Siping is a practice of cutting extra fine slits or cuts to the tire thread surface to improve tire traction during inclement winter weather which often creates slippery road conditions.

According to some tests, siping is known to help a little on snow-covered or icy roads, although it may diminish tire traction when the road is wet or dry. It typically costs you $60 – $80 for a set of four tires (AAA.com/world, Consumer Report).  Tire dealerships typically charge around $15 or more to sipe tires. Pros and cons of siping are:

Pros:

• Improve a tire’s snow and ice-biting ability in snowy and icy days

Cons:

• Invalidate the tire maker’s warranty and cause premature or uneven tire wear
• braking distances on wet and dry pavement were a few feet longer
• There is no need to modify tire design, since today’s tires already use siping in the way that there are designed and manufactured after rigorous many tests and experiments