When Do I Need New Tires?
Eventually, down the road of your ownership and across its many miles, balancing, rotating, and repairing your tires just won't cut it anymore. Sure, doing so is of chief importance for maintaining their quality and prolonging their lives, but time and Mother Nature take their toll; tires break down, and sooner or later, you'll need a new set. What's worse, that's true whether you're driving Honda coupe, an SUV like Crosstour, a hatchback like Fit, a hybrid vehicle, a Honda Ridgeline truck, or any other model out there.
But when do you need new tires, exactly? That's a question comes up often during customer visits to our Honda auto service and parts centers here on South Kansas Ave in Topeka, and there are a few ways you can quickly and easily figure it out.
The easiest answer's not always the best one, let alone the right one, either. After all, "look for tire wear" doesn't always suggest something apparent. Not to worry. You can keep an eye out for some inconspicuous yet telltale signs, for example, when:
- Tire rubber is visibly torn
- Treads are separated or beginning to separate
- Pressure's low, and your tires won't otherwise stay inflated at the right PSI
Seems simple enough, right? Yet, if all else fails, you'll be relieved to hear that there's also a shorthand way to tell what condition your tires are in. A simple rhyme comes to mind to help us remember it, too: "stick a penny in the tread and see the top of Lincoln's head." If you do, it means the test has failed and that your tire's worn too shallow and ought to be changed.
When that time comes, we at Sharp Honda are here to help. Our tire center stocks a full complement of tires for your vehicle, and we professionally install them to help you get back on the road. So, the question remains: which tires are right for it, then? You have options for every season.
- All-season tires provide balanced performance year-round. They're an alternative to changing your tires in the winter, sure, flexible and durable enough to keep you going in freezing temperatures, but they lack some traction through wetter weather conditions. If you regularly ford deeper water in an SUV and do so at higher speeds, you'll need the right tread pattern to make it happen. You can find it in all-weather tires, but more so in their summer tire sibling.
- Summer tires, also known as three-season tires, are the name most standard tires go by. If your local roads are usually damp or wet, their tread rubber, a stickier and softer variety, makes all the difference. That's not the case, however, for plowing across snowdrifts. That's where winter tires come in.
- Winter tires help you make the most of traction, and at a step above summer tires, being the capable choice for everything from sleet and snow to slush and other frozen hazards. There are two types, too -- studded and studless. Studded tires embed metal studs in their treads. They're designed to dig into ice and provide added traction. Studless tires employ specialized rubber compounding, unique tread designs, and other technological improvements to deliver the same snow-traversing power as studded tires without the prospect of tearing up the road.
- Performance tires, on the other hand, are built for the sport driving enthusiast, often low-profile and an enhancement to your sports car's handling, maneuverability, and traction for both wet and dry conditions. They're usually sometimes model-specific for ease of pairing.
Of course, there are plenty of tire subtypes, too, ranging from run-flat tires, for rugged areas where punctures can happen, to special low-rolling-resistance tires that help with fuel economy, with many in between and new ones appearing all the time.
Whatever your needs, however, we'll take care of them. When it's time to buy a new set of tires and have them put on by a team of expert car repair technicians, give us a call or schedule an appointment right here on the Web. We'll be happy to get you back in the driver's seat with some new wheels in no time!
