According to research carried out in May 2011 it's official. What's official? That we don't all maintain our car tyres properly and this is proving costly in more ways than one. For their study, statisticians checked out 2,700 car tyres across the UK and uncovered some disturbing statistics.
The study showed that more than two thirds of cars in the UK are being driven with tyre pressures at least 3 psi below the manufacturer's recommendation. According the study, the average amount of under inflation is 5.75psi, a staggering 18 per cent below the recommended figure. It is estimated that UK motorists are wasting £993 million on additional fuel to compensate for the drag caused by under inflated car tyres. Under inflation can also cause poor braking and handling, and can lead to tread damage and even blowouts. The study also found that nearly ten per cent of cars had a difference of 10 psi or more between tyres on the the same axle. If you've ever driven a car with such a prssure mismatch, you'll know how unstable it felt.
Over inflation of car tyres also reared its ugly head. The study revealed that one in seven cars are tottering around with at least one tyre that has 3 psi or more pressure in it than the manufacturer recommends. This can quickly cause irregular tread wear and may lead to bulging of the tyre's sidewalls.
The car tyre that's usually out of sight and therefore out of mind was also found to be lacking, specifically in terms of air pressure. On average, the spare tyre was under inflated by a whopping 18 psi, 44 per cent lower than the recommended average pressure of 44 psi. So, many a driver needing to use the spare tyre could be in for a nasty shock. Fitting the spare wheel and carrying on regardless on a soft tyre may not be grounds for an immediate accident but it remains potentially disastrous. It's worth noting that space saver spare tyres generally have to be inflated to a much higher pressure. This, probably up to 60 psi, is almost twice the pressure used in a conventional car tyre.
Should a car tyre prove incapable of holding its pressure, this could be down to a puncture or slow leak at the valve. Such problems are usually cheaply and easily fixed at a good tyre bay. For those concerned about the pressure in their spare tyre, there's the option of having it inflated with nitrogen. The molecules in nitrogen are both bigger and drier than those in normal compressed air, so the tyre will maintain its correct pressure for longer.
So, in among these sobering statistics, is there an encouraging figure? In short, is anybody getting it right? There is but it hardly makes for any degree of self-congratulation. According to the study, there are motorists driving around with all four car tyres inflated to the recommended pressure. However, haloes are thin on the ground…only four per cent of the motorists surveyed could boast that they were travelling on correctly inflated tyres.
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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.
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