Should I Break-In New Tires?

Did you just invest in a new set of tires for the summer season? If so, you’ll want to make sure you take care of that investment. Tires aren’t cheap, and play a huge role in the overall safety of your vehicle. Here’s how to treat new rubber.

Just like a new pair of shoes, your new tires need to be “broken in” for comfort and performance. Unlike a new pair of shoes, there’s a real safety aspect to the reasoning behind the breaking-in period as it applies to tires.

Go easy for the first 500 Kms

During manufacturing, tires are coated with a release lubricant to help them release from their moulds after the curing process. Some of the lubricants remain on the surface of the tires, and until this layer completely wears away it can noticeably reduce traction, making sharp accelerations or turns slippery and potentially dangerous. About 500 km of easy driving passes quickly and will ensure the lubricant is worn off safely and completely.

Tires are composed of several layers of materials including rubber, steel, and fabric. Driving sensibly for 500 km allows time for the load of your vehicle to naturally break these layers in, and for the different components to start working together. This will deliver the best performance and ride quality.

Your new tires may feel different

If you’ve just replaced your tires, it’s probably because your old tires had very little tread left. With worn treads, the tires tend to respond a bit quicker, because there’s less tread there to flex and grab the road during cornering and quick turns. You might notice your new tires feel quite different, and more sticky in the turns due to the deeper tread that tends to flex and be less responsive than your old tires. Even if you have replaced your old tires with the exact same brand and model.

It’s exciting to get new tires and you probably want to test out that rubber, everyone from automotive professionals to Harley riders know the benefits of taking it easy for a couple of weeks. Be patient and don’t try to artificially hurry the process along by scuffing your tires with soap and steel wool, as there’s no way to tell if the lubricant is actually completely off or not. Let your tires break in naturally, which is nothing more than going easy in the first couple of hard corners until the shine is knocked off them.

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