Making choices is a tedious job, be it choosing your new home or your first car, your mind is riddled with too many options and factors to consider. However, once you’ve bought your dream car, the choices don’t end there: it is now time to choose the kind of tyres you want for your vehicle. If you live in the UAE, you’re well aware of the diversity of tracks to be found in our country – rough, sturdy roads to desert terrains – UAE challenges the tyres hard. Today, we have compiled a quick comparison of summer tyres vs all-season tyres to help you make an informed decision to select the best ones for yourself.
All-Season Tyres
The term “all-season tyres” was first coined in the ‘70s, to describe the era’s premium quality “Tiempo” tyres manufactured by Goodyear. Although the title wasn’t initially meant to be misleading, it has been misperceived over the years and now many presume that all-season tyres are meant to stay strong and perform equally well throughout summer and winter, rain and snow, or dry and rough roads. The reality is radically different.
All-Season tyres sport medium-sized tread blocks along with a higher number of biting edges, offering an acceptable performance in both wet and dry conditions, but not necessarily a superior one compared to summer tyres. In fact, these tyres only save you from the pain of having to change them in the winters or after a long run (about half a year) on tough terrains. While snow is not a concern for the roads in UAE; dry, damp and wet tracks may give you a hard time with all-season tyres, especially if you are an amateur driver. Under such weather and road conditions, all-season tyres have been tested to provide only a small level of mobility and road grip.
Summer Tyres
Expert drivers tend to prefer summer tyres, which are also referred to as Regular Tyres. These tyres are essentially high-performance tyres, been built out of large tread blocks with high lateral stiffness, and wide circumferential grooves which expel water. They have a rubber calibration specifically designed for regions with warm weather, where snow and ice are a very rare occurrence, like the UAE.
Conclusion
While the potential of performance in your car may be high owing to a V6 or V8 engine, it is actually the choice of tyres which decides whether your vehicle realises its capabilities fully on the road. If you are more of a city-road driver in Dubai and hardly have your car exposed to rough tracks, we would suggest Summer Tyres. However, if you have extensive road travel requirements, All-season tyres provide a higher degree of durability and mobility control. They would last longer under greater usage compared to summer tyres. In contrast, summer tyres are the perfect fit for expert drivers who want to extract maximum performance out of their vehicle on all types of roads in the UAE.
As preferences of every driver are different, giving a final verdict between the two is virtually impossible. However, we hope this blog highlights what you need to know about both types of tyres before you make your choice.