10 Tips for Choosing the Right Tires

Don't wait until it's too late to start shopping

Mac Demere / autoMedia.com

Switch Category
If you'd like to make a small improvement, select tires from a different category. Switching from, for instance, a "touring" tire to a "performance" tire will firm up the ride, enhance steering feel and, likely, improve grip. Visit the websites of the tire manufacturers and mail-order tire dealers to find the category of your current tires, as well as possible replacements.

The Cure
If your car suffers from a shake, wobble, or pull and your mechanic can't find the cause, it may be your tires. The best technicians can misdiagnose these issues as problems with alignment, shocks, or wheel balance. Even if the outside of the tire is shaped perfectly, misaligned inner components can cause a variety of baffling problems. A new set of top-quality tires may be the cure.

Time For A Change
When your tires wear down to 4/32nd-inch of tread, it's time to start shopping. While the law says 2/32nd-inch is the minimum, tires lose ability to adequately channel deep water well before that. Measure tread depth by inserting a quarter—Washington's head down—into the most shallow groove. If the tread is about even with the top of George's wig, there's roughly 4/32nd-inch remaining. Also, if your tires are more than six years old they need replacing regardless of tread depth. Rubber and other material in tires deteriorate with time.

Match Game
If you're replacing less than four tires, match the ones on your car exactly, right down to the part number, and put the new tires on the rear. Grip, ride, and other attributes can vary radically between seemingly identical tires. Often, the difference is that one was designed for a car company that highly values wet grip, while the other was developed for a manufacturer that puts more emphasis on fuel mileage. When one of these performances is enhanced, it unavoidably diminishes the other. Placing the new tires on the rear will help prevent a spinout if you hit deep water while turning or braking. A puddle hardly noticed by a new tire will lift a half-worn tire completely off the pavement. If those half-worn tires are on the rear, the car may spin out.

Beasts of Burden
Especially for SUVs and pickups, make certain your new tires will withstand the weight of your vehicle and everything you carry. First, find the load index of the original equipment tires. Look at the tire sidewall or owner's manual for an alphanumeric code immediately to the right of the tire size: With a P265/70R16 104S, the 104 is load index. A larger number (i.e., 110) means the tire can carry more weight when properly inflated.