We all come at some point buying a new set of tires, but there is a lot of confusion going on in choosing the best tires for you. Think of it this way, it’s like your weight loss journey, there is no one size fits all formula on what exercise type or routine you have to go through, or even the diet you have to follow. Tires are the same, you have to consider your daily routine drive or daily use so that you are at ease that you are buying tires suited best for your lifestyle. The following basic information below will help you understand more about passenger tires and all-season tires which will help you in deciding which set of tires suits you best.
Before choosing any set of tires you must mainly consider what is it that you really value the most when driving. Is it more of the comfort, a mixture of pavement and off-road daily drive, is it noisiness during the daily drive, how the tire looks, and lastly is it the budget over quality or vice versa? Once you have decided which do you care most about, as a sort of “personal preference” then choosing and buying the right set of tires would be a piece of cake.
PASSENGER TIRE 101
As the name relates, passenger tires are preset tires usually found in coupes, sedans, crossovers, and other light vehicles. Most of the difference between passenger and all-terrain tires is how they are built and engineered for certain driving scenarios. Passenger tires mainly have 3 types: Touring Tires, Performance Tires, and Low Rolling Resistance tires. “Touring tires” have wider treads for better surface contact. Among the 3 types, touring tires give the most driving comfort if your daily drive is just purely on the pavement and produces less road noise, most of these tires are sold as all-season and are designed to perform in wet, dry, and even in snow. “Performance tire” on the other hand, you can tell by its name, it is built and geared towards speed performance. These types of tires are good for racing cars, exotic cars, and sports cars. Performance tires are made of unique treads and robber materials built leaning towards awesome handling response, and better high-speed road traction and grip. It is also composed of unique rubber compounds that favor summer’s wet and dry driving conditions. As mentioned, these tires are great on racetracks proven for their reduced stopping distance and cornering capabilities. Lastly, is the “Low Rolling Resistance” passenger tire, this type of tire is technologically built to achieve low rolling resistance as possible. The concept behind this type of tire is based on wind resistance or aerodynamic drag, inertia, and vehicle weight or mass. Taking all that into consideration, in a nutshell, the less the rolling resistance the less fuel consumption. According to several studies, low rolling resistance tires can reduce fuel consumption by up to 10%. And did you know? that 4% of the world’s carbon-dioxide emission is caused by tire rolling resistance. That is why low rolling resistance tires are getting popular nowadays because of fuel efficiency and their impact on our environment.
ALL-TERRAIN TIRE 101
Most people are confused by the word “all-terrain” thinking that this type of tire is suited to all-terrain conditions going off-road, which is not true. Not all tires are created equal, so again, it still boils down to a different personal driving routine. Generally, an all-terrain tire is designed to be good for both pavement and off-road driving scenarios. So, let’s put it this way, the all-terrain tire is like an all-purpose tire, it is developed to ensure good pavement traction for a smooth driving experience on the paved road while at the same time, it can also be great for grip performance going off-road. And even some all-terrain tires are designed to be also reliable in icy and snowy conditions, but of course, not as good as winter tires. The tire treads are blockier and heavier than your passenger tire, because of the blockier tread it produces more road noise than the passenger tire. The rubber compound is also a bit softer resulting in to decrease in tire tread life. Also because of blockier and heavier treads, the all-terrain tire has lower fuel efficiency compared to passenger tires. All-terrain tires are good for light trucks, pickup trucks, campers, 4×4 cars, and SUVs.
If your daily drive is pure off-road, then all-terrain tires are not the best for you. You can go with “hybrid tires” or “mud-terrain tires” which was a better personal choice for pure off-road scenarios. So, for a quick summary if you’re driving routine is just paved road then the best tire for you are passenger tires, but if it’s a mixture of pavement and off-road, then All-terrain tires are the best option for you.