Self-cleaning tread

Winter, it seems, has only just begun, and yet there's already a lot of snow. Against the backdrop of news about record-breaking precipitation, the question of high-quality tires is especially acute. What quality comes to the fore?

Of course, it's the tire's ability to handle deep snow.

Generally speaking, the concept of "snow" is too broad from a tire's perspective. Snow can be in several states, and it's essential for car owners to understand what type of snow they're currently on and adjust their driving style accordingly. There are three states that are fundamentally different from one another: fresh and recently fallen, trampled and slightly frozen, and heavily thawed, often mixed with reagents.

When working with all three types of snow, it's crucial for the tread to capture as much snow as possible in the contact patch. Even though it may seem like the tread is constantly clogged with snow, that's not entirely true.

When driving through deep snow, the fact is that with each wheel rotation, a new layer of snow pushes out the old one, and thus the tire grinds through the snowbank, providing traction. BUT this only works if the tread is literally "alive". It doesn't matter if you can drive legally on tires with a residual tread depth of 4 mm. In deep snow, it's unlikely to help you. With a tread depth below 6 mm, the tire already starts to experience difficulties on snow. Therefore, take a closer look at the condition of your tires.

It's also extremely important to note that winter tires can be divided into three types: studded, non-studded Nordic, and non-studded for European winters. The share of negative profile (the total of all longitudinal and transverse channels and lamellae) differs for these three types. Studded tires have the largest share of negative profile. If you take a closer look, you can easily see that the distance between the tread blocks on these tires is the largest.

If you're experiencing problems with handling deep snow, take a closer look at whether you should purchase new tires. If you should, pay attention to which ones would be the best fit.