Watch out for unstable autumn weather

Autumn weather in Northern Europe can bring some really nasty weather. As the temperature drops and the wind picks up and you have your occasional rain, it is enough to give you proper chills and create a challenging driving experience. Driving in the rain can easily cause aquaplaning if the tyres are not good. Worn tyres are more likely to end up with aquaplaning than new tyres with sufficient tread depth.

Strong winds can also show signs of bad shock absorbers by having the car swaying in the strong winds making the car unstable to drive. If you suspect that your shock absorbers need to be checked and replaced, you should swing by a service station and have them check them. As you have four shocks on a car, it is definitely something that will wear out over time. You can often spot it by seeing some oil leakage after parking where the wheels are. If you notice that, it is also a good time to have them checked.

During autumn, you also need to take into account that the winter weather might arrive early, so you should make sure to change to winter tyres early enough. Make sure that if you really are dependent on your car that you don’t get caught still having your summer tyres mounted on your car when the winter weather arrives. Driving with summer tyres should be avoided if winter weather has arrived; this is why it is important to change earlier if you are heavily reliant on your vehicle. The first winter weather that arrives tends to be short-lived, so it is better to leave the car be for those days when the weather conditions are bad, and then once you are back to warmer temperatures, you should make sure that you do the tyre change to winter tyres.

Autumn requires both good summer tyres to avoid aquaplaning and still having good grip and control on both dry and wet roads. Then you need good winter tyres for when the winter arrives so that you are ready for the winter conditions. You will need good shock absorbers for both tyre options to ensure good stability and that the shocks push the tyres against the road surface so that you will have a short braking distance. All these factors are important for your safety.

Winter tyres outperform summer tyres when you go below a temperature of 7°C. This is when the summer tyres start becoming harder, and you would benefit from using softer winter tyres that will remain soft even at very low temperatures. The winter tyres also have an optimized tread that is aimed for the winter conditions so that slush and snow won’t be a problem. For ice, they will either have metal studs or then they will have some gripping particles added to the tread. So the changing tyres on time as the temperature drops will become important.

For more information regarding proper tyres for autumn, visit: https://www.nokiantyres.com/