4×4 Tyres
4×4 Drive vehicles have become increasingly popular over the last few years and one of the biggest changes is the changing styles. Twenty years ago if you had a 4×4 vehicle it would have been an ex military style vehicle with very little refinement. Now things could not be more different. The most surprising manufacturer to enter this market was Porsche with its Cayenne! Who would have thought Porsche who had only made performance sports cars would build a 4×4, but in 2002 they did. Not only did they build a 4×4 vehicle but they built it with a V8 engine and 250 PS!
As tyres are designed around the speed and overall use of the car, it would be no good for example fitting the same tyres to your Porsche Cayenne as a farmer would have fitted to his twenty year old Landrover! Equally the farmer would not get very far on low profile performance tyres. With this in mind the tyre manufacturers have categorised the 4×4 tyres options.
1) Performance 4×4 Tyres – Designed for 100% road use on high performance cars. Such as the Porsche Cayenne and Audi Q7, Range Rover Sport etc. These tyres have a higher speed rating to go with the engine performance of these cars.They can also be a lower profile tyre as most of the performance 4×4 would have larger alloy wheels.
2) Luxury 4×4 Tyres – Created for the top end in the luxury market and for vehicles that are mainly used on road. Much like the performance tyres they need to offer great road handling but the main difference is that these tyres also need to reduce road noise and vibration.
3) All Terrain Tyres – Designed for both on road and off road use. Whilst these tyres are still designed for a vehicle that will spend most of its time on road, these tyres have also been designed for off road use. Along with the first two catagories these tyres are designed to give quiet and enjoyable on road driving .
4) Off-Road tyres – Purely designed for off road use. The main difference with these tyres is the more rugged tread patterns and stronger build as these tyres need to be able to withstand high levels of impact damage. You can also buy these tyres in different grades depending on what level of terrian is expected. Mud Terrain tyres are designed with deep tread patterns and sometimes these are even directional to assist you to drive through the harshest of terrains. Off road tyres are generally not recommended for long periods of on road use due to increased noise and vibration levels.