Features of car tire tread

(Baonghean.vn) - Car tires have many different patterns, so their grip, drainage, and noise levels are also different, meeting different road conditions and vehicle types.

The tire tread is made up of grooves of various shapes and depths. The grooves ensure contact between the tire and the road. The better the grip the deeper the grooves (the higher the tread).In wet conditions, a vehicle can experience “hydroplaning”. This occurs when water cannot drain out of the grooves in time, causing the tires to not have full contact with the road surface, which can easily lead to loss of control.

With the development of technology, today's tires are manufactured with tread patterns that allow for quick drainage. Below is how to distinguish some types of car tire treads currently on the market, their effects on vehicle operation.

How does tire tread affect vehicle performance?

Depending on the type of groove and flower, it will affect the vehicle's performance more or less. Experts with many years of experience in cars share:

- Rib shape:Rib-shaped tire tread has grooves running along the tire surface (commonly called down-slope), with the advantages of low resistance, good stability and steering control due to high lateral grip, suitable for high-speed vehicles because it generates little heat.

However, this type of tire has the disadvantage of poor braking and acceleration on the road, so it is suitable for vehicles running on asphalt, used for the front wheels of trucks or buses.

- Lug shape:Worm-shaped tire treads have grooves running across the tire surface (commonly known as horizontal treads), with good steering and braking ability, excellent grip, usually tires for trucks, off-road vehicles on dirt roads, muddy roads.

With large lugs, this type is not suitable for high speed running due to noise and high resistance. This type is suitable for dirt road vehicles, for the rear wheels of buses and trucks.

- Block shape:With tires that have many block patterns with many interwoven grooves, they are very suitable for driving on snowy and wet roads thanks to their stability, good steering ability, and optimal drainage ability.

However, because the tread blocks are smaller and closer together, these tires also wear faster than other types of tires. Therefore, they are suitable for winter tires, or all-season tires on passenger cars, and can be used as the rear wheels of Radial tires on conventional cars.

From left to right: rib-shaped, worm-shaped, block-shaped

- Asymmetric form:Asymmetric tread patterns are commonly found on high performance or sports car tires, as they exhibit superior performance in high speed cornering due to the large contact area, reducing wear on the outer areas of the tire tread.

However, due to the different patterns on each side of the tire, the tire must be installed correctly on the outside and inside. Use high performance or sports car tires.

- Rib-Lug shape:A tread pattern that works well on both asphalt and dirt, front and rear, commonly found on SUVs, with longitudinal and transverse grooves (straight and horizontal). The rib-like pattern in the center provides good directional control, while the worm-like pattern on the shoulders improves braking and steering.

This tire is good for both asphalt and dirt roads; used for both front and rear wheels of trucks and buses.

- Directional form:Directional tread pattern has horizontal grooves on both sides of the tire pointing in the same direction. The advantages of this type are good steering and braking ability, good drainage means stability on wet roads, suitable for high speed driving.

From left to right: asymmetrical form, worm and rib form, oriented form.

Does tire tread affect tire life?

Tire tread has a big impact on tire life, but it’s not the only factor. According to auto service engineers, tire life is often affected by the following factors:

- Tire quality: Is the first factor that determines the durability of a tire. Whether a tire is good or not is shown through the rubber material, metal wire, tire structure and number of tire layers; tubeless tire or tire with tube...

- Tire pressure: Pressure greatly affects tire life, as shown by tire wear.

- Load: Each type of tire has a different load index, exceeding this index is the cause of tire damage quickly.

- Tire rotation: Rotating car tires will fix uneven tire wear, thereby increasing tire life. Car users can rotate their own tires by mastering the steps to rotate car tires.

- Road conditions, weather...

Normally, to ensure the life of the tire, in addition to regular maintenance, checking tire pressure, tire contact with the road surface after every 20,000km of rolling, it is also necessary to comply with tire rotation (about 60,000km of rolling) according to periodic maintenance. When the tire tread is worn to the specified limit, the tire must be replaced to ensure safe vehicle operation./.

Ngoc Anh

(Synthetic)