We are sure you have seen different tread patterns in the tyres. However, it is not necessary every driver knows well about the functions of these tread patterns.

If you look at regular tyres, they come with a tread pattern on their surface. These patterns are designed with the aim of providing the vehicle with proper stability and road safety.

Your 4x4 tyres Shiptonthorpe have to run in unpredictable road conditions where snowy, muddy and rocky surfaces are always ready to test the performance level of tyres.

Therefore, a proper tread pattern is needed to keep the level of grip and traction unchanged.

Moreover, grooved tyres are unavoidable on wet roads. Tread blocks disperse the water efficiently and it is not possible with a smooth tyre.

If you drive your car with smooth tyres on a wet surface, your car will start to skid due to hydroplaning.

Hydroplaning is a common phenomenon occurring on a wet surface. Water may create a layer between your tyre and the road’s surface, as a result, the level of friction becomes zero for a couple of minutes and your car starts to skid.

The role of proper tread pattern is vital in such incidents.

Proper tread pattern will displace the water effectively to save you from hydroplaning.

The same story of the importance of tread pattern is true for snow tyres.

The tread pattern in the tyres come with proper tread depth that should be above 1.6mm in the United Kingdom.

Generally the tread pattern wear out due to several factors like road conditions, driving habits, improper wheel balance and alignment, heat and weather conditions.

In this case, you have to change your tyres because driving with bald tyres is not recommended because of the risk of punctures, blowouts and internal damage.

Actually, healthy tread depth is a clear indication that your tyres are in good conditions. On the other hand, improper tread depth shows that the time of retirement is near.

Components of a tread pattern

Mainly every tread pattern is made up of four main sub-components:

Grooves: these are deep channels that you can see running circumferentially and laterally around the the surface of the tyre.

Ribs: these are raised section of the tread pattern.

Tread blocks: these raised rubber components of tread pattern make direct contact with the road surface.

Sipes: these are small channels.

These four segments are arranged in different tread patterns and each pattern changes the behaviour of a tyre.

Mainly the following tread patterns are popular in the market:

Symmetrical tread pattern:

This tread pattern is observed in most passenger cars. This pattern is however not used for high-performance objectives.

In this pattern, both halves are identical and it is known to provide smooth driving, low rolling resistance and optimum directional stability.

Directional tread pattern:

Tyres with this pattern are made to run only in a single direction. You can observe lateral grooves in this pattern that is supposed to meet in the middle part of the tyre.

V-shaped grooves in the directional pattern can resist aquaplaning even at high speed since they displace water very effectively.

Moreover, directional tread pattern is known for providing improved traction, and handling.

Asymmetric tread pattern:

The asymmetric tread pattern is made of two different patterns for the inner half and outer half.

As you see, these tread pattern completely change the behaviour of your tyres. Therefore, mixing two types of tread patterns is not suitable for better performance and driving comfort. Each pattern is supposed to provide certain features and two different features in the same vehicle will only increase the risk of road accidents.

Therefore, you need to think carefully about the tread pattern you would like to have in your car tyres Shiptonthorpe and then, choose the same pattern for all four tyres.