Get the Best Tire Traction on Slick Roads

September 2011

Car owners worry a lot about snow and ice, but what about rain? Wet or slick roads are just as dangerous; a wet surface can lock up a vehicle just like the toughest winter weather conditions.

Water decreases the traction between a vehicle and the road. In some cases, the loss of traction can cause a vehicle to hydroplane and prevent a car or truck from steering, braking or accelerating.Tires aren’t defenseless and certain tires are more prepared than others. A tire’s tread design, pattern and internal structure all impact how well a tire maintains its traction on wet roads.

Slippery When Wet

Here is a look at three tires that don’t sacrifice their performance on even the most rainy day.

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This Goodyear tire gets excellent wet weather performance with its mildly asymmetric tread design. The design combines independent shoulder blocks with notched intermediate and center ribs. The result is solid traction and handling on both wet and dry roads.

Grand Touring All-Season: Goodyear Assurance ComforTred Touring

Wet traction is enhanced by four wide circumferential grooves. These grooves evacuate water from under the tread. Internally, the tires’ construction includes a shock absorbent comfort layer of rubber between the tread and steel belts that insulates the vehicle from vibration. The tire also features an internal structure that includes twin steel belts reinforced by spirally wrapped nylon.

The DZ101 is a summer tire for sports compact cars. This tire is built with traction in mind with a special Silicarbon Matrix tread compound.This tire’s tread design is a directional pattern including a rigid shoulder blocks and two wide, straight tread channels. The channels are long, oblique grooves. This increases the tires stability, responsiveness and its hydroplaning resistance.

Dunlop Direzza DZ101

This all-season tire is built to fit many coupes, sedans and sports cars. It boasts better overall weather performance than leading competitors thanks to Michelin’s TriFusion concept. The tires’ tread features three different compounds bonded together side-by-side for better traction on wet roads. The three compounds are molded into a directional tread design. It features a continuous circumferential center rib. This state-of-the-art directional pattern and wet-weather silica compound help give the tire better handling in wet conditions versus leading competitors as well.

Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus

If you’re slipping and sliding in the rain and looking for tires with outstanding wet traction, then refer to this list or talk to an ASE Certified tire technician for some of more top picks in various tire categories.

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