Touring Tires VS Performance Tires - Choosing the Best Options
Often, we get customers that are enthusiastic about tires and the different types that can be installed on their vehicles. While some of them are quite well informed, others are left scratching their heads by the varied information available to them on the internet and from other sources. One question that customers often ask us is 'what is the difference between touring and performance tires?'
The questions usually do not stop there, and the next question is which tires they should buy for their vehicles. What are the advantages and disadvantages of these types? Instead of answering each customer individually, PitStopArabia has decided to answer this question through this article.
What Are Touring Tires?
Touring tires are the ones that you usually see on minivans, passenger vehicles, sedans and some SUVs. These tires offer a smooth, comfortable ride while providing a much longer tread life. Touring tires are mostly used as all-season tires. They offer balanced handling and grip on different road conditions. These tires are the go-to tires if you spend considerable time driving.
Most fuel-efficient or today’s eco-friendly tires are regarded as touring tires. They can be distinguished by their large sidewalls, which is also the reason behind the smooth and comfortable driving experience. However, many tires now have large sidewalls as well.
The downside to touring tires is that if you are looking for performance, excellent handling and grip, high-speed cornering, or short braking distances, then the touring tires are not the answer. A few of the most common touring tire lines of top manufacturers include:
- Michelin Defender,
- Goodyear Assurance ComforTred Touring, and
- BFGoodrich Advantage T/A.
What are Performance Tires?
Performance tires are remarkably different from touring tires. These tires are designed for use on sporty vehicles, luxury coupes, racing-style cars and other similar vehicle types. They are specially designed to enhance the performance of such cars and offer much-improved cornering ability, minimal braking distance, responsive handling and steering, and excellent grip.
Although performance is remarkably improved as compared to touring tires, performance tires offer low fuel efficiency, shorter tread life and increased tire noise. You can find performance tires of nearly all the top tire brands in the world.
Choosing the Best Option
Selecting between a touring or performance tire depends on what you expect from the tire. Take into consideration the following points while taking a decision.
- Do You Prefer Sports Car Like Responsiveness or Average?
If you are looking to get a sports car like responsiveness from your tires, the obvious choice is the performance tires. On the other hand, if you drive a regular car and are just focused on getting from one location to the other, then opt for the touring tire.
- How Much Do You Value Fuel Efficiency?
If you are looking to get the best fuel mileage and save money on fuel costs, go for any touring tire. If you are not too bothered about your fuel efficiency, then a performance tire is a suitable option as well.
- Do You Prefer Long, Durable Tyres?
As mentioned before, the tread life of a touring tire is much longer than the tread life of a performance tire. However, what you gain in tread life, you lose in performance. Likewise, you will be missing on a longer tread life in the case of performance tires, but you will be gaining a lot in the performance category.
- Looking to Drive in Varied Conditions?
If you live in a place which experiences different seasons throughout the year, then the touring tire is the best choice. However, since the conditions in the UAE are not so varied, performance tires are also a good option. Therefore, in this case, both types of tires are a good option.
- Do You Prefer a Smooth, Noise-free Ride?
The large size of the tread on touring tyres allows for more significant tire-to-surface contact. It allows for a much smoother and noise-free driving experience. On the other hand, the tire-to-surface contact on performance tires is much smaller. Hence, the noise and comfortability are compromised on these tyres.
- How Important is Handling or Braking?
The clear choice is performance tyres if handling or braking is important to you. They offer a much better grip and shorter braking distance than the touring tires. In case you do not give a lot of importance to these factors, the touring tire is a better option.
Conclusion
After reading this article, you will finally get to know the difference between these two common tire types. Moreover, by taking into consideration the points that have been discussed above, you can decide which tires are the best option for you.