Highway Tires Have the Fuel-Saving Durability and Comfort You Need for Long Drives
Product, Culture | 06/15/2026
What is in this blog:
- Choosing the best type of tire for a road trip
- Tips to make sure that your tires are safe before long drives
- How to check your tire’s tread depth before a road trip
- How to check tire pressure before a road trip
- The Reliable, Economical Voyager H/T Highway Tire for road trips
- The Voyager SV’s best road trip features
- Groundspeed’s Summer Road Trip Safety Checklist
With high fuel prices causing airline tickets prices to rise drastically, many families and individuals are choosing to drive to their summer vacation destinations instead of flying. When preparing for trips involving long-distance driving, drivers want to know what type of tires are best, and how to make sure their tires are in good enough condition to get them all the way there and back while providing safe traction and handling on the drive. The good news is that there are tires designed specifically for long-distance drives to popular summer destinations like beaches, theme parks, campsites, and national parks. Learn more about the ideal tires for road trips, how to make sure your tires are safe for long drives, and check out Groundspeed’s Road Trip Safety Checklist to make sure you’re fully prepared for a safe, relaxing summer vacation.
Choosing The Best Tires for Your Road Trip
Any trip involving driving long distances through different kinds of climates and over various kinds of road conditions demands versatile tires designed for a variety of situations. Drivers going on long-distance trips want tires that are economical, durable, and can maintain handling on dry, hot roads as well as through summer rainstorms and muddy conditions. For these conditions, one category almost perfectly fits these requirements: Highway-Terrain, also called H/T or Highway tires. Highway-Terrain tires, made for Light Trucks, and Highway tires, made for Passenger and CUV/SUV vehicles, are designed to provide a comfortable, low-noise ride, better gas mileage, good traction on dry roads, and include features that combat hydroplaning and maintain handling on wet surfaces.
Highway-Terrain, H/T, or Highway Tires
Highway-Terrain, also called H/T or Highway tires, are ideally suited for road trips because they are designed especially for highway and long-distance driving. A quality H/T tire has features that provide traction, stability, and good handling on dry, hot roads, and also should resist hydroplaning and maintain traction in wet conditions. The tread patterns on Highway-Terrain and Highway tires are usually smoother than other tire types, which reduces rolling resistance, the friction resistance of the tire against the road, which requires more engine power and fuel to roll against. Tires with lower rolling resistance help decrease overall fuel consumption on the drive, and also experience less heat build-up and tread wear during driving, leading to longer tire life.
Summer road-trippers are not likely to encounter snow, but tires with enhanced traction features, including the Three-Peak Mountain Snowflake or Mud + Snow Rating, can provide enhanced handling and traction in rain and mud that may occur in summer. For tires that can provide this extra traction, look for an H/T or an All-Season Highway tire with the M+S symbol stamped on the sidewall, showing that it is Mud + Snow Rated, or the Three-Peak Mountain Snowflake (3PMSF) symbol, showing that it is rated for traction even in severe snow conditions.
How to Give Your Tires a Safety Check Before a Road Trip
Before any long-distance drive, it’s extremely important to check your tires to make sure they are safe to drive on. Here are some safety checks that you should never forget to do anytime you’re about to take a long drive to make sure your tire is safe, or to determine if you need new tires first. Checking your tires will help you avoid tire blowouts or flats on the road, and give you extra peace of mind this summer.
- Make sure your tires are not too old. Check the DOT number on the tire sidewall, and make sure it’s no more than 5 years past the date listed there. The DOT number is a series of 10-13 numbers stamped on the sidewall of the tire. Look for the last 4 digits, which tell you the week of the year (from the first to the 52nd), and the year the tire was manufactured. For example, a DOT number with the last four digits of 1520 means that the tire was manufactured in the 15th week of the year 2020.
- Check that your tread depth is no less than 3/32nds of an inch. Use a quality tread depth gauge, or if you don’t have one, you can use a penny! Learn how to do this later in this blog.
