Tyre labels and winter tyres

Over the last year there has been lot of discussions about the benefits of the European tyre label, which gives a A to G grading on wet grip and fuel efficiency, as well as a noise level in decibels.

While this is beneficial when choosing summer tyres, it has not been so useful when checking winter tyres, as the testing is made at 25 degrees Celsius. Yet winter tyres only come into their own at temperatures of below 7 degrees C.

The performance results for wet braking rate a tyre on its stopping distance in wet weather, with 'A' being the shortest and 'G' being the longest. The rubber compounds in winter tyres are softer than summer tyres and offer their best performance at lower temperatures, this means that the EU test is actually very confusing as it doesn't show a true representation of what the tyre is designed to do, which is give good grip in snow, or cold conditions.

When it comes to fuel efficiency again the testing when carried out at higher temperatures doesn't favour winter tyres. Winter tyres are designed with many small slits in the tread blocks called 'sipes', the idea being that these sipes give extra bite so that the tyre is able to give grip on ice, snow and slush. This design for winter tyres means that they are less fuel efficient than summer tyres. So you will generally see winter tyres having a higher labeling letter, which is again not so true a measurement of its ability. Although the difference between the best and worst tyres in the test probably amounts to less that a tank full of fuel over the life of the tyre.

When it comes to noise levels, this is based on the road noise levels that a tyre generates. Winter tyres don't perform so well in noise levels and the chunkier tread block design with the additional sipes all add to winter tyres being more noisy than summer tyres.

It is a pity that the European union has not come up with a different way of testing winter tyres at correct usage temperatures and showning how well they handle in snow and ice, especially as in some European countries winter tyres are mandatory. see here.

If you want advice on winter tyres give us a call at Hometyre.