Types of Tires

As the name implies, these tires are designed to handle driving conditions in all seasons and provide excellent handling and comfort on the highway. Eliminating the need to change tires with the seasons and their steady performance on local and highway roads makes them a popular choice for most vehicle owners.

Touring tires are also referred to as Grand Touring tires and feature wider treads. They offer enhanced traction over all-season passenger tires, and while their treads provide reasonable life, they don't usually last as long as standard all-season tires.

Performance tires offer better grip in wet and dry conditions than touring tires and are rated for higher speeds. They are generally found on sports and high-performance cars.

Summer tires are designed for warmer climates to handle roads in both wet and dry conditions. They offer broader contact points with the road and have enough groove to resist hydroplaning but don't play well on snow or ice.

For the best traction and control on snowy, icy, and slushy conditions, winter tires contain heavy siping to dispel snow and ice to stay in contact with the road’s surface. They are available in studded and non-studded for varying levels of traction.

These high-performance tires are similar to street performance tires mentioned above. However, this type of tire is not used for daily driving. They are designed to provide constant contact on dry roads and utilized primarily in amateur or professional racing and track driving.

Like the all-season passenger tires, SUV and truck highway tires are designed for smooth pavement driving and excellent all-season traction while handling these vehicles' heavier loads.

For drivers who find themselves traveling through gravel, sand, or light mud as often as paved roads, all-terrain tires feature a more rugged tread pattern than highway tires but still offer comfortable driving.

All-purpose tires fall in between highway and all-terrain tires. They’re also known as trail tires or very mild all-terrain tires. They provide a little more off-road grip on soft conditions than a highway tire would but less than their all-terrain counterpart.

These are characterized by their large tread blocks and additional voids to provide more traction in soft terrain. These tires are reinforced to resist punctures and tears that would typically occur off-road.

Commercial vehicles that put in a lot of highway miles are ideal for ribbed tires. They offer superior highway handling while supporting heavy loads with fantastic weather traction.

For all-season performance similar to highway tires but with a higher speed rating at which they can safely carry loads, sport truck tires are the right choice.

Compact temporary spares, or donut spares, are slightly slimmer than standard tires and are designed for limited use until a permanent tire replacement is completed. Spares are typically only rated to travel about 50 miles and at a maximum speed of 50 mph. Full-size spares are often the same brand and type as the other four tires on the vehicle.

There are two main types of trailer tires; bias ply and radial ply. Bias ply tires are designed to carry heavier loads and travel farther distances. Since they usually carry more weight, they tend to suffer from irregular wear. Radial ply tires are smoother and ideal for highway driving.

These are similar to all-terrain vehicles with deep voids and large tread blocks to handle soft terrains, such as mud, sand, gravel, and rocks.

This category includes tires for anything from dollies and wheelbarrows to tractors and golf carts.