding summer tyres, visit: https://www.nokiantyres.com/

Summer and winter tyres are the best combination for all year safety

The best way to battle the challenge of changing weather between the seasons is to have two sets of tyres and change tyres between the summer and the winter season. This will allow you to have the best tyres for each season and the best safety and performance from the tyres. It is always difficult to design a tyre that can manage such a big difference in conditions.   This is why you will need to change the tyres. During the summer you will need a much different tyre, a tyre that is performing well on dry and wet asphalt and can manage high speeds and have good cornering properties. The tyre should also have good properties for preventing aquaplaning.

A summer tyre would perform very poorly in cold and winter conditions as the rubber compound used in summer tyres is optimized for warm temperatures. This means that at low temperatures, the rubber would become very hard and would not be able to provide the necessary grip required during the winter. This is why you would need to change tyres to a set of winter tyres. Winter tyres have a completely different rubber composition. The composition is optimized for cold weathers, so that they will stay soft and able to comply with the road surface for optimal grip.

With winter tyres you can also choose if you want to have studded or non-studded tyres. The studded have metal studs protruding from the tread to ensure good grip. This will be the best option for icy surfaces. For the non-studded tyres, they use a unique tread design to create the grip on ice, which give you still good grip, but not as good as with the steep studs. When it comes to snow, both these tyres will perform good, except on tightly packed snow, which becomes almost like ice and here again the studded will be better.

This is the best option for making sure that you will stay safe all year round. The main challenge will be when to actually make the change. With studded tyres you often have restriction on the period that they can be used, but you want to make sure that you have them mounted on your car before the winter weather arrives, as it is not safe to drive without them on your car.

For more info regarding summer and winter tyres, visit: www.nokiantyres.com

Key safety items to check on your tyres before driving away on vacation

Taking the car to the vacation destination is still highly popular, as you have a sense of freedom once you arrive to still have a car. It can also be cheaper if you are a whole family traveling. To ensure that you have a pleasant trip and no car related problems while you drive to the end destination, you will need to make sure that you check the key safety items of your car. It can improve your safety, reduce the risk for delays or problems and decrease the driving costs. All these factors make it well worth your time to take the necessary steps before you head out on your trip.

You should always have your tyres checked and make sure that they are in good condition for the long drive. The main reason for breakdowns along the highway in summer are due to either running out of fuel or tyre related problems. Tyres can easily be checked before you head out. Check for visual detectable problems such as cuts or cracks. You should have premium summer tyres on your car, or if you decided to go with all-weather tyres make sure that they are good for the destination that you plan to travel to.

A key item to check is the tyre pressure. Tyre pressure will vary with temperature and should be adjusted based on the load that you will carry. So a full car with family and luggage, needs to be adjusted before the long trip. Low tyre pressure can be a costly ordeal as the tyre will wear faster, so that you will need to replace the tyres earlier than anticipated. The fuel consumption will also increase, so your long trip can suddenly become a lot more expensive than planned.

You also need to check the tread depth of the tyres, to make sure that you have more than 4 mm remaining tread depth. If you are below, you should head towards a tyre shop and purchase a new set. If your tyre have some visible damages, you should also head towards the tyre shop and have the tyres checked out, so that you can get a professional opinion on the detected problem. If they clear your tyres, you should be good to go.

For more info regarding premium summer tyres, visit: www.nokiantyres.com

The best methods to improve your driving safety

When you drive your car you need to secure that your safety is on top. There are a few easy steps you can take so that you improve the overall safety. These include the following:

-Make sure to leave on time. This way you have plenty of time to reach your destination, and the stress makes us worse drivers

-Always wear your seat belts, regardless if it is a short or a long drive. You have to take other drivers into account as well, as they might crash into you not knowing that you only intended to travel a short distance

-Check that you have enough windshield wiper fluid and that your wipers are in good condition

-Make sure that you have the right tyres for the right season, summer tyres, winter tyres or all-weather tyres

– Check that your tyres are free from cut and cracks and that the tread depth is above the recommended limit

– Check also for abnormal wear and if there is a big difference between front and rear tyres, as you might have to rotate the tyres, to even out any differences

– Make sure that your tyres have the correct pressure in the tyres. Driving with underinflated tyres causes increased wear and fuel consumption, while delivering suboptimal performance

-Keep the speed limit and also adjust it based on the driving conditions and the visibility

-Reduce the speed in heavy rain to avoid aquaplaning and try to avoid big puddles of water that has accumulated on the road

For driving safely, you need to make sure that your car and your tyres are in good condition. Tyres will give you the grip to ensure that you can maneuver and brake quickly to avoid any accidents.

For more tips regarding driving safety, visit: nokiantyes.com

Driving comfort can be negatively impacted by bad tyres

When you have a car or an SUV, the driving comfort can definitely be impacted by what tyres you have and the condition of the tyres. Wheel alignment and the balancing of the tyres are important to ensure that the vehicle can roll smoothly without any vibrations due to misalignment. If you feel that the steering wheel is rattling when you drive at high speeds, then you have some issues with balancing or your wheel alignment needs to be looked at at a service station.

When you purchase new tyres you will see that there is a label nowadays on all the tyres, on it you have 3 different indicators of how well the tyres perform on wet grip, rolling resistance and rolling noise. A high rolling noise can impact your driving comfort, as you will hear the tyre noise inside the coupe. If you have a hybrid or an electric car, this can be quite significant, as you don’t have loud noise from the combustion engine. You can use the tyre label to select a tyre that has a low noise level. There are even tyres where the noise level can be damaging for long exposures to the noise level. Summer tyres tend to have a lower rolling noise than winter tyres, especially if they are studded. However as you can see on the tyre label, the studded tyres are not as noisy as one might think.

The last thing you want when you consciously buy a very comfortable car is to have things negatively impacting it. Shock absorbers is another item that can impact the driving comfort, as bad shocks can make the ride very bumpy and make the car to sway. It also impacts negatively the braking distance as the shocks also push the tyres against the road surface.

Tyre pressure is also important for driving comfort. A car needs to have tyres with the correct inflation pressure. If the pressure is low the rolling resistance will increase, which can impact the tyre noise. You also have increase in the tyre wear and the car will start consuming more fuel as you drive. This might not impact the driving comfort, but it negatively impacts the driving economy of the car, so don’t waste money that could better be spend on something nice.

For more information regarding tyres that exhibit good driving comfort, visit: https://www.nokiantyres.com/