Studded snow tyre have their plusses and minuses . In the plus column is tiptop traction on icy road and , potentially , not kick the bucket in a nose candy - fill ditch or sliding off the side of a mountain . On the negative side , metal studs tear up roads like a hungry wolverine , which intend summers full of repaving projects that you ’ll kvetch about having to give for . You know you will .
But what if there was another way ? What if you could get snowfall tires mounted that offered good adhesive friction for most wintery days and , when the sleet reach the lover , could extend studded adhesive friction on the fly ? You ’d be safe when you require to be , and considerate of the tarmac the rest of the season , too . There were dreams of make such a tyre available in 2009 . Q Tires had rivet hide in the treads and were deployed at the push of a button , James Bond - style , by pressurized air . But alas , like George Lazenby ’s calling , Q Tires turned out to be vaporware .
Some aspiration pop off hard , though . In early 2014 , Nokian Tyres in Finland – where they know snow drive – released a video of its new non - studded studded tyre to lionise the 80th anniversary of the snow tire .
Push-button Studs … Or Not
The tires Nokian show in the television were base on the ship’s company ’s Hakkapeliitta 8 SUV studded wintertime tires . But or else of having stationary studs that bite into whatever they come across – snow , ice , sidewalk , flesh – there are stud plant in the rubber wealthy with its surface . When sleet gets real , the driver can push a clitoris that pops just the intemperate metallic element rowlock in the centre of the rivet out of its jacket crown . All the stud on all four tire are deployed at the same time .
Or they would be , if you could get a lot of these non - studded studded tires . Nokian ’s World Wide Web land site says , " The alone stud construct may indeed become a world one daylight . " The company also wo n’t share the mechanics used for popping the studhorse out of the rubber , so it ’s safe to assume that there are teams of computer mouse dope up onDramamine(to deal with the spinning of the tire ) check to campaign out the center rowlock when the computing gadget sends them a signal to do so .
If you ’re not cool with mouse being put to work in this way , or if you have actual winter tire need beyond notional spy - suitable technologies that never make it to real road , there are of course plenitude of other options . There ’s always that honest-to-god transformable winter tyre standby – chains . These can be deployed as call for , but not at the push of a clit , and not with any supporter from trained mouse . Oh , if only .
Real-world Winter Tires
If you live in a snowy wonderland , alloy studded tires are available , but probably restricted . Several states shun them instantaneously , even notoriously snow - bound states like Minnesota and Wisconsin . ( They ’re also banned in Florida . Um , okay . ) Even in states where you are allowed to use metal studs , they can only be on the car for certain month of the year .
Many winter tires are what ’s have sex as " studdable , " which intend that they ’re winter tires with grippy tread and a rubber compound that does n’t freeze out up and get hard when it ’s really cold-blooded . They do n’t come with studs set up from the manufactory , but a tire shop can add the stud poker for a fee . It ’s not like advertise a push on your room across a snow - covered mountain go , but perchance the tyre guy will let you push a clitoris on the counter or something when you purchase the studs . But comparison have shown that studless winter tires perform as well as constellate tire in almost allwinter drivingconditions without tearing up the route .
And then , there ’s the ultimate in literal - humanity tyre - conversion engineering : tire strand . cable length chains and chain - chains offer best grip on slippery Earth’s surface than studded tyre , and you really , really only practice these icky things when you need to . No one drives around town on simply wet street with chains on . Again , there ’s still no push - push button solution , but if you live in California , you might be able-bodied to find oneself a Ernst Boris Chain monkey at the chain - up pull - off spot who will put the chains on your car for about the Leontyne Price of dinner and drinks for two . These guys hang out in warm trailers just waiting for pathetic urban weaklings on their weekend jaunt to the slew to rend over when they see the " chains required " sign . These weekend warriors do pull over , and then quickly pull in that putting their shiny new chains on involves crawling around in the slushy layer on top of the nose candy . Maybe , for a nice tip , the chemical chain monkey will let you push a button , if that makes you feel cooler about it .
Lots More Information
I watched the telecasting , and I was intrigued . I hold up in Oregon , and I ’ve had the shitty experience of crawling around in freezing slush while someone rocked the railroad car back and forth to adapt the chains and get the lock up and around so I could constrain those stunned things . And then they whap , whap , whap against the wheel well , or the clay tizzy , or who make love what . And then we creep along at a mile and a one-half per hour and seriously questioned our committal to snowboard . No strand scallywag in Oregon .
So deployable studs sounded like a bang-up idea . I thirstily contact Nokian , emotional to do yet another international phone interview , but all I got was a disappointing einsteinium - chain mail : " That tyre specify is a concept tyre and we do not give any details about technology used out . No programme either to implement that engineering science to production tyres . " No tyre , no international audience . Nothing . Just the whap , whap , whap of chains echoing in my head .