- Check your tire pressure when your tires are “cool” (hasn’t been driven on for several hours) to ensure a correct pressure reading. Add or release air from the tire based on the manufacturer’s recommendations, keeping in mind extra vehicle weight from campers, trailers, or other weight. Learn how to check tire air pressure further along in this blog.
- Look closely at your tires for signs of wear or damage like sidewall splitting or cracking, embedded objects, or other types of wear that could indicate tire deterioration.
- Check for irregular tire wear, such as tread that is worn down more on one section of your tire than on another, or in specific patterns like diagonal lines across the tire tread. If you see irregular wear, it’s probably a tire pressure or alignment problem, and you should check with an auto repair shop to diagnose and fix the issue.
- Make sure to check that your spare tire is also in good condition, without cracks or splits in the rubber.
How to Check Your Tire’s Tread Depth Before a Road Trip
A tire’s tread depth directly affects its traction, braking, and handling, and especially at high speeds or on wet surfaces. For this reason, it’s absolutely crucial to check that your tires have adequate tread before long distance drives. In the US, tire tread is measured in 32nds of an inch, and legally tires must have 2/32nds of an inch of tread to be considered safe. However, you should have a depth of 4/32nds to 6/32nds of an inch of tread for the best traction, handling, and especially for good control on wet roads and in rain.
If you’re not sure how to check your tire tread depth, here are two easy step-by-step guides.
How to Check Tire Tread Depth with a Tread Depth Gauge
- Start with the gauge at 0/32nds” by placing it on a flat surface, and pressing so that the measuring pin is fully inside the outer tube.
- Carefully insert the gauge into the tread groove. Hold the base of the gauge firmly against the tread of the tire.
- Carefully remove the gauge, making sure not to move it, which will alter the reading. Check the tread depth reading on the gauge.
- Do this at several points around the circumference of the tire to make sure the reading is consistent, and to make sure there is no irregular wear.
How to Check Tire Tread Depth with a Penny or Quarter
While it’s not as accurate as using a tire tread gauge, you can use a penny to check if your tire has more than 2/32nds of an inch of tread left, or a quarter to check if it has 4/32nds of an inch or more of tread left.
To use a penny to check tire tread depth, hold the penny so that Lincoln’s head is upside down. Insert the upside-down penny into the tread groove. If you can see the top of Lincoln’s head, your tire only has 2/32nds of an inch of tread left (or less). If this is the case, getting new tires would be essential before taking a long drive or road trip.
To use a quarter to check tire tread depth, hold the quarter so that Washington’s head is upside down, and insert the quarter into the tread groove. If you can see the top of Washington’s head, your tread depth is 4/32nds of an inch or less. If this is the case, check with a tread depth gauge to make sure it’s 2/32nds” or more to ensure that your tires are legal and safe to be driven on. You should replace your tires ahead of a long road trip if they have less than 4/32nds” to be confident that you’ll have safe traction, handling and braking in both dry and wet weather.
How to Check Your Tire Pressure Before a Road Trip
Tire pressure also affects tire performance in several ways, including how quickly it wears, its braking, handling and responsiveness, and its gas mileage. Since air and road temperature directly affects the air pressure inside the tire, it’s important to know the correct air pressure for your tires and vehicle, and how to make sure you’re measuring it correctly. Check your vehicle’s maintenance manual, or the sticker on your car inside the panel of the drivers-side door, which will tell you the recommended tire pressure (PSI) for your tires.
Hot weather or driving on the tire will increase the temperature of the air inside the tire, causing it to expand and tire pressure to increase, so make sure to check tire pressure in the morning when the tires are cool, before you’ve driven.
If you need to drive to another location to check tire pressure, make sure the drive is no longer than 5 minutes or around 1 mile to keep the tires cool. If your drive is longer than that, once you arrive you can wait for around 30 min for your tires to cool before measuring. Add, or release air according to your PSI reading, keeping in mind that vehicles carrying heavier loads may require higher air pressure (but do not exceed the maximum pressure listed on the tire sidewall!).
