"I still maintain that i it really worked then Goodyear, Michelin, Sumitomo, Firestone, SOMEBODY would do it factory and advertise the ________ out of its performance advantage. Oh wait they DON'T. Must be a conspiracy to put people in ditches."
It works, that's why pretty much every tire has siping. As mentioned previously these days some mud and rock tires don't, but it's not uncommon for people in colder climates to sipe the inner tread blocks. Some high performance street tires have little siping, but they aren't designed to be general purpose tires.
The question isn't one of whether siping is beneficial, that question has been answered and the existance of siping on most tires is evidence of what the answer is, the question is whether additional siping is benefical. Additional siping is beneficial for winter weather use and to a lesser degree in rainy conditions, that's why most winter tires these days have lots of siping, but there are trade offs like the possibility of chunking, and more flexible tread blocks which improves traction in low traction situations but it can also reduce handling and/or decrease tire life in other situations.
If you believe that every product offered is the best possible product for all situations because someone called an engineer designed it, then sure, enjoy the bliss and be content with the product. If you know that a product design is a compromise of typically many factors and that in some cases it's possible to improve the performance for a given condition while possibly reducing performance in another, then look into the benefits of additional siping.
It works, that's why pretty much every tire has siping. As mentioned previously these days some mud and rock tires don't, but it's not uncommon for people in colder climates to sipe the inner tread blocks. Some high performance street tires have little siping, but they aren't designed to be general purpose tires.
The question isn't one of whether siping is beneficial, that question has been answered and the existance of siping on most tires is evidence of what the answer is, the question is whether additional siping is benefical. Additional siping is beneficial for winter weather use and to a lesser degree in rainy conditions, that's why most winter tires these days have lots of siping, but there are trade offs like the possibility of chunking, and more flexible tread blocks which improves traction in low traction situations but it can also reduce handling and/or decrease tire life in other situations.
If you believe that every product offered is the best possible product for all situations because someone called an engineer designed it, then sure, enjoy the bliss and be content with the product. If you know that a product design is a compromise of typically many factors and that in some cases it's possible to improve the performance for a given condition while possibly reducing performance in another, then look into the benefits of additional siping.