Buying new tyres

The tyres is the only contact point between your vehicle and the road.So all the efforts in accelerating, braking and steering will give desired results, only if the vehicle has a good set of tyres.

There are lots of factors that need to be considered while buying a new set of tyres. Firstly, we think all four should be changed at the same time as it helps in maintaining traction level thereby providing better stability.

There are five basic factors to be considered while buying new tyres:

• Tube-type or tubeless
• Size
• Tread pattern
• Rubber compound
• Brand
• Warranty

Type

The tubeless tyres are better than the tube-type for a simple reason that they are a lot safer. They drastically reduce the chances of tyre burst and also curb the violent reactions from car in case of puncture at high speeds. The only flip side is that they cost a bit more.

It is not necessary to have alloy-wheels to fit tubeless tyres. They can be easily be fitted on your existing steel rims – just make sure that these are not rusted from inside and are in proper shape.

Size

The tyre size if written on the side in a standard format. Eg: 215/75 R15. The 215 (mm) is the width in this case, 75 (%) is the height of the side wall as aspect ratio to the width, R stands for Radial and 15 (inches) is the diameter of the rim.

The most common upgrade to tyres is upsizing by increasing the tread width. Anywhere between 5mm to 20mm increase is acceptable without too much impact on the performance. Generally car makers in India provide tyres that boost fuel efficiency (low grip), so 10mm upsize does improve handling and braking in most cases.

The other change to the size is using a bigger rim. Larger rim effectively means lower sidewall height; it will provide better handling through bends but will compromise ride comfort. The change in the rim size will add a nominal error to the speedometer.

Tread Pattern

The tread pattern has a major effect on the performance on the tyre. It is evident mainly in the wet weather conditions, wherein some provide better aquaplaning offering more grip. In general, there are different types of treads for different surfaces and requirements like gravel, ice, mud, tarmac etc.

Never re-tread your tyres or buy second hand, they can be dangerous and offer inconsistent performance.

Rubber Compound

The rubber compound determines the life of the tyre, along with grill level. Softer the compound better the grip and even more treadwear. They also cost more than the ‘comfort’ tyres and need to be replaced in shorter duration. Depending upon the compound, the tyres will screech when pushed to the limits. A simple tip – tyreswth higher speed rating should provide better grip.

Brand

The brand decides the prices of the tyres and in many cases also the quality. Tyres from global brands like the Continental and Good Year cost a bit more than the ones from their Indian counterparts. It is important to inquire a bit about the tyres you are buying as at times the sets from international companies are not fine tuned for India and hence might not offer optimum performance.

Warranty

Most companies offer one year warranty for their tyres. However, in case of tyre failure it is very difficult to claim losses, as they have an option of blaming it on bad Indian roads (which is actually true). Read the warranty conditions carefully including the fine lines and do not have too much hope of getting a replacement on time.