Tyred? TYRE Safety Checks: Pressure, Tread Depth, Condition & Age

‘The car may be old, but the driver is young & inexperienced’.
The economics of putting “expensive” tyres on a low value older car may seem hard to reconcile, but the safety benefits of quality A-Wet Rated tyres to an inexperienced driver who will inevitably make rookie errors of judgement* as they learn can be priceless!
(*on speed, distance, severity of bend, weather & road conditions).

It’s a well worn Driving Instructor adage that:
‘Tyres are the only things connecting your car to the road’.

4 contact patches, each only about the size of the palm of your hand, determine whether the car steers, brakes or accelerates.

‘No car ever leaves It’s manufacturer’s factory on an odd mix of tyres’!

Tyres need to be in good Condition, with a Depth of Tread, and inflated to the Correct Pressure for these contact patches to do their vital job properly.

Tyre ‘dry rot’ is the damage that occurs to the exterior of a tyre leading to cracks along the tread & sidewall.

Phil’s fables / Life’s Lessons learned the hard way:

Some years ago I jumped on a train to the London suburbs to pick up a new-to-us Audi A3 for my wife. Being a ‘London car’ it had rested on the owner’s driveway while they used public transport for most of their travel. The car was extremely low mileage and in commensurately ‘immaculate’ condition. During the initial drive home I dismissed the car’s tendency to lose traction (spin the wheels) when emerging from tight left junctions, with some steering lock applied, as being due to ice on this bitterly cold December day; I had slipped over twice walking to the station! As temperatures rose, I dismissed it as being unfamiliar with the spikey low-down torque delivery of a Turbo Diesel car; but more subtle application of the Gas pedal did not cure the issue. Finally, I looked at the tyres in more detail: their 4-digit date stamps & ‘AO’ (Audi Original Equipment) side wall marking confirmed that they were the tyres the car had left the Audi factory on many years previously!They were losing traction due to age hardening of the rubber. I went to my friend’s garage and watched him remove the tyres; as he used the fitting machine to break the tyre bead from the wheel, the tyre side wall literally shredded, it was so brittle! We both looked at each other and said, “Imagine if that had been a curb clip, or large pot hole impact!” ….so, while there may be £25 worth of tread depth left on each of my daughter’s tyres, I’m happy to bin them ‘early’! Some things in life are priceless, & irreplaceable… …for Tyres there’s a credit card 💳

An MoT Test result PASS / FAIL is an assessment against the legal MINIMUM standard required for that car, on the day of testing. Similar to the L-Test being an assessment against the legal minimum standard required for a driver, on the day of testing. If you were to PASS a driving test with 13 Driver Faults, the Examiner would probably be giving you some Advice! We have to draw-a-line-in-the-sand legal minimum, but for Tyres most manufacturers and independent road safety/testing organisations would advise that this minimum is woefully low; particularly for a novice driver prone to rookie errors! The MoT Tester will also give you advice, or ‘Advisories’ on your MoT Test. I view these as being what this highly trained car safety expert would do if the car belonged to one of their family members. You don’t have to get work done at the MoT garage giving you this advice, and can always seek a second opinion or shop around on price, but don’t just dismiss the advice until next year’s MoT!

Continental Tyres:

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The simple ‘Pencil Gauge’ is generally adequate for most tyre checking applications, and can be used one handed as demonstrated. It’s lack of batteries to go flat 🪫 means that it is always ready for use. The scale is generally clear to read in most daylight applications, when it is best to check tyres; though could not be read at night in the way some back-lit digital tools can (though once the reading has been taken you could always move inside the car to read it using the interior light or a phone torch). I favour this straight, rather than angled head, valve connector type given the location of the valve stems on my cars (some motorbikes / bikes may benefit from the angled head version, also available from PCL - TSP1T15). This gauge will measure from 6 to 50psi (calibration accuracy +/- 2psi) which will be adequate for all first cars, and most larger cars and light vans; my 3.2 ton camper van, fitted with reinforced ‘C’ commercial vehicle tyres has a pressure requirement of 60psi and so requires the next level up (PCL TPG4 Professsional Tyre Pressure Gauge - 10-120 PSI).

The Tread Depth gauge is again simple to use, without batteries to go flat 🪫 like digital alternatives.
Its calibration is approved by DVSA for use in MoT Testing situations, and has the LEGAL minimum 1.6mm marking (though, as explained in the video, 3mm would generally be considered the SAFE minimum).

The storage tin with foam cut-out insert for the tools is compact to store in the glove box / boot.

PCL - Pneumatic Components Limited, of Sheffield, is a manufacturer of professional / garage for court air line equipment & gauges. * Production of this particular item is now done in China, no longer Sheffield, England.

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The most common cause of Brake ‘Failure’ is getting something wedged beneath the brake pedal*. Top Tip: Secure sports drinks bottles securely, and keep your car tidy!
*Source: ‘How to Drive’, Ben Collins (A.K.A. ‘The Stig’), p. 245

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As a young driver you will inevitably make ‘Rookie Errors’ of judgement on: speed, distance, severity of bend, weather & road conditions, etc.

