What’s the most important part of your car?
Give yourself a pat on the back if your answer was ‘tyres’.
They are the only part of your car in contact with the road, so it doesn’t matter if you own a Fiat or a Ferrari – it will only ever be as good as the quality of its tyres.
Yet 80 per cent of people have no idea what the numbers and symbols on the side of a tyre mean or even when its time to buy a fresh set.
Read our guide to tyre care and changing a tyre here
If you need to buy new tyres:
• Make a note of the information on the sidewall and use it to order tyres of the same type online with Auto Trader’s Tyre Centre, or at a garage
• It’s always advisable to fit tyres of the same tread depth, make and model on each corner of the car. Mismatched tyres with different grip levels will affect the cars handling and safety
• Always have tyres fitted by a professional
Look after your tyres and your tyres will look after you. Inspect them at least one per month and after driving through bad pot holes or rubbing them against a kerb.
If they are low on tread, torn or cracked, order new tyres or seek advice from a professional tyre fitter.
Visit the Auto Trader Tyre Centre to buy new tyres and for advice on tyre care
Have you had any good or bad tyre experiences?
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Hello! We are a tyre supplies company in Maidstone, Kent and we supply and fit new, budget and part worn tyres. When customer come in to buy tyres we always give them the best advice. In this economic climate I find people are going for the budget or part worn tyres because of price. I think that having a range of choices (new, part worn or budget) and explaining the difference in the tyres and there performance is the best option for customers.
You make some good points. Tires are an important safety feature, but one that too often gets overlooked. Most people don’t pay much attention at all to their tires so things like proper inflation and the numbers on the side get totally ignored. Great post!
Been reading your excellent blog for quite a few weeks now, and i am enjoying many of your excellent topics.
Car tyre efficiency is a great measure of creating performance. So, you should do regular check of your car tyres for wear, cracking, bulging, pressure or objects caught in the tread. In any of these cases, you should change the tyre immediately to avoid any major problem. A better performing car tyre is the combination of Traction – Control – Confidence and can affect driving in terms of performance, grip, tyre noise and wear. Use of quality tyres can increase the safety of your vehicle on the road by many times. There are variety of tyres manufacturers who are dedicated to provide quality tyres for your vehicle. Some of them are – MRF, Apollo tyres, CEAT, JK industries, etc. I have been using CEAT tyres in my car for many years and haven’t faced any problem yet. I am enjoying a wonderful driving with these tyres. So for my car, i would always look for CEAT tyres. According to a report, CEAT is in Top 50 of Global Tire Manufacturers, 2009-2010.