Mendip Living Oct - Nov 2020

Keeping you
on track
All you need to know about car
tyres for safe driving this Winter...
There’s just four small patches of rubber each about the size of
your hand that are keeping your car in touch with the road so
having the right tyres, in good condition and correctly inflated is
vital for your safety.
Checking your tyres:
• Helps keep you and your family safe.
• Saves you money by making your tyres last longer.
• Keeps you on the right side of the law.
There’s no legal requirement to stick with the same tyres, but
car and tyre manufacturers do work closely together during the
development of a new car model to select the size and tread
pattern best suited to the car. They’ll consider things like noise
and handling as well as the look of the vehicle so changing brand
or pattern could affect handling or mean more noise.
New tyres to the front or back?
Check your handbook first but if it doesn’t give any specific
advice then, whether your car’s front-wheel drive or rear-wheel
drive the best/newest tyres should be on the back.
Making sure you have your best tyres on the back will favour
‘understeer’ rather than ‘oversteer’ when grip is limited such as
in very wet or cold conditions.
• Understeer – the car tends to go straight on even though
you’re turning the wheel.
• Oversteer – the back end breaks free and the car is likely
to spin.
Tyres with deeper tread grooves are less likely to puncture too
and it’s more difficult to control a car with a damaged rear tyre
than one with a damaged front tyre.
Basic legal requirements
Your tyres must:
• Be compatible with the others on the car.
• Be in a generally good physical condition.
• Be correctly inflated to the recommended pressure.
• Have sufficient tread and depth of tread – at least 1.6mm
in the centre ¾ of the tread in a continuous band around
the tyre.
You don’t have to carry a spare and it doesn’t have to meet the
legal requirements while it’s stowed away but must do if you
use it.
30 | www.mendipliving.co.uk