Tire siping...just curious.

[mgold]

I saw that vlad's winter tires that he had for sale have siping (fine cuts in the tread) done to them. My buddy works at Les Schwab and swears by the procedure, even with performance tires. Anyone have experience with having that done?

[rayz]

it supposed to extend the life of the tires, and work better for wet conditions as it creates channels. for daily driving its okay, i dont think people will do it to their track tires.

[Schnell 318]

what exactly is it?

[mgold]

Here's a description from the Americas Tire website

http://www.americastire.com/dtc/brochure/tire/tireSiping.jsp

and an article from 4x4 review

http://www.4x4review.com/tech/siping.asp

or right to the source...

http://sipers.com/sipers/index_large.asp

I'm just curious how well it works on street tires and if you can autocross on siped tires.

[onenicebimmer]

Well, siping my 33" Super Swamper TSL (for the Jeep) greatly improved the traction on wet pavement. But, I don't know how much it would actually help a street tire.

[BahnE30]

sipe them tires definatly increases wet traction and greatly improves treadlife but it dosn't hinder dry performance

[Erick]

My only question is..... if it is so great, why dont tire manufactures sipe their own tires?

[Jand3rson]

My only question is..... if it is so great, why dont tire manufactures sipe their own tires?

Cost. The equipment to do it to such a mass quantity would cost millions of dollars, and drive the pirce of tires up through the roof.

[Erick]

Interesting. How much does it cost to sipe tires?

[rayz]

i think it would cost about 25 bucks a tire, less if you buy new ones and have it done.
they asked me if i wanted it done when i bought tires, but my falkens already have alot of grooves