Tires: Arizona Tires, rainy climate, rubber compounds

Question
Are tires made differently for the climate in Arizona? I was told that there are tires that are more heat resistant that if used in another climate, especially a wet or a cold climate, they would harden and slide more easily on the road.

Thanks!

Answer
Aimee,

This is kind of a difficult question for a number of reasons.

1)  There are tires that do better in Arizona than others.  As a general rule, tires with H and higher speed ratings are more durable (meaning, less likely to have a structural failure due to the heat.) This is not to say that S or T rated tires ARE going to have structural failures - we're talking trends, here.

2)  Tires that are made with grip in mind - typically summer (UHP) tires - do not grip as well when the temperature drops below 40°F.  Since winter tires ARE designed for use in cold (and snowy) weather, their grip does do well in hot weather.

3)  Tire do age over time - and heat is one of the main drivers.  So if I were to compare a tire that spent it life in AZ and compare it to a tire that spend its life in MN, I would find the properties of rubber compounds to be quite different - even though they started out identical.

The biggest problem is that the US is a pretty open market.  You can't restrict the distribution of tires to one particular area - unless you specifically design a tire to perform well in a particular environment.  It is pretty easy when dealing with wet, or snowy, areas to have tires designed specifically for those conditions - and very quickly, the local tire dealers will know what works and what doesn't.

But it is much more difficult to deal with a non-rainy climate like AZ.  Because even the worst tires will have enough grip.  Tires that are totally unsuitable for AZ will still get sold in AZ if the price is low enough.  And since the things that make a tire more suitable for AZ are expensive, the price pressure will assure that suitable tires are less attractive.