Every autumn drivers scratching their heads, choosing a winter shoes for your car. And in northern climates winter tires have long turned into an obligatory attribute of a modern car.
Today, nobody will be convinced that the ride in the winter on these tires is far safer than in summer, and even season. It is understandable - because people do not go on the ice in shoes on the smooth leather soles. Slippery. So why do cars have to travel on the same "shoes"?
The answer to this question was given in 1934 when the Finnish company introduced the first mass Nokian winter tires Kelirengas, who two years later received a well-known name today Hakkapeliitta. Of course, nothing to do with modern winter tires they had not.
These were the "oak" narrow tires with lugs powerful - like those that had bet on the big bikes. In 1936, their winter tires has created an Austrian company Simperit. Quickly picked up the baton and the other bus company.
At the same time in motorsport started using spikes. However, the low wear and imperfections of construction rose to their mass production. For, while no carbide inserts was not, and steel spikes worn very quickly.
They also have a through fastening - bolt protector fungus penetrated through and fixed outside the ordinary nut. Bus in such a "chain mail" became unfeasible. And only in the late fifties there were spikes in Scandinavia traditional design.
The baseline was the usual rivet, in which the rod is implanted carbide insert. Studded tires have launched into mass production, but very soon they revolted against the road builders. Riding on the "nails" led to the inevitable deterioration of pavement.
Studded tires work as a cutter - thousands of wheels rolled asphalt in deep ruts, which had to close up every spring. The first sounded the alarm the Germans - in 1975 in West Germany spikes are prohibited. Soon the taboo imposed on the spikes and other Central European countries. Loopholes in the ban remained only in Austria, Belgium and Switzerland, that is, where in the mountainous areas of normal tire does not go far. In Scandinavia, the spikes are permitted to use only in cold seasons.
The exact dates in each country are different and can "swim" from year to year. Here and there, ending the use of studded tires is regulated in accordance with the church calendar - for "nails" you can drive up to Easter.
In addition, legislation has been limited quantity, weight spikes and their departures - the height to which the carbide insert protruding from the tread. Now the tire with the bore diameter of 13 inch spikes should not exceed 90 pieces in 15-inch tires they can not be greater than 110.
Flight spike should not exceed 1,2 mm. A struggle for weight loss led to the mass of spines was reduced from an initial 3.4 to one gram. All these values ??in most countries where used tires are enshrined in law. True, Russia to the list of those countries not yet included.
No nails
And in central Europe and Japan, where the spikes are also outlawed, has helped small technological revolution. It occurred in 1997-1998, when the Finnish company Nokian and the Japanese Bridgestone introduced a new generation of winter tires: Nokian Hakkapeliitta Q and Bridgestone Blizzak MZ-01.
Their distinguishing feature was the numerous slot-slat, as if cut with a razor. In the tire contact patch with the road, these slots bristle dozens of rubber edges, each of which successfully clinging to microroughness in the snow and even on the smooth ice. Of course, replace the spikes lamellae can not, but the difference in grip between studded and non-studded tires noticeably reduced.
However, in these buses is a significant disadvantage - the soft tread very badly behaved on the asphalt - lamellae with large lateral and longitudinal loads are simply summed, and the bus early to begin to slide.
Bus group
Currently, all the winter tires can be divided into three groups: the spike, studless for a harsh winter and non-studded for a mild winter. Our country is allowed to use these tires without any restrictions.
Try to understand the target audience of these tires. The first group - tires. On the ice - the most dangerous winter cover - the thorns are still the most effective communication vehicle to the road. For an inexperienced driver, these tires - the only escape in an emergency.
And with ABS, and without it they can only provide the minimum stopping distance on ice. Therefore, even in large cities, where the "slippery" days in winter you can count on one hand, novice drivers to make better use of studded tires. True, we should not forget that the spikes do not last forever - driving at high speeds on asphalt inevitably leads to loss of "nails".
Manufacturers as may be struggling with losses. Some, including Goodyear, use double-layer "sandwich" protector. The upper layer consists of a traditional soft winter tire and the bottom of a dense rubber compound designed to block the spike.
To keep the spine and uses a system of landing an anchor in which a hole under the tongue like an inverted mushroom. Of course, no such machines do not drill the hole, so the mushroom-shaped holes are formed immediately upon casting the tire.
By the way, and themselves, "nails" in recent years also undergone a number of changes - the company Nokian Tyres was equipped with its tires "square" spikes (carbide inserts they have not traditionally round and square section). In turn, Continental introduced a bus with "oval" spikes. Search form continues.
Severe tire
The second group - non-studded tires for the harsh winter. They are also called Scandinavian or soft. The latter could not be better reflects their essence. Tread of these tires are really soft - rubber hardness of approximately one and a half times lower than in summer or all-season tires. Plus fins, which make these tires are softer.
These tires lose grip in ice studded tires, but other winter coverings in anything they do not concede. And on the part of the acoustic comfort and ride wins. In other words, those who wait on the tires not only safety but also comfort, is to seek a compromise was in the camp of non-studded tires.
But what about those who do not mind the winter prohvatit on the pavement, those who are most of the time touring the streets swept clean, and those who owns a sports car with a couple-three hundred "horses" under the hood? On these cars fast driving on asphalt and studded tires, and soft non-studded not only can be fun, but sometimes it is simply dangerous.
With that in mind, as his car took turns in the summer, the driver tries to repeat this winter - under the wheels of a dry road. And misses! Soft winter tires literally smeared on the asphalt. For such cases, Shinnick offer a more rigid models, which are mainly used in central Europe.
They can safely go on the autobahn at speeds of over two hundred and relatively safe to overcome the slippery and snowy roads. In Russia, these tires are relevant only in large cities, where both time and are focused prestigious sports foreign cars.
Resource winter tires is slightly different from the life of summer. If the residual tread depth of summer tires should not be less than 1.6 mm, for winter tires, this value is 4-5 mm. If the tires are worn more - regardless of the model and manufacturer - to go to such winter tires unsafe. Typically, the average driver to have enough snow tires on 3-4 season. After this bus out of date, both physically and mentally.
Finally, it bears recalling that it was safer to ride in the winter good winter tires and summer - on a good summer. Compromise is possible - there is mute-lo so-called all-season tires, but like any compromise, it does not give the best results either in winter or summer.