In this video we used the term “Running-out-of-Road”, in relation to ‘the 2 second rule’ safe following distance (HC Rule 126). Running-out-of-Road describes the situation where you are at maximum braking but realise that you don’t have enough distance in which to stop the car; maybe due to poor observations meaning you started your braking too late, or maybe you were driving too fast for the prevailing road conditions*

At this vital moment in your LIFE, you may discover that you have already made another ‘Rookie Error’ when buying your First Car, or at the Tyre Fitter. As your brakes lock, and you become a ‘passenger’ passively watching as your car slides towards an articulated lorry / tree / child in the road, how much money would you be prepared to pay to buy an 5 extra meters of road in which to stop?!!!

Industry standard braking tests conduct scientific tests on stopping distances in both Dry & Wet conditions. Reading these reviews before investing your money when buying tyres is time well spent; it’s an investment in your safety on the road.

This is the review we referred to having bought our MX-5; the (Chinese) tyres it came fitted with ranking 40 out of the 50 tested!! As the reviewer commented: ‘The bottom ten tyres were deemed UNSAFE by AutoBild, and not recommended for use.’

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We have found the Bridgestone Potenza RE050A to be very well suited to the Polo, so stuck with this known quantity. Age cracking does seem common on the Potenza, from our experience on another summer use only car; however you would perhaps expect a UHP tyre’s tread to have been worn out many years sooner!


We also run Continental & Michelin tyres on our cars, and rate both brands highly, depending on specific tyre model & size.

Living on the south coast of England harsh winters and snow days are very limited, so ‘Summer’ Tyres with A-Wet braking rating meet most of our driving needs. ‘All Season’ tyres may be worth exploring if you have harsher winters. Full ‘Winter’ tyres, denoted by the ‘Three Peak & Snowflake ❄️’ symbol on their side wall do make an incredible difference in real snow conditions. ⛄️

Tyre Review’s evaluation of the UHP (Ultra High Performance) segment, in 18” on a VW Golf GTi.
The ‘Euro per 1000Km’ (£-per-1000 miles) wear testing was very interesting in relation to the Bridgestones; fortunately, at the moment our car doesn’t do large mileage so the Wet braking performance trumps durability for us. A fantastically detailed tyre comparison on the top brand offerings.

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The Stig’s words not mine; quite profound for a bloke who doesn’t speak:
‘Boring but important: under-inflation can extend your braking distance by 10 per cent, more if the car is loaded up with passengers. It can cut cornering power by a third.

Admittedly not at the precise moment when you panic-brake and the adrenaline is fizzing in your fingertips. But if you inspect your rubber once a month and don’t buy cheap, then your odds of stopping short will improve dramatically when some wildebeest pulls out in front of you’.

Source: Ben Collins, ‘How to Drive’, page 83.

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Winter 🥶 Tyre Pressures: As a rule of thumb, when the temperature decreases by 10 degrees C, tyre pressure drops around 1 or 2 psi. So, if you filled your tyres on a mild day two weeks ago and now it’s a sub-zero cold snap, the key thing to check is that ALL four tyres are a few PSI low, indicating the cold weather effect, rather than a single tyre being low indicating deflation or puncture. Deflation can occur at this time of year by bumping through pot holes 🕳️ which open up in Winter months, the impact allows a small amount of air to escape between wheel & tyre.

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While the wheels are off the car for new tyre fitting it’s a great opportunity to inspect the other vital safety component: BRAKES, measuring disc & pad thicknesses.

This VW Polo came factory fitted with Ferodo pads:

‘Once formulations are approved, the pads go into production within the onsite factory, which currently produces in excess of 24 million pads each year for vehicles such as the VW Golf and Ford Focus. Largely, production is for OE – although everything that goes into the OE box also goes into the aftermarket Premier range box, with the aftermarket bound products made on exactly the same lines, only the car maker’s mark and sticker on the box differentiates them.’ Ferodo

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Kate Brody presents Tyre Tread Depth & Pressure Checks in more detail:

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Do not confuse this LEGAL minimum, with the SAFE minimum. Particularly when the car is being driven by young & inexperienced drivers who may make ‘rookie errors’ of judgement on speed, distance, severity of bends, weather & road conditions.

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My Pirellis have done 30, 000kms and are still at 5mm. Rotate them every 10, 000 kms. Should get another 20, 000 out of them hopefully! I swap them off at 3mm. 1.6 is too low IMO.

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DEAD WEIGHT
‘We sometimes forget that the most burdensome - and distracting - weight in the car is the passenger. Up to the age of twenty-five, every time you add one, you double the likelihood of having an accident….. …..in small hatchbacks, standard issue as a first car, the combined weight of your passengers has an exponentially negative effect on the vehicle’s ability to handle a corner, or to stop….’

Ben Collin’s words, not mine, published a decade ago ‘How to Drive’, page 189.
Please listen to ‘The Stig’, if not your Driving Instructor, some say he REALLY knows what he is talking about!

