Keep your car safe this summer

June 23, 2015

Are you planning on a car long journey this year?

Maybe a holiday or trip to visit family or friends?

It’s important to ensure that your car is safe and that means checking your tyres. Here are some tips on keeping your car safe.

Image courtesy of Mister GC at FreeDigitalPhotos.net



New Tyres


If you’ve had brand new tyres on your cars you’ll need to keep a few things in mind. Point-S advise that the surface of new tyres will feature a number of tiny vent holes from the moulding process. They’ll also be incredibly smooth.

To remove these holes and properly prepare the surface for day-to-day driving, they suggest tyres should be run in for the first 150-200 miles at medium speed on dry roads. All while avoiding sharp cornering and hard braking.

This will help to abrade the tread surface.

Checking Tread

Image courtesy of Bill Longshaw at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Talking of tread it’s important that you check this before any long journeys. More tread means more grip. The legal limit is 1.6mm, anything under 3mm can seriouslu compromise the performance and safety of your car.

Be sure to check the tread depth on all four tyres using a dedicated tread gauge. This is a tool to give you a fast, easy-to-read measurement.

If you don’t have a tread gauge don’t worry, you can simply use your Tread Wear Indicator (TWI). Premium tyre manufacturers such a Bridgestone mould TWI’s into the design of the tyres’ tread pattern. Made up of six or more small rubs across the bottom of the main tread grooves, which are usually 1.6mm to 2mm above the base of the groove. When the legal limit of 1.6mm is reached when the tyre is worn to the level of the tread wear indicators in the main groove. As soon as this happens, the tyre should be replaced.

Image courtesy of bigjom at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Check Tyre Pressure


Tyre pressure should be checked when the tyre is cold, as pressure increases as the tyre becomes hot. It’s important to check the tyre pressure as it can help to extend the life or your tyres, improve vehicle safety and maintain optimum fuel efficiency. This helps you to save money, but is also better for the environment too!

To find out what your car’s tyre pressure should be, consult the manufacturers tyre placard usually found inside the driver’s door sill, glove box, fuel filler cap, under the bonnet or in the vehicles handbook. The placard also displays the manufacturers recommended tyre sizes.



Buying Tyres Online


Did you know that you can buy tyres online? As mentioned above, Point-S lets users book tyres online as well as arrange a fitting appointment.

Win a Car

Point-S currently have a competition for customers to win a car. Click the link to find out more!

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