How a tyre's tread pattern deals with water

The key to a good tyre is traction. That’s the grip of the tyre on the road. The friction between rubber (your tyres) and the road is a good one, but when the roads are wet your tyres are sitting on a layer of water. Without tread, your car would stand a good chance of aquaplaning. Treads work to create channels on your tyre, that allow water to pass through whilst your tyre maintains stable contact with the road. The same principle applies when driving in mud or snow too. Typically, the deeper the grooves on your tread, the better the traction in wet conditions.

It’s probably safe to say that even if you didn’t know what a tyre’s tread did before now, you’d heard the word ‘tread’ and would know what you were looking at. But, what about sipes - ever heard of them? Whilst the tread on your tyres does a pretty good job of removing most of the water in your paths way, a very thin layer often remains. This is where sipes come into action. Treads have lots of smaller grooves called, you guessed it, sipes. These work to disperse that remaining thin layer of water on your tyres to provide you with better traction.