There are many different factors that affect the performance of your tyres, from tread depth and tread patterns, to the individual driving style of the driver.

Tread pattern

The tread pattern of a tyre is designed to assist grip in adverse weather conditions. It can also affect handling characteristics and contribute to the aesthetic appeal of the tyre. All tread patterns combine diagonal, lateral and circumferential grooves offering differing characteristics and benefits.

It is most common for the tyres on all four wheels to have the same tread pattern. This means they are interchangeable and can be fitted on any of the vehicle’s wheels. However you can also have the following types of tread pattern, which are the most common on modern tyres:

1. Multi directional patternsare the most convenient and flexible to use. They can be fitted in any position on the vehicle and any way round on the wheel.
   
   
2. Asymmetric – Fits any wheel but must be placed correct way round. Offers better compromise between wet and dry performance.
   
   
3. Directional – Must travel in the direction of the arrow on the tyre. Offer higher straight-line stability, better resistance to aquaplaning and is potentially quieter.
   
   
4. Cold weather tyres – May be of any tread pattern but the tread blocks contain many small grooves called sipes, which help disperse water and provide additional grip on snow and ice. A different rubber compound is also used allowing the tyre to remain flexible at low temperatures. When combined with the advanced tread design this provides much higher levels of grip when the temperature is below 7^oC and a safer drive.

Tread depth

The tread depth of your tyres can dramatically affect stopping distances in the wet and grip when cornering. The legal tread depth limit is 1.6mm, but for greater safety in the wet Continental recommends you change your tyres at 3mm. Your tyres are the only contact a vehicle has with the road. (At 1.6mm of tread depth your tyres are only 55% effective compared to new. This means your brakes are also only 55% effective. Below 3mm of tread depth, wet stopping distances start to increase significantly. All tyres have tread wear indicators, usually 1.6mm - 2mm high and positioned in the base of the main grooves. This is a simple visual way of checking the current tread depth of your tyres.

Driving style

Driving style and a vehicle’s use also affect tyre performance and the rate and evenness of tread wear. Vehicles used mostly in towns and cities will wear tyres more quickly than vehicles used mostly on motorways and A-roads. This is due to:

• Frequent braking
• Frequent acceleration
• Greater number of roundabouts
• Greater number of corners

When a vehicle brakes, the balance of the weight of the vehicle moves towards the front of the vehicle. This causes the front of the vehicle to dip, putting more load on the front tyres than it would experience at a constant speed. The balance also changes when accelerating and when cornering and all these factors increase the rate of tyre wear.

The simple message to maximising tyre life is to drive sensibly. Brake and accelerate smoothly and moderate speed when cornering.