Voyager H/T: Groundspeed’s Reliable, Economical Highway Tire for Road Trips
The Voyager H/T is a light truck and CUV/SUV tire that is purpose-built for a quieter, more comfortable ride. The optimal middle tread pattern and continuous center rib improve driving stability at highway speeds, working together with the wide circumferential tread grooves that increase high-speed driving stability. These circumferential tread grooves also help to quickly evacuate water from the tread, combating hydroplaning on wet road conditions.
For comfort during long drives, the Voyager H/T’s noise-reducing shoulder design blocks road noise coming from the center of the tire, and the variable tread pattern is optimized for noise-reduction, all culminating in a quieter, more enjoyable ride. In the case of mud or snow, the Voyager H/T is Mud + Snow Rated for traction in light muddy or snowy conditions, and the tread features snow sipes that maximize traction in the snow, and improve braking performance, while maintaining stability at high speeds. The Voyager H/T also comes with Groundspeed’s GroundUp! 50K Mileage Warranty and Road Hazard Coverage.
The Voyager SV’s Best Road Trip Features
Groundspeed’s premium highway tire for Passenger and CUV/SUV vehicles is the Voyager SV. The Voyager SV brings All-Season traction control and comfort to long-distance drives in dry or wet conditions, and is highly efficient at highway speeds year-round. Its larger shoulders are purposefully designed for steady cornering and stability, while the center control rib provides extra control and handling while driving at high speeds. The tread pattern features a variable groove pattern which reduces noise, for a quiet, comfortable ride,
This highway tire features a grip-optimized tread for enhanced braking performance, and the larger block design enhances dry grip handing and steering. 3D grooves on the tire’s shoulder ensure even tread wear and further improve overall dry-braking performance. Several features of the Voyager SV’s tread contribute to handling performance on wet roads as well, such as an asymmetrical tread pattern, and-wet traction grooves for quick water evacuation and increased wet-traction performance. For added assurance for the drive, this tire is Mud + Snow Rated, with speed ratings up to T, H, and V, and Groundspeed’s GroundUP! 50K Mileage Warranty and Road Hazard Coverage.
Groundspeed’s Summer Road Trip Safety Checklist
Make sure you’re fully prepared for your road trip to keep your vacation as stress-free as possible with this Summer Road Trip Safety Checklist. Here are some important things to check before heading out on the road:
- Check your tire’s tread depth to make sure it’s at least 2/32nds of an inch deep, and ideally 4/32nds to 6/32nds deep.
- Check your tire pressure and adjust if needed. Make sure to check tire pressure before tires have been driven on, or several hours after driving for more than a few minutes.
- Check your vehicle’s fluid levels: Coolant, brake fluid, engine oil, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, and windshield wiper fluid.
- Take your vehicle to an auto repair shop or dealership for a safety inspection, including brake condition and wear.
- At the dealership or auto repair shop, ask for an engine air filter check, and replace if it is clogged or dirty.
- Ask a dealership or auto repair shop to check that the engine cooling system is functioning well and no components show signs of deterioration.
- Check your tires closely for signs of puncture, such as a sharp object embedded in the tread or groove, cracking, bald spots, bulging, or irregular wear. If any of these are seen, replace the tire as soon as possible.
- Check all headlights, brake lights, running lights, and high-beams to make sure they are all working, and replace or repair any burnt-out lights.
- Make sure all your windows and mirrors are clean.
- Check the condition of your spare tire, and replace if needed.
- Make sure you have a jack, lug wrench (tire iron), wheel chocks, a flashlight, and a blanket/mat in case you have to install your spare tire.
- Check to make sure your air conditioning doesn’t need repair or a recharge.
- Restock your emergency kit, water, non-perishable food, and other emergency supplies.
- Program the number for your preferred roadside assistance company into your phone, and have your membership information available.