Summer Tires vs. All Season Tires, Part 1: Summer Tires

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between summer tires and all-season tires, and if your vehicle could benefit from using one over the other — or actually switching between the two types of tires, depending on the season? In this two part series, we’ll take a look at both tire types, and share some information about each to help you decide what’s best for your vehicle.

Let’s jump into part 1, which is all about summer tires …

Summer tires are a great match on performance vehicles, as they provide excellent traction. Attributes of summer tires include wider treads (when compared to all-season tires), which place more “rubber on the road,” and have a lower profile — reducing sidewall flex in aggressive cornering. In short, this all adds up to keeping tires firmly planted to the road.

Benefits of summer tires also include:

• Allowing your vehicle to work through turns faster, with better control
• Shorter stopping distances, as compared to all-season tires
• They sometimes come with higher speed ratings (186+ mph) than all-season tires
• Some tread patterns can perform well in the rain as long as the temperature is not too cold, and treads are still in good shape

Some of the downsides of summer tires include:

• Reduced ride comfort
• More noisy than all-season tires
• They’re often limited to sizes that fit sports cars and performance models, while all-season tires fit a much larger variety of vehicle types
• Shallower treads, coupled with fewer grooves than all-season tires, summer tires typically wear down faster because their grip factor — which causes more rubber to sheath off the tire when driving
• Especially in Wisconsin, winter weather poses safety concerns with these tires, making it difficult to gain traction, even in light snow
• Cold temperatures make summer tire rubber less flexible, which also lessens road grip
• Tire companies like Goodyear and Firestone recommend switching to all-season tires for colder temps

Next up, in part 2 of our series, we’ll shift our attention to all-season tires.

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