When you buy a new car, the odds are good that it's going to come with solid tires.
If that new car you're buying is a sports car or performance-oriented model, then the odds are even better that your car, truck, or SUV will have some seriously capable rolling rubber at all four corners. Now, if you buy a used vehicle or when it comes time to replace your tires, you shouldn't be looking to cheap out. You need to buy the best set of tires that fit your budget, and Engineering Explained is here to tell you why.
The easiest way to understand why you need to spend more on your tires is to visualize your vehicle. Think of how it's sitting there while on the road. There are only four points of contact between your car and the road, and those are your tires. If you buy cheap tires to try and save a few bucks, you're accepting the fact that you are willing to drive a vehicle that will perform worse than what's possible. This means increased stopping distances, worse cornering characteristics, and poor or uneven wearing of the rubber itself.
You buy good tires because they make sure that you're driving a properly set-up vehicle, and one that will behave and perform in a consistent manner during the healthy life of the rubber wrapped around the wheels.
To show the difference between good and bad tires, Jason from Engineering Explained uses a VBox data logger to highlight some key specs. His Honda S2000 was acquired with a mismatched set of crummy tires. He swapped in some much better Bridgestone units. The stopping distance differences are clear as day. The car stops harder, shorter, and in less time with the better tires. That's the difference between avoiding an accident, or being a part of one.
