Are Summer Tires Good in Rain?

Summer is the season of sunny days and sweltering heat. You might swap out the tires on your vehicle’s wheels for summer tires that work best during this hot season. But rain can still fall during summer. Whether it’s a light shower or a sudden deluge, rain can catch you by surprise with your vehicle still equipped with summer tires.

Is it safe to drive your vehicle when it’s raining if the wheels have summer tires fitted on them? Or should you have to go through the trouble of replacing the tires with all-weather tires that work better on wet road surfaces?

Are Your Car’s Summer Tires Bad in the Rain?

Summer tires will lose some of their effectiveness during rainy days. They’re designed with dry road surfaces and warm temperatures in mind. However, they remain relatively safe if you don’t push them too hard on slippery roads.

Unlike racing slicks on drag racers, summer tires feature shallow tread patterns running across their tire surface. The treads channel water, displacing the liquid from beneath the tire. By minimizing the amount of moisture between the tire surface and the ground, the tread pattern improves tire traction when you drive on wet roads.

While summer tires can still get a grip on the road while it’s raining, they don’t work as well as all-weather tires or winter tires. Their shallower treads channel less water than the deeper grooves on all-weather and winter tires. There’s only so much water that summer tires can displace, and too much moisture reduces friction and weakens road grip.

Furthermore, summer tires are made of a compound that works best at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or higher temperatures. If the temperature drops below that, the tire compound becomes harder and stiffer.

If you expect heavier rainfall or low temperatures, replace the summer tires with either all-weather tires or specialized winter tires that can handle snow and ice in addition to rain.

What Are Summer Tires?

Summer tires are tires designed for use during their namesake season. They work best on dry road surfaces. However, they can also operate on somewhat wet surfaces as long as the overall weather stays sufficiently warm to quickly evaporate water.

The typical summer tire features a rib that runs across the center of its surface without interruption. This center rib helps stabilize the tire and the rest of the vehicle when you’re driving in a straight line.

Another trait of the summer tire is the sizable contact area on its outside–the tire’s side facing away from the vehicle. The contact area is designed to keep a grip during cornering maneuvers, preventing your car from skidding out of control if you’re turning fast.

Compared to all-weather and winter tires, summer tires have shallower treads and less tread features. The reduced tread depth contributes to the responsiveness of the steering system, making controlling your vehicle easier and faster.

Summer tires also have far fewer tread features. The reduction in tread features improves dry grip, which is the amount of road grip the tire can apply to a dry road surface.

Finally, the sidewalls of summer tires have higher stiffness than the ones on other types. Stiff sidewalls also improve the response time and feedback of the steering system. Unfortunately, they also reduce the vehicle’s comfort level because they transmit more shock from driving over uneven terrain.

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Summer Tires vs. Winter Tires

Much like how summer tires are intended for use during their namesake season, winter tires are specialized for handling snowy and icy conditions during winter. Their complex tread design not only evacuates water but also slush, a mixture of partially-melted snow and ice. Their deep grooves can help hold in packed snow, which helps the tire get a better grip on slippery roads. Snow naturally attracts and holds onto snow, so it’s one of the best materials to get a good grip on a snow-covered road surface.

Winter tires’ tread pattern has zigzag sipes that creates a binding edge, increasing the tire’s grip on wet, snowy, and icy roads. The sipes increase the tire’s rigidity while also enabling good traction in any direction.

These tires use a compound that can maintain sufficient softness and flexibility at low temperatures that will freeze water and turn summer tires rigid. However, the compound suffers at higher temperatures. When exposed to hot conditions, such as during the summer months, winter tires can get so soft that they might deform. They’re vulnerable to blowouts and other related issues.

Summer Tires vs. All-Weather Tires

All-weather tires strike a middle ground between summer tires and winter tires. Also called all-season tires, they have center sipes that direct water away from the tire. Their outsides also have reduced tread features to improve their cornering grip.

Like winter tires, the insides of all-weather tires also have sipes. The sipes improve tire traction on road surfaces covered by snow and ice.

The grooves in the tread pattern of the all-weather tires expand as they go deeper. As the outermost layer of the tire wears out, the grooves get bigger, enabling them to get rid of more water over time. Along with other features, their groove design extends the service life of all-weather tires. Whereas other tires lose traction as they wear out, all-weather tires with expanding grooves perform better to compensate for general wear.

All-weather tires use a compound that can handle a wide range of temperatures. While they can’t handle the extremes that summer and winter tires specialize in, all-season tires won’t grow brittle when water freezes or melt when it gets hot.