We've been helping people find the right tires, wheels and performance parts since 1979. If you're looking for the best and most accurate information on all things tires, you've come to the right place.
A tire's most important job is to carry the load required of it, and the load range/ply rating branded on the tire's sidewall indicates how much load the tire is designed to carry (at a specific pressure). Whenever changing tire sizes or from one tire type to another, it's important to ensure...
A load index is an assigned numerical value that signifies a tire's maximum load carrying capacity. They're useful to help compare load carrying capacity of different-sized tires, and as you might expect, the higher the tire's load index number, the greater its load carrying capacity. Using the...
Several vehicle manufacturer's owner's manuals recommend operating winter tires winter tires several psi (typically 3-5) higher than their recommended pressures for summer and all-season tires. While none of them actually provide the reason why, there are several scenarios that would support...
Significant changes in altitude affects tire pressures when traveling from one elevation to another. Fortunately, this influence is relatively small and can be easily accommodated. Atmospheric pressure is the force exerted on objects by the weight of the air molecules above them. While air...
The Tire Rack Street Survival teen driving schools authorized by the BMW CCA Foundation are intended to provide a controlled environment for young drivers to learn car control by experiencing their vehicles' handling and stopping capabilities. Street Survival driving courses are typically set...
January 19, 2007 Tires tested: Bridgestone Turanza EL400-02 Standard Touring All-Season P215/60R16 Bridgestone Blizzak WS60 Studless Ice & Snow 215/60R16 Since we have experienced that the performance of different tire models typically varies in the amount of responsiveness and...
While deep snow and ice-covered roads are two of the most challenging conditions North American drivers will face, tire developments during the last decade have noticeably advanced wintertime mobility. The technological revolution of dedicated winter tireswinter tires for drivers in the...
Tires used on the track have to work in a very tough environment: hard cornering, heavy braking, powerful acceleration, rubber grinding away against abrasive pavement lap after lap. To help you get the most from your tires, you should closely inspect them between every session as part of...
Visible Tread Splices While visible and open tread splices are conditions rarely seen on street tires, they appear more frequently on racing tires, including the DOT-legal competition tires often used for road racing, track days and autocrossing. A visible tread splice is cosmetic in nature...
Pneumatic tires are made of specialized rubber compounds reinforced by plies of fabric cords and metal wires. While most rubber compounds can be stretched easily, the underlying fabric cords and steel wires actually define the tire's shape by limiting stretching. In order to bond these...
While it is simple to place a Lincoln penny in the tread groove of a worn tire and use Abe's likeness as a guide, we don't think Honest Abe knows what's best for today's drivers. The Lincoln penny tread depth test has been touted for years to be a suitable method of determining when it's time...
You may want to take a copy of this Tire Tech article to the service center when replacing the tires on your vehicle or when having its tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) serviced. It might provide some tips not covered by the tire changer's normal service procedures. Tips on servicing...
Introduced in the United States in the 1960s, metal studs that could be inserted into tires were developed to enhance traction on the slipperiest road condition...ice. The studs were designed to use the vehicle's weight and centrifugal forces to provide more ice traction as they repeatedly...
Photo #1 - No Protection While curbs and debris on the road have never been considered a tire's friend, many of today's tires resist accidental damage by featuring thicker rubber molded at key locations on their sidewalls. This helps reduce damage to the tires and/or wheels when drivers...
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