Tyres: New Vs Part Worn, Budget Vs Premium?

Wednesday, 12 October 2011 11:08

Why you should change your tyres at 3mm

This might sound ridiculous because there is still 1.4mm to go until the legal limit is reached. However there is such a considerable difference in performance that you could be considered mad for not doing so! When a tyre is brand new with 8mm of tread the performance capability is at 100%, when the tread is at the half way point of 4mm the performance is slightly reduced to 90%, when the tread is at 3mm there is still a reasonably acceptable 75% of the full capability of the tyre. Look at 1.6mm of tread though and the tyre loses 45% of its performance, resulting in a level of 55%! This is a dramatic difference between 3mm and 1.6mm and if your brakes or even engine performed at just over half of its effectiveness, I doubt you would be very happy with this.

It always amazes me that people can dismiss the importance of tyres when they are your only contact with the road. I have met with many top racing drivers such as Alan McNish, used to racing on Michelin’s, and Motorsport Team bosses and they all agree that with the wrong tyres the best car in the world is almost useless. Tyres in racing mean the difference between winning and losing, tyres on the road mean the difference between stopping and frankly not stopping. We all buy our cars to get to our destination and the aim is to get there the most pleasurable and safest way possible; this is directly affected by the choice of tyres and how much tread is left.

Tyres with 55% of their performance (the legal limit) will take 8 METRES LONGER to stop than tyres with 3mm of tread! That is an astonishing difference and put in to perspective is approximately 2 car lengths.

Budget Vs Premium
Have you ever wondered what the difference between a budget tyre and a premium tyre actually is other than cost? They all look the same. They’re circular, black and can have similar tread patterns. This is where the similarity ends! Continental were stressing that it’s not just important to see how much better Continental tyres are over budget brands in tests, but that all premium brands out perform all budget brands. So the likes of Michelin and Goodyear are brands that will give you better performance in both dry and wet handling and brake tests.

We tested a set of brand new Continentals against a brand new set of budgets on a wet surface designed to replicate snow/slush. As a racing driver I am more than happy on the edge of traction and found that with my best efforts going round and round in a large circle with minor steering corrections, similar to a roundabout, I could go no faster that 30mph with the budget tyres on. The car in front was on the Continental’s and was consistently edging away from me driven by a non professional driver. When I had a go in the car with the premium tyres on I could tell a noticeable difference in the speed at which the car would go before traction broke. It was about 39mph. A professional rally driver demonstrated what would happen on a wet course with varying twists and turns and the budget tyres were rather a handful and even with the car’s ABS, which allows a car to turn whilst under braking, still could not cope with the significant difference in grip. On the road this will transcend itself to situations such as a wet road with imminent hazards, extreme weather conditions, emergency stops, swerving to avoid having a collision and driving briskly. Performance and safety are the emphasis here. There is little point in buying a fast car and cutting corners on tyre budget and equally with an every day runner why would you cut corners on safety? If you had the option of one smoke alarm or two in your house I am pretty sure cost would not be an issue that would affect your decision making process.

Tests for the difference between budget and premium, part worn and new, apply to all cars so whether you drive a sports saloon, family MPV, executive saloon or a hot hatch this affects your safety and your driving pleasure!

New Cars are fitted with premium branded tyres – why?

It is not by accident and at MIRA’s test grounds I learned that tyre manufacturers spend up to 4 years and millions of pounds perfecting the tyre to the car. Then when the car is 4 years old we chuck any old tyre on there! Why would we do that?! Lack of knowledge and education of course! How else would we know that this level of research, design and development would go in to the tyres that our car comes out the showroom with unless someone actually told us? They employ professional drivers with years of experience to test how the car handles, how it feels over lumps and bumps, camber changes, terrain changes, turning, lane manoeuvring, speed, accelerating, stopping and many more delicate alterations in a way a car moves. The tyre has such a dramatic role to play that it has to be right. It is not a case of Land Rover calling Continental and saying “I’ll have that one please”. There is so much more to it. There are 4 key factors when designing a tyre:

• Comfort
• Safety
• Environment
• Cost

Next time you check your tyre tread depth and consider buying new tyres, take time to weigh up the option best for you and your car. by Rebecca Jackson

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