Rating tire traction?

[JDgreen227]

The past 3 years I have purchased 3 sets of new all-season radials from Discount Tire, and in preparation for being an informed consumer I read customer reviews of tires plus published opinions from Consumer Reports, etc. While I am happy with the tire choices I made, sometimes I wonder just how you can measure whether one tire is better than another traction wise...what with the introduction of ABS and traction control, how does someone measure tire traction? Prior to ABS you could go 60 mph, lock up all 4 wheels, and measure the skid marks....whatever tire had shorter skid marks obviously had better dry braking grip.

And I might rate my Cooper all-season radials as a 9 on a 1-10 scale for snow traction...but compared to WHAT? Obviously they will be better than the worn-out originals...but how much better?

 

[94BULLITT]

The past 3 years I have purchased 3 sets of new all-season radials from Discount Tire, and in preparation for being an informed consumer I read customer reviews of tires plus published opinions from Consumer Reports, etc. While I am happy with the tire choices I made, sometimes I wonder just how you can measure whether one tire is better than another traction wise...what with the introduction of ABS and traction control, how does someone measure tire traction? Prior to ABS you could go 60 mph, lock up all 4 wheels, and measure the skid marks....whatever tire had shorter skid marks obviously had better dry braking grip.

And I might rate my Cooper all-season radials as a 9 on a 1-10 scale for snow traction...but compared to WHAT? Obviously they will be better than the worn-out originals...but how much better?

You can get a littile bit of an idea of the traction rating on the sidewall of the tire. I have heard you really can't compare numbers between manufacturers though. With stickier tires ABS and traction control will not engage as much.