Tuning cars is a very popular activity among many people nowadays, and it is gaining even more popularity even as we speak. Unfortunately but expectantly, when people start tuning cars they almost always start to tinker with their engines or make cosmetic changes to their cars’ exteriors.
The focus is of course to make the car go faster and look better. Hardly anyone spares a thought about the tires, but in actual fact, the tires are one of the most important tuning upgrades you can ever make for your car.
Just think about it for a moment. Your car is such a heavy metal object, and when it’s moving it takes a lot of force just to slow it down. And all this while when you are behind the steering wheel, you are at the mercy of 4 small patches of rubber. That is all the contact your car has with the tarmac, and it’s all that is preventing your car from flying off the road.
So now you should realize the tires play a really critical role in the performance of your car. And upgrading the tires to a high-performance tire can literally be the difference between life and death in an emergency situation. When driving at high speeds, and especially around bends in the road, having a better set of tires means your car can stick to the road better and will be less likely to lose traction with the surface of the road.
And when it’s raining heavily, having better tires can also mean that your car can stop within a shorter distance as it has better grip in the wet, and it can also minimize the chances of aquaplaning across the road surface. Aquaplaning essentially means your car is floating on a thin layer of rain water and it slides across the road surface, and this is very dangerous because you have absolutely no steering or braking control over the car at all.
So having better tires makes it safer for you and your fellow car passengers. If you want better handling from your car, you can also achieve this by upgrading your tires. High performance tires means they give your car better grip, and this in turn means you can corner better.
Not only that, you will also get better feedback from the tires, and this helps you drive better and faster. As you drive faster and faster and get closer to the limit of adhesion, a tire that gives better feedback lets you know when you are getting too close to losing grip altogether, so you can correct your steering angle or reduce your speed to ensure your car does not go into a spin.
That is why one of the first things you should look into when tuning your car is your tires. Upgrade them and they will take care of you in return. Drive safe!
