Our tyre safety tips will help to keep you safer on the road

Asda Tyres are one of the UK’s leading tyre retailers, and we have vast experience of providing motorists with impartial, expert tyre safety advice. It’s in everyone’s interest for as many people as possible to familiarise themselves with the essential tyre safety tips that can make us all safer on the road.

With this in mind, our expert tyre team have compiled these useful tyre safety tips for your consideration. It’s intended to not only keep you, your passengers, and your fellow drivers safer, but also help you to make a more informed tyre purchasing choice. It’s important to get this right, since your tyres play a vital role.

Good tyre tread depth give you the grip you need

Tyre treads – those grooves that run along your tyre – were first introduced to the world in 1904, by premium tyre manufacturer, Continental. They’re arguably the most important tyre safety factor for ensuring your driver safety, because it’s the treads that clear water from the road surface, providing you with the grip you need. This is vital for maintaining control while you drive, particularly when cornering, overtaking, and braking.

So what’s the difference between good tread depth and bad?

Good tread depth allows your tyres to clear water faster. A new set of tyres – like Continental’s award winning ContiPremiumContact™ 5 – the majority of new tyres come with up to 8mm of tread depth. Combined with the superior rubber compound that this tyre is made from, good tread depth gives drivers the optimum grip they need to stay safer, especially in wet weather conditions. Says who? Says leading UK car magazine, Auto Express, which named the ContiPremiumContact™ 5 as its Ultimate Tyre Test 2017 award winner, taking top spot for the dry handling, wet handling and wet braking categories.

By comparison, as your tread depth wears down, tyres provide significantly less grip. In wet weather conditions (and goodness knows we get more than enough rainy days in the UK, right?) a lack of grip increases your chances of having an accident. Why? For starters, longer stopping distances mean that when you brake you can’t come to a safe stop as quickly, increasing the risk of collision. And if you need to suddenly swerve – especially at high speed – a lack of grip increases your chances of losing control and sliding off – or across – the road (possibly into oncoming traffic).

And, while UK road legal minimum tyre tread depth is 1.6mm, leading tyre experts – including Asda Tyres, Continental, and TyreSafe (the UK tyre organisation that we are a member of) – believe that you should change your tyres before their tread gets this low. In our opinion, tyres should be replaced when the tread is down to 3mm.

It doesn’t sound like much of a difference, but by following our tyre safety advice, it should improve your driver safety. Why? Because independent research and testing shows that at 3mm, tyre tread rapidly deteriorates, quickly reducing the grip you need to stay in control on the road. And that, in our professional opinion, is an unnecessary risk for motorists to take, wouldn’t you agree?

Tread depth / tyre wear comparison

– most tyres with 8mm: Tyre is 0% worn. Excellent.

– 7mm: Approximately 15% worn. Very good.

– 6mm: About 30% worn. Good.

– 5mm: Around 45-50% worn. Okay.

– 4mm: Tyre is approximately 65% worn. Acceptable.

– 3mm: Tyre is nearly 80% worn. Tyre experts recommend changing to new tyres.

– 2mm: Tyre is 95% worn. Extremely worrying.

– 6mm: The tyre is now at its minimum legal limit. Replace now!

– Under 1.6mm: Your tyres are illegal!

To avoid bad tyre tread depth, and a loss of grip, Asda Tyres and Continental urge drivers to check their treads on a regular basis. You don’t even need to own a tread depth gauge – instead you can take the quick and easy 20p Test.

Make sure you have the correct tyre pressures – it really matters

The simple fact is that the only contact made between your car and the road is from the contact patches of your tyres. When you think about it, that’s not a lot, especially when you consider each patch it typically no larger than an iPhone. That’s how important your really tyres are, and why it’s vital to ensure that they’re in tip top condition.

And that means making sure that each of your tyres has the right pressure. If you don’t – whether they’re either under inflated or over inflated – the outcome will be (avoidable) tyre degradation, and, as a result, the increased possibility of a loss of grip, and – worse still, in extreme circumstances – complete tyre failure.

Under inflated tyres have too much contact with the road, adversely affecting the optimal tyre shape so that it’s too flat at the base. This leads to increased erosion of the tyre tread, and ultimately a reduction in grip with the road. With under inflated tyres, wear typically takes place at the edges, leading to uneven tyre wear. As a result, the handling characteristics of your vehicle are compromised.

Under inflated tyres are also softer than they need to be, and that means they’re more prone to sustaining damage caused by sharp objects – such as nails and glass. Without enough pressure, there’s a greater chance that objects like these won’t simply glance off an under inflated tyre, and this increases your chances of getting a puncture.

Over inflated tyres increase your chances of having a high-speed blowout, because they’re too stiff and rigid, lacking the flexibility they require to function optimally. They’re particularly vulnerable to sudden impacts, like those juddering experiences when you hit a pothole, or run into debris on the road.

And as when under inflated, they over inflated tyres incur avoidable tyre wear as well, though in this case the deteriation takes place on the centre of the tyre. This results in a loss of tyre tread just where it makes most contact with the road, and where you need the most grip.

Getting your tyre pressures right

You can typically find the correct tyre pressure values for your vehicle either printed on the inside of its fuel cap, or inside the driver door.

Pressure readings are usually at their most accurate when the tyres are cold. As such, check them before you set off on a journey, or when you fill up at the petrol station.

The process is straight forward enough. First, take off the tyre’s valve dust cover, and attach the air hose to the nozzle. The hose is designed to measure tyre pressure. Next, either top up, or release air, until the pressures are correct for all wheels. Simple, yet so important!

Get in the habit of regularly checking your pressures to avoid under or over inflated tyres, especially if you’re setting off on a long journey, such as for a driving holiday – when your car may be laden with additional weight that puts more stress on your tyres. And if you enjoy a caravan holiday, it’s vital that you ensure all vehicles have the appropriate tyre pressures.

