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**Homercidal** · 02-12-2013, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpc

Speaking generally, the higher the wear rating, the harder the tire (with all else being equal, which it pretty much never is). That translates directly into less grip, which means less safety (under braking, when turning, etc.).

+1. Softer tires grip more and handle better, but they wear out quicker.

There was one set of tires I shopped for few years back that had two layers of rubber. The outer layer was more firm and lasted longer, but after it wore down the under layer was softer and improved grip (when the treads wore down).

Someone at work told me several brands do this.

**whoaru99** · 02-12-2013, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jpc

Speaking generally, the higher the wear rating, the harder the tire (with all else being equal, which it pretty much never is). That translates directly into less grip, which means less safety (under braking, when turning, etc.).

That sounds good in theory, but not sure how it holds out in practice across the board. In addition to the treadwear number is the traction letter indicator in the UTQG, AA, A, B, and C. These describe the straight wet line coefficient of traction, more or less straight line wet braking performance.

Point being, sorta what you already covered, is that usually all things are not equal so going just by one metric seldom gives the complete picture.