If you’re the frugal type and prefer to buy used, Brampton has a few used tire stores to choose from: Noble Tire, JoTires, and Alpha Tire. If you’d rather spend more to get custom tires and rims, check out Car Kraze Tires and Wheels, or drive over to Mississauga to Z Racing Wheels and Tires.
How to Tell When You Need New Tires
You’ve probably heard about the “Lincoln Penny Test,” in which you’re supposed to jam a penny into your tire tread and see if the top of Lincoln’s head is covered.
We do not endorse this method. As is clear from the whole “Lincoln” part of the test, this test was designed by Americans for Americans. It does not test for the tread depth you need on a Canadian road.
The Lincoln Penny Test shows you if your tread is 2/32” deep (about 1.6 mm). This is a safe depth for driving on a dirty dry road in the California desert, but almost nowhere else. To avoid hydroplaning in wet conditions, you need space for water to escape from under your tires, which means a tread at least 4/32” (3.2 mm) deep. To be safe of snow, you need at least 6/32” (4.8 mm) remaining tread.
What are the Best Tires for Brampton Winters?
Like the Lincoln Penny Test, tire designations are intended for Americans, not Canadians. For example, a typical “All-Season Tire” starts to harden around 7 degrees Celsius, becoming hard as glass around the -10 Celsius mark. Clearly, the “All Season”s in this case do not include a Brampton winter.
Only winter tires will do, and of the winter tires, only ones tested for Canadian winters are good enough. To find them look for an alpine symbol on the sidewall that looks like this:
Source: Goodyear
Our particular recommendations are the Motomaster Winter Edge, which places the tread blocks at an angle to prevent them from shifting on cold pavement, and the Bridgestone Blizzak series, which excellently wicks away moisture in slushy and snowy conditions. That's all the marketing jargon, however, in our experience, a set of Blizzak WS-80s is unmatched in the snow. They might be a bit pricey but worth every penny compared to any other winter tire.
If you’re renting a car in Brampton, ask ahead and see if you can get one with winter tires.
How To Know the Size of Your Tires
On the sidewall of each tire is a string of letters and numbers, like P215/65 R15. The P stands for “Passenger Vehicle.” The next three numbers are the tire’s width, in mm, and the two numbers after the slash are the ratio of the tire’s width to its height. But what really matter are the numbers after the R (for “radial”) that indicate the wheel’s diameters, in inches. For the example above, the tire would fit a wheel with a diameter of 15”.
How to Know the Size of your Rims
Your rim size isn’t written on your rims. In addition, it’s difficult to measure the rim size yourself, because rim sizes are measured from the inner contact point with the tire, not the outer edge. Fortunately, rim size and wheel size are the same thing, so, if you have a tire, you can just take the last two numbers after the R.
Popular Rims Styles
In Ontario, we’re seeing an increasing move towards fuel efficiency, and part of efficiency comes from weight. The type of weight that matters most on your car is it's un-sprung weight in other words anything that is not being supported by the suspension. Wheels are the heaviest un-sprung parts on your car so are probably one of the best things to weight reduce on a vehicle.
Efficiency is nice, but the real benefits of spending the price of a small used car on ultralight rims comes when you turn the steering wheel and put your foot down. Your car will feel light on its feet and much faster as less power will be wasted trying to turn heavy steel rims. For ultralight wheels, you can’t do better than OZ Ultraleggera HLT or Rays Gram Lights if you are on a tighter budget.
Always remember however, the car's performance can never exceed that of your tires so make sure to pair your ultralight rims with worthy rubber. Our number one and only recommendation when it comes to dry performance... Bridgestone RE71R. They might not last as long as other competitors but are unmatched in terms of instant grip on dry pavement.
Source: TDOT Performance
Prefer something with a little more impact? We’ve seen a lot of buzz among enthusiasts for Rotiform CCVs, aftermarket rims that look incredible on modern luxury vehicles.
Source: Rotiform
Whatever you choose, show some patriotism and get in installed somewhere local. Buy Brampton!
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