Tire Siping?

[Gan]

Anyone heard of this? I was at the tire store today picking out a set of rubber for the wife's Explorer and saw a brochure offering this as a service to tires in order to improve performance (traction, braking, ride). Yet it does not mention affecting the overall lifespan of the tire.

Anyone else heard of this process and know of any drawbacks?

More info:
http://www.sipers.com/sipers/siping_tests.asp

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/tireSiping.dos

[Celephais]

That link you provided says it increases the lifespan of the tire (well... it could just be worded very jerkly... "siped tires run cooler... cooler tires last longer!" ... yeah but do siped tires last longer?)

[Gan]

Its just that whenever you discuss traction you're really talking about contact between the tire and the pavement which is specifically relating to friction. Its the friction which affects tire wear. Which affects lifespan IMO.

So for someone who is not driving on snow, which seems to be the prevalent example here, and on 100+ degree pavements in the summer, I dont see this as something to consider. :shrug:

That and the days of me driving Grand Prix style are not as frequent as they were when I didnt have other responsibilities taking precedence over my inattentativeness to my personal safety while driving.

[Celephais]

Sounds to me like you don't need it, a quick google turned up some Web 0.1 site by some yookel who pretty much said it's good for traction (IE less tire chirping) but odds are you'll wreck your warranty and in some cases you can mess up the lifespan of your tire. Given all that info you just said about not really needing the extra traction, I'd say there is no need (the guy also mentioned that it used to be a lot more useful, but now due to computer designed grooves it's not as necessary)

[TheEschaton]

I've never even heard of the term "siping"

[Tolwynn]

I read an article in Consumer Reports that said the benefits were minimal, if any, depending on the weather conditions you're usually driving in. If your everyday weather conditions are severe often enough to actually benefit from siping, you'd be better off getting appropriately weather-rated tires to begin with.

[Rysk]

Why do I specifically recall reading this post years ago? I don't know if it was here or the 4D... but I've read this post. I think the Matrix just got rebooted.

[Back]

Don’t be a Duracell.

[Celephais]

quick PC search of Siping resulted in this post:
Mint (http://forum.gsplayers.com/member.php?u=977) http://forum.gsplayers.com/images/statusicon/user_offline.gif vbmenu_register("postmenu_123993", true);
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 2,230


http://forum.gsplayers.com/images/icons/icon1.gif
I googled it, might be something to consider anyway if you dont want to buy tires:

Siping is more of a "North America/iced roads" thing. Back in 1978, the U.S. National Safety Council tested siped versus non-siped tyres, running on glare ice. The didn't test tyre wear, just traction. They found that with siped tyres, the stopping distance was 22% shorter, the traction of the tyre when it was spinning was 28% better, while the breakaway traction was 65% better.

[Sean of the Thread]

Use nitrogen to fill your tires.

[TheEschaton]

Every time this post gets bumped back up, I think of sipping, and I'm like, "How the fuck do you sip a tire?"

[Clove]

All hail Wiki! Doesn't sound like it's very useful if you aren't driving in treacherous conditions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siping

[Clove]

Every time this post gets bumped back up, I think of sipping, and I'm like, "How the fuck do you sip a tire?"

You have to cut the tire in half first and fill it with vodka and ice.

[TheEschaton]

IN SOVIET RUSSIA, TIRE SIPS YOU!

[Gan]

ROFL

Since I dont have a lot of ice, glare ice, or snow to worry about in Houston... I think I'll pass on the procedure for my new wheels.

[Clove]

ROFL

Since I dont have a lot of ice, glare ice, or snow to worry about in Houston... I think I'll pass on the procedure for my new wheels.

Yes, but you do have vodka, right?

[Gan]

I have a bottle of Stoli in the freezer. ;)

[TheEschaton]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, Stoli and tonic. Damn it, I need to find a drinking partner in this city.

[Celephais]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, Stoli and tonic. Damn it, I need to find a drinking partner in this city.

In Boston? You're having trouble finding a drinking partner?!

Wait, Bob is underage, and everyone underage drinks, he'll drink with you! :)

[Warriorbird]

I hear that Sean P and J-Bo can help with that.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8b/Drankin'_Patnaz.jpg/200px-Drankin'_Patnaz.jpg

[TheEschaton]

I'm in NYC for the summer. I have plenty of drinking buddies in Boston, it being my place of permanent residence.

-TheE-

[Clove]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, Stoli and tonic. Damn it, I need to find a drinking partner in this city.

Bar with plenty of Stoli. Alcohol helps in my field. The E is welcome to it but he'll have to schlep himself to CT. Don't worry about Clove. I can make-due with mojitos.