Protyre News

As one of the country’s leading tyre experts – along with many other vehicle-related services – the team at Protyre deal with many, many enquiries from UK motorists. Offering impartial, expert tyre advice is something we’re very happy to provide. But we’re not the only ones.

Premium tyre manufacturer, Continental, have an unrivalled track record of not just providing excellent tyres and driver safety advice, but of being a leading light in the on-going campaign to help ensure motorists around the world are as safe on the road as they can be – part of their Vision Zero initiative, the quest to achieve zero fatalities, zero injuries and zero accidents.

With this in mind, here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about tyres, and tyre safety.

How important is it that I check my tyres?

It’s really, really important – and on a regular basis, too! Only checking your tyres now and again is better than not at all, but if you want to be sure that they’re in the best condition, it pays to do so regularly. The reason for this is that your tyres are so important for your driver safety, and they undergo a lot of stress each time you drive.

Your tyres are the only part of your vehicle that is constantly in contact with the road, but even then the contact patch of each tyre is only about the size of a large smartphone. When you think about it, that’s not really a lot, is it? When you remember that your tyres generate the essential grip you need to not only control your vehicle, but brake safely too, you begin to realise just how important they are.

When undertaking regular inspections, you should include checking for tyre wear – especially that for tyre tread depths – and tyre damage. You also need to keep an eye on your tyre pressures too. If you do all of this on a regular basis, you’ll help to ensure your tyres remain in optimum condition, and this in turn will help to keep you safer on the road.

What is tyre tread depth? Why is it important?

Your tyre treads are the grooves that run along the central length of your tyre. They play such a important role because they’re responsible for clearing any water from between your tyres and the road surface. Without good tyre tread depth, your tyres find this harder to do, and as a result generate less grip.

In dry weather conditions this is not so bad, but on wet roads it’s a different story. With good tread depth – both Protyre and Continental recommend a minimum of 3 mm – your tyres are more likely to be able to cope in rainy conditions. Less than this amount – even as low as the UK road legal minimum of 1.6 mm – and you’re at risk of slipping and sliding dangerously, and losing control when it’s wet.

You’ll also need longer stopping distances to come to a safe and full stop. That means an increased chance of having a collision – both with vehicles, and anyone who runs into the road. Independent braking distance tests conclusively demonstrate that it can take up to twice as far to come to a stop with 1.6 mm of tread depth, compared to 3 mm, in wet weather conditions.

And in the event you have even less than 1.6 mm of tyre tread depth, you’ll not only endanger your own driver safety, but that of your passengers and fellow road users as well. With illegal tyres fitted, you’ll also be risking a large fine, and penalty points on your licence, if you’re caught by the police – to the tune of £2,500 and three points for each tyre. It simply isn’t worth risking lives and your finances for, is it?

How do I measure my tread depths?

Easy. Tyres come with a TWI – tread wear indicator – for 1.6 mm, so when you get down to this level of tread you’ll be able to see. However, as we stated earlier, 3 mm is much, much better to drive on. Continental agree too, which is why all of their 5 series and above premium tyres – like the award winning PremiumContact™ 6 – have TWIs at 3 mm too.

And because you now know what a difference this extra tread depth can have on reducing your stopping distances, it makes sense to look out for the 3 mm TWI – when you regularly inspect your tyres – and when you see it change them, right?

You can also check your tyres quickly and easily with the “20p Test”. Learn more.

What are my correct tyre pressures?

Not so easy to answer, since tyre pressures will not only vary from vehicle to vehicle, but also differ depending on whether your car is laden or unladen. There’s a value for each state, and these will usually be placed on either the inside of the driver door, or inside the fuel cap. Check both to see where your values are located.
Your pressures matter because having your tyres inflated to the correct values will allow them to perform optimally. Conversely, if your tryes are either under inflated or over inflated, you won’t get the best out of them. In either case, there are negative consequences – some economic, some performance related, some that threaten your driver safety. For all of these reasons, it makes sense to regularly check that your tyre pressures are correct.

If a vehicle is fitted with under inflated tyres, the driver runs the risk of uneven tyre wear, typically at the outside edges of the tyre. This is due to the (incorrect) shape of an under inflated tyre – too flat at the bottom. This squashed shape means that more of the tyre edge makes contact with the road – as well as kerbs if you scuff them while parking – and as a result uneven wear takes place. This unnecessary increased contact also results in drivers using more fuel – an additional expense that nobody needs.

With over inflated tyres there’s also tyre wear, but in this case it takes place along the centre of the tyre – where your main tyre tread grooves are. This is because the taller-in-height, narrower-in-width shape of over inflated tyres places the contact with the road along the tyre’s centre, causing increased wear just where you need the most grip. And with over inflation, there’s also an increased risk of tyre blowout and puncture, because of the tyres being too taut. Over inflation means there isn’t enough flex and give in the tyre to absorb shocks and impacts.

For all these reasons, checking your pressures as part of your regular tyre inspection really does make good sense.

I’m a good driver. How long will my tyres last for?

While that good to hear, it’s tricky to say, as the time your tyres will last for comes down to many factors, most notably how often you drive, how you actually drive; and the quality of your tyres.

If you’re the kind of driver who only uses their vehicle occasionally – such as for short runs into town for the weekly shop, or even every day for the school run – you’re likely to incur much less tyre wear than say, for instance, a sales rep travelling thousands of miles each year at high speed up and down the motorway. It stands to reason, right?

However, tyre wear is also dependent on the way you drive. If you put large amounts of stress on your tyres – such as by cornering quickly, or braking late – it will have a negative impact on your tyres, with more wear likely to take place. And so will the amount – and the regularity – of the bumping and bashing your tyres have to endure, such as any scuffs and scrapes when attempting to park, or impacts from potholes.

But even all of these variables can be exacerbated or dimished by another factor – the quality of your tyres. While we know from many years experience that to most UK motorists “all tyres look the same”, the truth is somewhat different. Each tyre manufacturer creates their own compounds – some which are of a very high quality, some… not so good. This makes a tremendous difference to not just the safety characteristics of a tyre, but its longevity too.

In an exact like for like usage comparison, premium tyres will perform better than cheaper, budget tyres. That’s not just our opinion, but also that of independent tyre testers as well. Learn more about premium tyres vs budget tyres.

Ultimately, however, all tyres – both premiums and budgets – will eventually wear down to a point where they need changing. But with premium tyres – such as Continental’s award winning SportContact™ 6 – you’ll not only get infinitely better handling performance and safety characteristics, but – in an exact like for like usage comparison – better longevity too.

We’ll be answering more of your tyre FAQs soon, in part two of this feature.

Talk to Protyre for tyre expertise

At Protyre we have an experienced, dedicated team of tyre professionals, all expertly trained to answer any tyre questions you may have. If you’ve got a question, or need impartial advice, drop by your local Protyre garage today.