Are you going on an off-road adventure soon? If you are, for sure you are very excited and have been preparing everything for your trip. One of the preparations that you would need to do is to ensure that your vehicle and all its parts are and have always been maintained. If you have been taking care of your vehicle then you must have some questions and must have been researching. One of the questions you probably have is about tires. We know, you must be wondering which type of tire is better. Are wide tires better than narrow tires?
Through this article, we shall dive deeper and try to answer all your questions about wide and narrow tires.
Many individuals would assume and some would even claim that wider tires are better as they have more grip and they could handle different types of terrains compared to narrow tires. However, one would question this as if wider tires are better then why do manufacturers developed narrow tires? For sure there are some advantages and disadvantages as well.
Wide Tires vs Narrow Tires
Advantages of Wide Tires
Impressive look
The wider the tire, the better they look as they would often look sporty and even aggressive. Some would even say that it gives them additional horsepower.
Wide Tires Have More Traction and Grip
When your tires are wider, it would tend to have more contact on the road which means it would stick on the road and off-road tracks. Keep in mind, however, that this would depend on the terrain and weather condition. For example if you will be going through a bottomless mud terrain, you would want to have a tire that would be able to stay afloat, hence, you would have to go with wide tires. However, if you will go through shallow mud, then, you would have to go with narrow tires as they could dig on mud and would cling better to the hard bottom. When you would travel through dunes, then, we suggest that you go with a wide tire as they could stay afloat on sand.
Wide Tires Perform Better On Braking
As mentioned earlier, wide tires could provide you better traction which means you could use it on off-roading activities. This also means that you could stop easier. It even reduces braking distance.
Advantages of Narrow Tires
Narrow Tires Are Better For Icy Conditions
For those who are in the US and in Europe, they would know that they must have tires that are specific for the weather condition that they are in. For example during winter. During winter, tires being used are often narrow. The reason behind this is because wide tires do not do well on icy roads. Icy roads then to be very slippery which means you would need a tire that could dig in on ice and has the ability to touch the tarmac. This way, you have a better grip on the road rather than the ice.
Narrow Tires Are Better For Rock Crawling
If you are going to go through gravel and rock crawling, we suggest that you use narrow tires. The reason behind this is because they have better grip. Rock crawling could be very slippery which means, it would be very difficult to have a good grip on it. Though that is the case, narrow tires have the ability to dig on gravel and could touch the solid ground.
Which Is Better?
There is no straight answer for this one as this would depend on your preference and the type of activities or roads that you often pass by.
Conclusion
We hope that through this article, you were able to get useful information and learn a lot about wide tires and narrow tires.
