Tag: Winter Tyres

One winter tyre manufacturer stands above the rest

When it comes to winter tyres, not all the manufacturers have ventures into this category, as it is a more challenging tyre to build. The pioneer within this field is Nokian Tyres that have from they invented the category, been leading it in terms of safety and performance. Developed for best performance in the Finnish winter conditions, which is as harsh as it gets, have made them the go to winter tyre for when you want the best grip and safety. The brand Nokian Hakkapeliitta is synonymous with world-class winter tyres. If you get a set of these you know that it will not be winter conditions that drive you off the road.

They make the full range of tyres from summer tyres, all-weather tyre and winter tyre that are both non-studded and studded. They have over 100 patents when it comes to winter tyres, which is due to the constant development and excessive testing of winter tyres in all different conditions. They have been able to develop non-studded tyres that have excellent grip on ice even thought they don’t have metal studs. This is done through adding gripping particles to the tread as well as having a unique and partially patented tread pattern. This allows the tyres to have similar grip on ice and snow as the studded tyres.

These tyres you can use even on electrical or hybrid cars as they have added canola oil that combined with the natural rubber provides excellent tear strength. This provides them with very good wear resistance and also ensures good resistance to impacts and punctures. The electrical cars are know for having higher wear due to the heavier battery packs, but also that they provide a higher direct torque, so this requires tyres that can handle the higher wear. These tyres will provide you with that, so that you can use them freely regardless of what type of car you are driving.

They also provide you with a low rolling resistance, so that you will have low fuel consumption when you drive. For petrol cars, this will mean less frequent stops at the petrol station and for electrical cars means that you can get further on every charge. Both these will also save you money while you drive during the whole lifetime of the tyre.

For more info regarding Nokian Tyres and Nokian Hakkapeliitta tyres, visit: www.nokiantyres.com

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

Make sure to check the regulations before purchasing new winter tyres

Different countries have different regulations when it comes to winter tyres. It ranges from them having to be used during certain months to that certain types  are not allowed. By knowing exactly what applies to your country or region you can adapt and make sure that you are make sure that you follow them. It will also ensure that you make the correct tyre decision when you purchase a new set. You also need to check before you plan to drive across country borders, if there are any restrictions.

When it comes to winter tyres, the studded tyres do have some restrictions when it comes being allowed or not and time restrictions of use. The non-studded tyres don’t have any such restrictions and can be used freely. The same is with the all-weather tyres, that can even be used for all year round use and can handle winter if they are winter approved. The non-studded tyres should still be changed to summer tyres once the winter season ends to prevent excessive tyre wear.

You should base your choice on the legal requirements and make the best tyre choice for your intended purpose of use. Then make sure that you select tyres that are suitable for your vehicle. Bigger vehicles such as SUVs, vans and light trucks will need different tyres, tyres with bigger dimensions and have the ability to carry higher loads. There are also the special tyres for electric cars and hybrids that will need higher wear resistant tyres to combat the higher torque and higher loads due to the battery packs. In addition to the correct tyre selection you will need to rotate the tyres on an electrical car more frequently to ensure longer lifetime.

Winter tyres are very important for winter driving and it can be very dangerous to drive without proper tyres, as snow, ice and slush represent some of the trickiest conditions for driving. Summer tyres or any tyre that isn’t intended for winter use will become hard at low temperatures due to the rubber compound used. This decreases the friction that they can assert making them unsuitable for winter use. You really need winter approved tyres to be able to stay safe.

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

All-weather tyres can keep all your vehicles safe during the winter months

Regardless of what type of vehicle you have, you will need to keep safe while driving during the winter months. It is the most challenging season, where you have some really tricky driving conditions. If you are not used to driving in winter conditions, you should practice so that you improve your driving skills on snow and ice. The key to safe driving though starts with the proper tyre selection for your vehicle. There are winter tyre options for all types of vehicles from passenger cars to SUV and even  options for electric and hybrid cars. You also have winter tyres from everything from big trucks to tractors, so that they all can operate during the winter.

The most common all-weather tyres are available for passenger cars, SUVs, vans and light trucks, so that you can keep any of them safe during the year. If you live in an area that can experience some winter weather during the year, you should make sure that you select a winter approved all-weather tyre. This will make these tyres proper year round tyres that will make you ready to drive regardless of weather forecast of what weather you wake up to or end up in. The advantage is that you don’t have to worry about changing tyres between summer and winter tyres and always being ready. Do you still need to rotate the tyres to ensure even wear between the front and the rear tyres. This becomes even more important if you have an electric or a hybrid version.

All-weather tyres can save a lot of lives in the areas where you don’t have much winter weather, as a lot of people skip using winter tyres for this reason. Then when the winter weather actually does arrive and people try to drive, there are accidents all over the place. It is for these areas that the all-weather tyres are perfect. Areas that don’t have a long and harsh winter that warrants the use of dedicated winter tyres for that season. Also for people who are really dependent on their cars for everyday use and where a day without a car can cause a lot of problems, the all weather tyres offer a good solution, as you are always able to use the car for driving regardless of weather.

For more info regarding all-weather tyres for winter use, visit: www.nokiantyres.com

Non-studded tyres for safe winter driving

When you want to drive safely, and in some countries legally, in winter you will need to have winter tyres on your vehicle. The tyres should be mounted before the winter weather arrives, so that you can remain safe while driving. When you talk about non-studded tyres, they are so called tyres that are dedicated for winter use. They are called non-studded to differentiate them from the studded tyres, that are also dedicated winter tyres, but they use metal studs to create grip.

Non-studded tyres should not be confused with winter approved all-weather tyres that can be used during the winter seasons but can also be used for all year round driving. The non-studded tyres should be removed and replaced with summer tyres once the winter season is over. They use a rubber compound that is optimized for keeping the tyre soft and agile even at low temperatures, but will wear too quickly if used during hot summers. This is why it is important to change the tyres once the winter season has passed.

Non-studded tyres use the tread design to create enough friction on snow, ice and slush so that you can enjoy trouble free safe driving. They use innovative sipes and snow claw functionality between the shoulder and tread blocks that can grip the ice and have cryo-crystal grip particles to further improve the grip on ice.

The non-studded tyres are great for winter driving and offer a lot of flexibility. The non-studded tyres are not regulated as when you can mount them on your car, so that you can mount them well in time before the winter arrives, so that you don’t end up with summer tyres trying to drive in winter conditions. This can be a very dangerous situation and should be avoided. You shouldn’t drive with non-studded tyres all year round, as they are optimized for winter conditions and they will wear out faster if used in summer conditions. However, placing them on your car a few weeks too early before the winter arrives is a very low price to pay for the extra safety of having the right tyres already mounted on your car so that you are ready to drive if you end up in winter conditions. This is very good if you are really dependent on your car every day.

For more info regarding non-studded tyres for the winter, visit: 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