What should you know about car tires?

rubber tires are destroyed over time. in 5-6 years the rubber hardens, and the wheel can no longer be reliable and safe . This is especially true in hot and solar climates. Some people even protect their tires from the sun and external influences with the help of special boxes on wheels. Sports and supercars often do not receive a new tire set on time, and by buying old cars, you will often see that sellers have not changed tires for more than 6 years, which, in my opinion, is irresponsible for sports cars and in general for any car.

When Paul Walker was killed in a 2013 car crash on his Porsche Carrera GT, the investigation concluded that old tires were installed on the car, which did not provide sufficient clutch with the road. (Another factor was speeding). The year and month of production are engraved on the side of your tire. This is a 4-digit code that indicates production week and year .

tire pressure

As already mentioned, improper tires can be worn unevenly, erasing and deteriorating fuel savings faster. Incorrect tire pressure can even be a serious danger as an example shows chevrolet Corvair . During the production of this car, the pressure should be 0.7 bar between the front (1.25 bar) and the rear (1.93 bar) tires due to the strong shift of the back of the rear and located behind the engine with air cooling.

Corvair will feel unstable at speed if the pressure of the front and behind is the same. And this greatly increases the risk of driving a car during an emergency or sharp maneuver. When Ralf Nadar's publication "" was dangerous at any speed ", which drew attention to the problems of automotive and security, it referred to a serious risk of accident due to improper tire pressure.

air , under pressure in tires, responds to temperature drops . The gases expand from the heat and squeeze from the cold, which is why the preventive pressure light in the tires of your car usually lights up when the cold comes. If you have an older car, then most likely there will be no warning lamp of tire pressure, and you will have to check the pressure manually. it is recommended to check at least once every 3 months .

tire pressure is measured in PSI, bars or kPa (kilopascalas) . 100 kPa is equal to 1 bar. Car manufacturers often use this unit, because it is easier to indicate the exact pressure of the pressure, since it does not need to be broken into particles. In addition, it is a more scientific unit to measure pressure, such as kW for horsepower. The recommended pressure in the tires of the car should be printed on the door, inside the fuel tank hatch or in the user's guide.First, check the size of the tire and the maximum permissible pressure for them (written on the tire itself) so as not to overdo it. Then check the doors/hatch of the fuel tank for the correct air pressure according to the size of your rubber and loading of the car.

nitrogen instead of air?

car tires are usually filled with compressed air. Air 78% consists of nitrogen and slightly less than 21% of oxygen, and the rest is water vapor, CO2 and low concentrations of inert gases such as neon and argon. All tires lose pressure over time as gases penetrate through rubber.

one of the measures to slow down is filling the tires with pure nitrogen . Nitrogen flows 40% slower than ordinary air, which resulted in tire pressure remains more stable for a long period of time. Pure nitrogen is better maintained by the required tire pressure. Oxygen also reacts with rubber, penetrating it, which leads to the process of degradation of rubber over time. This is especially important for classic cars, because they are infrequent, and the tires remain on the car much longer. If the tires are filled with nitrogen, it is usually visible behind the green caps of the valve stem.

There are three main categories of car tires :

• winter ;
• summer ;
• All -season .

The main difference between them is the composition of rubber. Winter tires are made of softer rubber, and they are better clinging to the road in cold weather. Contrary to popular belief, winter tires do not necessarily have a different profile . It depends on the model of summer and winter tire.They can have tiny rubber grooves ("slots") in profile channels for better grip and snow removal. In addition, tread pattern can be more rough and embossed for better clutch on snow -covered and contaminated roads. But otherwise they are simply softer with summer or all -season tires. winter and summer rubber are distinguished not by the tread pattern, but by the symbol on the side of the side .

As for all -season tires, such wheels are not recommended to use either winter or summer. Why? They are softer than summer, (should be soft for winter work), but are hard than winter tires (not to be rubbed for a season or two in the warm season). Buying a "all -season", you will get a bad clutch in winter on the icy asphalt and excess soft rubber in the summer, which will "melt" on the road much faster than a specially designed for heat of rubber - summer.

In addition, when choosing a particular rubber, should pay attention to whether the rubber (Rotation) has. It is indicated on the side of each wheel with an inscription and an arrow indicating the right side of rotation. Such tires should be installed only in the right direction in view of their design features.

Be sure to consult with the management of the car to choose the right tire size .

When to change tires?

tire replacement should be done if the profile is less than 2 mm . You can measure the thickness of the tread with a caliper or take a coin test. The coin test is a simple technique that will help you determine the need to replace the tires. Just turn it up and insert it between the tire treads. If you live in Europe, you can use a coin in one euro . The width of the gold edge of the coin is exactly 3 millimeters. Insert the coin into the bus profile. If the gold edge is closed, you still have at least 3 millimeters of profile. If you see a little golden edge, it's time to replace the tires.

New rubber sells in the US and Europe is required to have indicators built into the tread pattern They go across the tire tread and are called wear strips. When the tires wear out to such an extent that the wear strips are at the same height with the tread, they no longer meet the requirements for the minimum depth of the tread, and then the tire must be replaced.

Another common form of tire wear in violation of the suspension is the collapse. the collapse is the vertical angle of the wheel with respect to the ground. Ideally, it should be 90 degrees. The collapse usually leads to uneven tire wear, as shown in the figure below. Here you can clearly see the wear angle or increased wear on the profile from left to right.

summarizing , you can safely say that with the right adjustment of the suspension and operating mode, your new rubber set will last more than one season. And buying all -season rubber is not an optimal solution, whereas it will properly buy two sets - winter for winter and summer for summer.So it will last longer, and it will be better. Any car expert or enthusiast will tell you about it. After reading these recommendations and explanations, you learned what you needed to choose and maintain tires on your car.