While a year ago, more than half of Estonian car owners wanted to use lamellar tires, this year the preference is towards studded tires, according to research conducted by If Insurance.
The survey showed that this winter 55 percent of Estonian drivers prefer to drive with studded tires, 43 percent use lamellar tires on their vehicles, and two percent of the respondents have not yet made a choice. Studded tires are used more in rural areas, two-thirds of drivers prefer to use them this winter.
From the survey, it was noticed that the owners of cars up to six years old prefer studded and lamellar tires equally. Owners of vehicles seven years old and older use studded tires more, 60 percent of respondents prefer them.
Lamellar tires are most popular only among drivers who drive a car with a hybrid or electric engine. Among the regions, lamellar tires are used slightly more only in Western Estonia. On the other hand, in Central and Southern Estonia, two-thirds of the drivers use studded tires. This statistic also gives more insight into the fact that the thickness of the snow cover and the weather conditions are decisive arguments for tire selection.
Winter tires could be changed on the car already at low plus degrees, because their tire compound ensures better grip than summer tires. The tire remains more flexible at lower temperatures and maintains better grip with the road surface.
Residents of other Baltic countries use completely different tires than Estonians. If in Estonia 55 percent of vehicles drive around with studded tires, in Latvia this figure is only 16 percent and in Lithuania nine percent. Two thirds of the southern neighbors prefer lamellar tires. At the same time, there are also tires with the M+S mark, which are no longer allowed to be used in winter in Estonia. 24 percent of Lithuanian and 20 percent of Latvian drivers use these tires.
The use of winter tires is mandatory in Estonia from December 1 to March 1.