Getting those new tires just got easier!

Just in time to help with selecting those new tires, the Curry's website has a new tire selector and fitment guide to help you peruse your options online. All it takes is a few clicks and you can enter your vehicle information and you'll be able to see what your options are in an instant. Tell us where you are and your nearest Curry's location will either call or email you with an accurate quote for the tires you selected.

Now, the first question we always get asked is, "Why do I have to get a quote, can't I just order them online, then come in and have them fitted?"



The obvious answer is yes, but we chose a quoting system over a purchasing system for several reasons:

1. To get YOU the right tire for your car we need to know some extra things: 

• What's your driving style? 
• Do you have a short commute or do you do long distance drives every day? 
• Do you mainly use freeways or are you using smaller urban roads? 

1. Certain tires may have exclusive manufacturer incentives that don't show up in catalog systems. 
2. We may have a Curry's exclusive offer that will get you the right tire, at the right price. 
3. We like to offer you a selection of comparable tires by multiple manufacturers. 
4. We can discuss the benefits of value added services that may be the difference between keeping your tires for 80,000 miles or having to repair or replace them before that. 

How important is it to have the proper tires installed on your vehicle?

Does it really matter what type of rubber meets the road?

All of our Curry's associates will give you the same answer to those question - an unequivocal ‘yes’.  Choosing the correct tires for you vehicle is comparable to buying the right shoes. You want a comfortable shoe but if you are running you need a running shoe and if you are dressing up you need a dress shoe. So too should you make sure the tires installed on your vehicle match it's specifications.

Tires are essential to the performance, handling, and safety of any vehicle—whether it’s a custom hot rod or a daily driver. All of our staff are trained to follow these initial five steps:

Identify the Need
The most important reason to buy a new set of tires is safety. Worn tires will cause loss of traction and reduced ability to stop, particularly in inclement weather. Inspect your tires for wear and follow these guidelines:

• Tires are considered worn at 1/16-inch minimum tread depth
• Tread depth of 1/8-inch or less means a significant loss of wet traction 
• Tread depth of 3/16-inch or less leads to traction loss in snowy conditions
• Irregular wear necessitates early tire replacement

Replacing all four tires is the best case scenario; however, if you need one tire (due to damage, a defect, irregular wear, etc.), we recommend that you replace it with a tire that has a similar speed rating and load capacity to your three remaining tires.

Review the Ratings
Another reason people replace tires is to achieve better performance. Tires use a variety of tread designs, which incorporate tread blocks for traction, sipes and grooves for wet-weather handling, and tread shoulders for cornering ability. You can choose from many tread designs, but you should always follow the tire manufacturer’s speed ratings.

Generally speaking, the speed rating directly affects a tire’s handling response. For example, you will sacrifice handling and high-speed performance by choosing a tire with a lower speed rating than the OE tire. Conversely, you can improve your vehicle's handling with a higher speed-rated tire. Here is a list of speed ratings and corresponding speeds—remember these are test speeds, not recommended speeds:

• Q-rated -  up to 100 miles per hour 
• R-rated  -  up to 106 miles per hour
• S-rated  -  up to 112 miles per hour
• T-rated  -  up to 118 miles per hour
• U-rated  -  up to 124 miles per hour
• H-rated  -  up to 130 miles per hour
• V-rated  -  up to 149 miles per hour
• W-rated  -  up to 168 miles per hour
• Y-rated  -  up to 186 miles per hour 
• Z-rated  -  149 miles per hour and over

More importantly the speed rating also refers to the stiffness of the side wall and steering response. Which means in real world that the lower the speed rating the slower the steering response meaning an increase in the steering input and an additional time delay to basic turning maneuvers or accident avoidance. So a higher speed rating increases your chance of a more stable car when the time comes to change directions, which is a daily event for most drivers.

Choose a Size
Most people replace old tires with the same size that was on the vehicle. There are various locations you can check to determine tire size: tire sidewall, vehicle owner’s manual, and vehicle tire placard (this is usually located inside the glove box door, fuel door, doorpost, or door edge of your vehicle). Keep in mind, though, that you can often improve ride and performance by changing the size of your tires.All the Curry's teams will discuss any options for ride and performance improvement with you once they understand your needs.

Consider the Conditions
Driving conditions are a major factor in choosing the right tires. For example, a person who lives in the Northeast will often choose a different tire than someone living in Florida or California because of varying weather conditions. Off-road enthusiasts will pick a different tread and tire size than someone who sticks to the street.

For seasonal extremes—snowy winters to summer droughts—consider all-season tires. These tires are ideal for drivers who need good performance and traction for all possible driving conditions throughout the year. All-season tires are a convenient, affordable alternative to swapping out seasonal tires.

Choose seasonal tires for superior performance and traction during a particular season or climate. Seasonal tires provide better performance and traction over all-season tires, which are not purpose-made for any specific driving condition. In non-snowy climates, for example, summer or dry type designs are emerging as year-round favorites. These designs feature far superior dry handling and traction with wet performance ranging from acceptable to excellent. Performance enthusiasts who live in more extreme winter climates also use these new designs when seasons allow and change over to winter tires once the snow begins to fall.

Make sure you also consider terrain when choosing tire design. This is especially important if you drive a pickup or SUV that sees off-road duty. In terms of traction, designs range from HT (highway tread) to AP (all-purpose) to AT (all-terrain) to MT (mud terrain) in order of aggressive tread design. You can pick tread aggressiveness according to your needs, but be mindful of the highway ride quality tradeoff. Highway ride quality diminishes as the tread design becomes more aggressive so make an honest assessment of your driving habits to strike the right balance.

Know Your Rubber/Don’t Skimp

Each year, tire manufacturers are developing new specialized designs for the wide array of vehicles on the road. You can choose anything from long-lasting, tires to style-conscious, ultra-high performance tires. No matter what you need, we’ve got the tires to meet your demands!

Getting it right...

Once we have all this information from you we can start to help you make the best informed decision on your tire choice for your vehicle, and then get you the BEST price to get you back on the road safely and with a new found confidence.

So next time you need tires, by all means use our online tire selector but think about all the other considerations before heading online and buying, with an average 30 years of tire and repair experience across all of our stores it doesn't hurt to ask the experts...