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DVSA L-Test Tyre ‘Tell Me’ Questions:

DVSA Question: ‘Tell me how you’d check the tyres to ensure that they have sufficient tread depth and that their general condition is safe to use on the road’.

DVSA Answer: ‘No cuts and bulges, 1.6mm of tread depth across the central three-quarters of the breadth of the tyre, and around the entire outer circumference of the tyre’.

DVSA Question: ‘Tell me where you’d find the information for the recommended tyre pressures for this car and how tyre pressures should be checked’.

DVSA Answer: ‘Manufacturer’s guide, use a reliable pressure gauge, check and adjust pressures when tyres are cold, don’t forget spare tyre, remember to refit valve caps’.

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Where ‘Learning to Drive, SAFELY’ fits around Sport & Study.
‘Off-Side Rule’ - v - ‘2 Second Rule’

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In a ‘cost of living crisis’ we are all looking for areas to cut corners….

‘The car may be old, but the driver is young & inexperienced’.
The economics of putting “expensive” tyres on a low value older car may seem hard to reconcile, but the safety benefits of quality A-Wet Rated tyres to an inexperienced driver who will inevitably make rookie errors of judgement* as they learn can be priceless!
(*on speed, distance, severity of bend, weather & road conditions)’.

[drivingvideos]

Fast & Furious star Paul Walker’s death highlights the dangers of aging tyres:

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DVSA Answer: ‘No cuts and bulges, 1.6mm of tread depth across the central three-quarters of the breadth of the tyre, and around the entire outer circumference
of the tyre’.


The legal MINIMUM required for Tyres is described in detail, with supporting diagrams, in the MoT Testing instructions:


Do not confuse this LEGAL minimum, with the SAFE minimum. Particularly when the car is being driven by young & inexperienced drivers who may make ‘rookie errors’ of judgement on speed, distance, severity of bends, weather & road conditions.

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Happy New Year, 2024!

We must all live in our current time and navigate the world as we find it at that moment in time; arming ourselves with enough knowledge to avoid becoming ‘victims of current circumstance’. A car or motorbike remains the thing most likely to end a young person’s life prematurely, or do them Life Changing Injuries (KSI).

Road Safety Campaigner Dave Taylor, MBE, highlighted what was needed to make a difference in the high-risk years of my own novice driving:

1. Compulsory Basic Training for Car Driving
2. A stiffer driving test
3. P-Plates (‘Probationary’ period)

30 years on this November 2023 Guardian Article, in response to 4 teenage deaths in one car, summarises contemporary Road Safety research / collective wisdom highlighting essentially the same points (albeit within the context of modern technology):

1. A a minimum learning period (minimum number of ADI hours as required in other countries).
2. More extensive training & testing, including high-risk rural roads.
3. A Graduated Driving License system, which could include a probationary period when new drivers are not allowed out late at night, & restrictions on the age of their passengers. (i.e. a ‘P’-plate PROBATIONARY period, because newly qualified drivers are up to four times more likely to die in a crash when carrying passengers of the same age than when driving alone).
RAC Foundation Research 2023:
“A phased approach to licensing, with a minimum learning period and passenger and night-time rules for young drivers, could reduce casualties from collisions involving teenage car drivers by as much as 20%.”
The AA, said it believed the government should restrict passengers for about six months after a driver passes their test. It highlighted research from the AA Charitable Trust showing that 71% of fatal car crashes involving young drivers took place on rural roads. “There needs to be much more of an awareness about the dangers of rural roads, ” Edmond King said. “We advocate that even learners in cities take a couple of lessons on rural roads.”


The statistics are stark: In 2022 in Britain, about a fifth of all fatal or serious injury crashes involved young people. Young male car drivers aged 17 to 24 are four times as likely to be killed or seriously injured than over-25s.

RAC Foundation Research, published November 2023:


In a turbulent political environment policy change & implementation is unlikely within your driver training period, although the Insurance Industry does seem to be changing their policies on ‘Black Boxes’, Curfews, Limited Passenger Numbers, etc.

You can, however, address these 3 points for yourself, if you chose to:

1. Seek out a driving instructor who refuses to teach you how to ‘Life Hack’ your Driving Test; it’s your LIFE you are hacking with this approach!


3. Set your own Passenger Limits & Curfews, and embrace the Telematics feedback your insurance ‘Black Box’ can give you. Pride yourself on achieving high-scores reflecting smooth application of the major controls and functions: smooth steering/cornering, braking & accelerating. Though understand thier limitations, ‘Black Boxes’ don’t see the full picture and make no judgement on your (‘legal’) speed being appropriate for the prevailing weather / traffic conditions; something we demonstrate in this video:

If, like me, you are dyslexic and find reading a bit of a chore, in this video I cover most of the points made above:



As we begin 2024 you have life’s journey ahead of you and, as young adults, must decide for yourself the road you chose to travel!

Drive Safe, Always!

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Are cheap tyres FINALLY good enough to use?
Spoiler Alert: NO ‼️

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Are Cheap Tires FINALLY Good Enough To Use? The Best Budget Tyres Tested
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Choosing a good Tyre: