Hydroplaning is when a layer of water or watery snow, aka slush, is built up between the tyres and the road surface. This is very dangerous as you can completely lose contact with the road, which leads the vehicle to lose control of the vehicle. Hydroplaning can be dangerous in any season of the year, even during the winter months, when there can be slush on the road that can lead to slushplaning. Tyre manufacturers are constantly coming up with improvements to increase the performance of their tyres, and the same is true for improvements that help combat hydroplaning.
Most tyres incorporate this technology, but you can’t completely eliminate the risk even with good tyres. This is why you need to know what to do when you experience hydroplaning. Stay calm; probably easier said than done, but it’s important to not panic and slam on the brakes. If you start hydroplaning, the best thing to do is to not turn the steering wheel and let go of the gas pedal until you regain the feel of the road contact. When the tyres regain their contact with the road, you will regain control of your car. Try to avoid hydroplaning by looking ahead and avoid any large puddle and reduce your speed in rainy conditions.
Like the Nokian Wetproof, summer tyres exemplify a good quality tyre that has incorporated many innovations to create high-performing tyres with improved hydroplaning protection. Technologies like polished lateral and inside grooves allowing them to store more water between the tyre and the road and accelerating the flow from the main grooves. This leads to increased water displacement, further improving the hydroplaning properties. Another important safety tip to avoid hydroplaning is to keep the tyres properly inflated and rotate and replace tyres when necessary Adequate tyre pressure is important as tread depth plays a role. Hydroplaning does not just pertain to water when it is mostly referred to as aquaplaning. You can also experience hydroplaning with slush where it is referred to as slushplaning. This can happen when the snow starts melting, leaving slush on the road. This is why even in another season than the rainy season, you can experience hydroplaning.
All-season tyres like the Nokian Weatherproof also takes advantage of the polished main grooves to effectively clean snow, slush, and water off the tyre to ensure that the tyre grips the road, thereby protecting against both aquaplaning and slushplaning. All-season tyres are made of rubber compounds that are very similar to the rubber compounds of winter tyres. It also features the snowflake mountain symbol.
By purchasing tyres that have incorporated the latest technologies into the tyres, you will stay safer when driving in even tricky summer conditions. However, even if you have the best summer tyres with all the latest improvements incorporated, you still have to use winter tyres for winter conditions, so make sure to switch if you believe you will soon experience some winter weather.
For more information on tyres that are able to prevent hydroplaning, visit https://www.nokiantyres.com/