Regularly check for tyre damage

It sounds obvious, but if you get in the habit of regularly checking your tyres, you’ll go a long way to achieving the level of tyre safety you need. You can start with ensuring you have good tyre treads, and that your tyre pressures are correct, as outlined above, but there are other crucial considerations.

Your tyre sidewall – the part of your tyre that absorbs most of the stresses that they have to withstand – are susceptible to damage from nicks, cuts, scrapes and bulges, particularly if they are under inflated. And of course sharp objects, like glass, nails and stones, can cause punctures. Despite this, there are ways of avoiding tyre damage, through careful driving and being aware of your surrounding.

Fact: some tyres are better than other tyres

It’s true. While tyres may all look the same to the uninitiated, we know from experience that some tyres are significantly better than others. The old adage “you get what you pay for” is especially true of tyres. Opting to fit cheaper tyres to your car may seem like a good way to save some money in the short term, but in the long term it’s a false economy.

Why? Because the compounds that cheaper tyres are usually made from aren’t as good as those used to make premium tyres. In an exact like for like usage comparison, cheaper tyres will wear quicker than premium tyres. As a result, they’ll lose their tread depth sooner too, and that means reduced grip – especially in wet weather conditions. Simply put, premium tyres are safer.

So why are premium tyre compounds superior? At the heart of the answer is a continuous, ever increasing investment in tyre research and development. Premium tyre manufacturers, like Continental, spend millions each year developing better and better compounds, resulting in safer, higher quality tyres. Why? Because motorists demand a better, safer tyre, and so too do the world’s leading automotive manufacturers.

It’s this demand for a better premium tyre that’s resulted in one in every three new cars that roll off the factory floors in Europe being fitted with Continental “OE” – Original Equipment. These are tyres designed for a specific vehicle make and model, developed in partnership to bring out its best driving, handling, and safety characteristics.

Extended mobility solutions offer an extra level of tyre safety

This investment in premium tyre research and development has also resulted in Continental creating a series of tyre technologies that provide motorists with additional levels of driver safety. Tyres fitted with their ContiSeal™ and SSR (Self-Supporting Runflat) extended mobility solutions postpone the need to immediately change tyres in the event of a puncture. Both technologies allow drivers to safely travel to a nearby garage, and make the necessary tyre change in a controlled, secure environment – rather than on the side of a busy road, where high speed traffic passing by can be dangerous.

Continental’s ContiSeal™ and SSR extended mobility solutions are available across their range of premium tyre products, including the ContiSportContact™ 5, and the ContiEcoContact™ 5.

Avoid part worn tyres at all costs

Incredible as it is to believe, there are drivers on the road who – knowingly or not – endanger all of our lives because of their tyres. These motorists choose to fit part worn tyres to their vehicles. And while this practice is actually legal in the UK, tyre experts like us, Continental, and TyreSafe are continually campaigning to have part worns banned.

Why? Because – as the name suggests – part worn tyres have previously been driven on by their original owners. This means that by the time they’ve been resold to a second owner, the remaining tread depth is typically so low as to only provide minimal grip.

And with part worn tyres there’s also a high possibility of tyre damage too. A recent BBC Scotland investigation revealed very worrying findings, following the inspection of a sample of part worns purchased from garages in Glasgow and South Lanarkshire. 30% of tyres inspected were not safe to be put back on the road. A further 50% were sold without the legally required “part worn” stamp.

You’ll recall how earlier in this tyre safety article we emphasised how important it is to have good tyre tread depth? Choosing to fit part worn tyres is the diametric opposite of our impartial, expert tyre safety advice. Frankly, we believe it’s not just irresponsible to do so, but – figuratively speaking – criminal. Part worns are best avoided at all costs, without exception.

The best kept tyre safety secret in the UK: winter tyres

Winter tyres? Many UK drivers haven’t even heard of them before. We won’t be surpised if you haven’t either, as experience tells us that the vast majority of motorists are unaware. And that’s a pity, because – in the right weather conditions – winter tyres can save lives.

Strictly speaking, they’re not just for winter. The name ‘winter tyres’ is misleading, and part of the reason why so few UK drivers fit them to their cars. Many assume they’re made for use in snowy conditions, something we don’t get too much of in Britain. And while it’s true that winter tyres are better in the snow than regular summer tyres, their characteristics and qualities really come into their own in cold weather conditions – 7°C and below. It’s fair to say that’s something we do experience a lot in the UK.

What makes winter tyres different?

It’s all down to the compounds that they’re made of. Winter tyres are made with softer compounds than summer tyres. They can cope with the 7°C and below temperatures, and as a result provide better grip when it’s cold. That means shorter stopping distances in cold, wet, icy conditions.

In mainland Europe, they have an established safety culture wherby all drivers switch to winter tyres when the temperature drops. In the UK, we don’t. And when winter arrives, German, French, Dutch and Northern European drivers manage to cope fine on the roads, no matter the cold, snowy, icy conditions.

In the UK, when we get just a sprinkling of snow, or a little ice, the whole country seems to grind to a halt, paralysed. And yet we don’t seem to ever learn the lesson – winter tyres make a significant difference in cold weather conditions. Tyres like Continental’s WinterContact™ TS 860 offers drivers maximum safety on wet and icy surfaces – so much so that leading UK car magazine, Auto Express, have named it their Winter Tyre Test Winner for two years running.

If you need more driver safety advice, talk to Asda Tyres

No matter what kind of car, SUV or van you drive, if you’re unsure about tyre safety, or want to discuss which are the best tyres to fit to your vehicle, contact Asda Tyres for impartial, expert advice. Click here to live chat to one of our experts, or find your nearest fitting station.

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