How importaint are tires?
 

Question:

How importaint are tires?

Last wednesday while driving in the rain, I had to slam on the brakes and my car's wheels locked up and I just slid. I wasn't hydroplaining, it just seemed like my tires weren't grabbing into the road very much. I have plenty of tread left however I think the rubber's fairly old. So... I figure it's about time to buy some new rubber.

1) what's the max life on rubber

2) what tread rating should I look for in new tires

3) what width should I be looking for? (i have 195's right now) should I be going for the same, 205, 215?

4) does anyone have an recomendations for brands?

5) ... is there anything else that could cause for poor braking and long stoping distances?

thnx

pretty much all tires will skid on water

Consider that its the only thing that keeps you on the road, cheaping out on tires is a bad idea.

Do you want all seasons? Summer tires????

Width is good in the dry WHEN you have traction, once you break traction, getting a wider tire to regain traction is tougher than regaining traction on a narrower tire.

Falken makes a good all season tire called ziex 512 that is good in wet conditions and sticky in hot. I'm using them now and have no complaints. Poor braking could also be your brakes i.e pads, rotors, old brake fluid. Check those components out to see what kind of wear is on them and go from there.