If you have ever operated domestic production tyres, you probably came across the so-called “all-season” tyres. Yes, these are the ones that say “ALL SEASON”. So, all-season tyres are domestic know-how – an attempt to embrace immensity and make universal tyres that one can ride both in winter and summer. These tyres have average parameters, which allows them to be used in any season.
It is exactly because of this averaging that the tyres drive, to put it mildly, not very well both in summer and winter. The fact is that for winter, you need to make the tyre softer so that it is less sensitive to frost. And in summer, the tyre should be more rigid to not wear off very quickly on the asphalt heated by the sun.
When we have average parameters, it turns out that we do not drive very well in winter because the temperature at which the tyre begins to “harden” is much higher (in the sense of closer to zero) than that of ordinary winter tyres.
Domestic rubber is for domestic cars and for those buyers who buy domestic vehicles to save on spare parts. Although, perhaps, our cars would not have broken down if their owners “gave them a drink” with good oil,
In the West, people are more pragmatic about rubber. They prefer to buy good winter tyres and good summer tyres. First, if the rubber is “optimized” for summer, then it will have:
- A higher speed index – why not ride with the breeze if both the car and the road (theirs, not ours) allow it?
- Resistant to aquaplaning – it can rain in the summer, but what can slow down the speed because of this?
- Minor wear – The rubber is more arduous, so it wears less as a result of friction.
Having bought standard winter tyres, we get excellent control of the car in winter at almost any temperature. And not like on domestic vehicles, where at -10 ° it is still possible to drive, but at -20 °, the rubber is “okay okay”.
It turns out that an imported tyre is only summer and only winter. But what about the imported all-season?
But some sellers are trying to sell M + S winter tyres as all-season tyres. Yes, you can ride on such rubber in November, when it rains and full of mud, and you can also hang it in January when there are snowdrifts. If you wish, you can ride even in the spring – while it is not very warm. But as soon as the temperature rises, the rubber begins to wear out.
Why are sellers trying so hard to sell the wrong thing? There are two reasons:
- Ignorance – sometimes the seller can offer winter tyres (M + S marking), sincerely believing that it is all-season. Indeed, if we look at the characteristics of imported winter tyres, we can say that it is all-season. The speed index alone is worth something – on some copies, it reaches 190 km / h. For the sake of fairness, you should note that imported tyres labelled M + S are superior in all respects to domestic ones labelled “ALL SEASON”.
- Deliberate deception for mercantile reasons – the seller does not want to lose the buyer; this is how the human psyche works. Judge for yourself: there is a wealthy buyer in front of you (insolvent ones buy domestic tyres), one might say, shakes money, wants to buy an all-season, but what do you say, there is no all-season rubber ??? Of course not; otherwise, you will lose a buyer who will cross the road and buy M + S tyres from your competitors. You will not get away from the mentality. Some are trying to save money; therefore, they purchase all-season tyres (if it were not so, then two sets would be purchased – winter and summer), while others are trying to make money, taking advantage of the greed and ignorance of the former.
Please do not underestimate the role of tyres in driving, especially in the Middle East.
Suppose you are in Oman; it would be beneficial to take a look at tyre brands in Oman.
The Middle East is a generally “hot acclimated” country, and because the asphalt heats up in summer, the rubber wears out more, especially in winter, since it is softer than summer tyres. Secondly, they save. It is more profitable to buy new rubber than a used one.
