Tires are classified into several standard types based on the type of vehicle they serve.

High Performance

High performance tires are designed for use at higher speeds. They feature a softer rubber compound for improved traction, especially on high speed cornering. The trade off of this softer rubber is lower tread life. High performance street tires sometimes sacrifice wet weather handling by having shallower water channels to provide more actual rubber tread surface area for dry weather performance. The ability to provide a high level of performance on both wet and dry pavement varies widely among manufacturers, and even among tire models of the same manufacturer.

Frank’s Tire Service carries and services various high performance tires from a number of popular manufacturers.

Mud and Snow

Mud and Snow, or M+S, tires are designed to provide improved performance under winter conditions compared to tires made for use in summer. The tread compound is usually softer than that used in tires for summer conditions, thus providing better grip on ice and snow, but wears more quickly at higher temperatures. Tires may have an inricate tread pattern to grip the ice.

Mud tires are specialty tires with large, chunky tread patterns designed to bite into muddy surfaces. The large, open design also allows mud to clear quickly from between the lugs. Mud terrain tires also tend to be wider than other tires, to spread the weight of the vehicle over a greater area to prevent the vehicle from sinking too deeply into the mud.

We don’t have to tell you New Yorker’s about winter driving: we know all about it! Same for you upstate folks stuck in mud, too! Frank’s Tire Service carries and services Mud and Snow tires.

Studded Tires

Specially studded winter tires are designed to accept the installation of metal studs for additional traction on icy roads. The studs also roughen the ice, thus providing better friction between the ice and the soft rubber in winter tires.

The use of studs is regulated, and Frank’s Tire Service can help you install and remove your tire studs as needed.

All Season

All Season tires are a compromise between those developed for use on dry and wet roads during summer and those developed for use under winter conditions. The type of rubber and the tread pattern best suited for use under summer conditions cannot, for technical reasons, give good performance on snow and ice. The all-season tire is a compromise, and is neither an excellent summer tire nor an excellent winter tire. They have, however, become almost ubiquitous as original and replacement equipment on automobiles marketed in the United States, due to their convenience and their adequate performance in most situations. Owing to the compromise with performance during summer, winter performance is usually poorer than a winter tire.

Source: Tire on Wikipedia