The Insitute of Advanced Motorists' Drive and Survive is billed as a leading occupational driver risk management provider. The IAM is itself a leading road safety charity which has the sole aim of improving road safety for everyone. This week's motoring tips, from IAM Drive and Survive's head of training, Simon Elstow, involve car tyres.
Simon recommends regularly checking your car tyres, not least because the portion of each that is keeping you on the road is only the size of a footprint. Even though a car has four contact patches of this size available for use, it is important to be certain that the tyres are working optimally.
An under inflated tyre, Simon points out, will wear far more quickly than one at the correct pressure. Industry experts claim that a 20 percent reduction in pressure can rob a car tyre of up to 30 percent of its useable life. Moreover, ensuring that your tyres are inflated according to the recommendations in the car's handbook can reduce fuel consumption by up to five percent, as compared to the cost in fuel of under inflation.
Simon Elstow also says, “Check tyre pressures when the tyres are cold, at least once a month – and weekly is far better. And don’t be tempted to over-inflate them. This causes poor vehicle handling, reduced stability during braking and cornering, and reduced grip.”
IAM Drive & Survive also recommends checking your car tyres for evidence of wear and damage. Picking up a nail while driving doesn't necessarily mean the tyre is fit only for the scrapheap. Often, a puncture of this kind can be professionally repaired. However, damage caused to a car tyre's sidewalls or its carcass is often a death sentence for the tyre. This is reason enough to drive carefully, avoiding potholes and kerbs. It is also a good reason for carefully inspecting your car tyres. Cuts, lumps and bulges can be a dead giveaway of further, hidden damage. It's better to find out about such damage at pressure-checking time with the car at rest, than it is to suffer tyre failure at speed on a motorway.
The 'tyre-kickers' of this world are best advised to be accurate when checking tyre pressures. Why, for example, do the tyres need to be checked when cold? Because tyre pressure increases with temperature so if the tyres are warm, the pressure readings will be falsely high. So when the tyres cool down, they wind up under inflated.
Is the tyre pressure gauge at your favourite garage accurate? Generally, garage gauges are accurate but it pays to invest in your own gauge too. Why? Because under inflated tyres aren't always easy to spot, unless the pressure in them is way too low. The two minutes it takes to check tyre pressures at home can tell if you'll need to put coins in the garage's tyre machine. What's more, with your own pressure gauge, there's no longer the need to wonder if that at the garage is accurate. Just check it against your trusted pressure gauge.
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Merityre.co.uk are one of the leading UK independent suppliers of car tyres. Why not visit their website for an online tyre quote or contact your nearest fitting centre.
