Exposing the Top Tyre Myths

1. All-season tyres Have Better Wet-Road Grip Than Summer Tyres.

Here's the truth: An all-season tyre sacrifices wet-road traction, among other things, for increased mobility in snow and in subfreezing temperatures. Designing a tyre is an exercise in compromise. Bettering some certain performance factor almost always means a detriment to one or more other performance factors.

To make things more confusing, when moving from one category to another - even brand to brand - the results may vary. An ultra-high-performance all-season tyre may have a better wet grip than some high-performance summer tyres Leicester or grand-touring summer tyres.

2. Plenty Of Tread Means Plenty Of Remaining Tyre Life.

Here's the truth: Many are astounded that tyres can reach the end of their lives without having gone far or done much work.

Some car makers recommend replacing tyres every five or six years, regardless of tread depth. A tyre that has spent 7 or 8 years on a car is a bit like a 65-year-old human being: no matter how fit and healthy he may appear, he shouldn't play football against 19-year-olds.

If the temperature outside is 105 degrees, a casual walk can be lethal to both unfit seniors and poorly maintained old tyres.

Here's how you can tell how old your tyre is:

• Look for the letters “DOT” on the sidewall. Following will be a sequence of numbers that may be in three or four separate windows. Again, the last four numbers show when the tyre was made: “3112” means the tyre was built during the 31st week of 2012.

• Check for hairline cracks in the sidewall; cracks are a good indication that the tyre should be replaced.

• Look out for deteriorating rubber; this can be a big problem for seldom driven cars as follows: motor homes, collector cars, exotic cars, cars owned by senior citizens, and vans operated by charitable organisations.

3. A Tyre Will Blow Out If The “maximum Press” Number On The Sidewall Is Exceeded.

Here's the truth: A new quality tyre will not blow out, even if the “maximum press” is exceeded. However, all bets are off if the tyre has been damaged or if it's fitted on a cheap or damaged wheel. 

The “maximum press” number, coupled with the “maximum load” number also found on the sidewall, gives a tyre its maximum load-carrying ability. Recognise this: The tyre's ability to support weight is due to air pressure.

At 1 pound per square inch of air pressure, a tyre can support no weight. Air pressure must increase to increase its load-carrying capacity.

However, at some pressure, more air in the tyre won't give you any more weight-carrying capacity. “Maximum load or pressure” refers to that.

4. The “maximum Press” On The Sidewall Is The Correct Pressure For Your Tyres.

Here's the truth: The correct pressure for a tyre is not determined by the tyre manufacturer; it is determined by who designed your car. Now, the government requires that new cars have that recommended pressure on a placard that's mounted on the driver's doorjamb. 

On older cars, this placard was often mounted on the doorjamb but also could have been on the trunk lid, glove box door, console lid or fuel door. If you can't find the recommended pressure placard, it can be found in your owner's manual or by calling your car manufacturer's customer service department.

Over-inflating the tyre beyond what the car manufacturer recommends could make it more vulnerable to potholes and negatively impact ride comfort.

5. Budget-brand tyres Represent The Same Quality As Major Brands Because They Are Made By The Same Company.

Here's the truth: You get what you pay for, just as with other items.

It's easy to see how this misconception developed. Each tyre company has a premium brand upon which it focuses its research, development and testing. Furthermore, practically all of these businesses create other brands. 

Many build tyres for others, such as auto parts stores, to sell under the store's brand. Moving down this list, development and testing quickly drop to no more than what is required by law.

The R&D from the premium brand often, but not always, trickles down to the budget brand. Perhaps there's so little difference that you'd never know. Maybe not.

You can be pretty sure that discount and private brand tyres produced by well-known companies will handle failures just as well as that company's premium offerings. After all, if the store-brand tyre fails, that tyre company gets roped into a lawsuit just as if the tyre boasted a premium brand name.

But features like comfort, noise reduction, traction, tread life, and resistance to deep water will probably - though not always - be subpar.

There's very little difficulty in arguing that tyres Knighton are the most complex, most important, least understood, least appreciated and least maintained component of any car. Sincere drivers will admit that they are already aware of that.