Tyres
What to look for when checking your tyres.
Your tyres are one of the most important things to look after, because they are the only things in contact with the surface you are driving on. If they are not maintained your braking distance goes up and worst of all badly maintained tyres will cause accidents. This is why tyres are a strict part of an MOT.
The most basic thing to check is the pressure but it is surprising how many people don't.
Most premature tyre wear is caused by incorrect pressures. To much pressure will wear the tyre in the middle, to little will scuff both edges of the tyre. The picture to the right shows a badly worn tyre due to under inflation.
Other types of tyre wear are due to incorrect tracking of your steering geometry or wear of steering and or suspension. If you do have scuffing to one edge of your front tyres then have your tracking checked at your local tyre service, it's a lot cheaper than buying tyres.
Tread depth
There must, by law, be at least 1.6mm of tread depth across the centre 3/4 of the width of the tread throughout the entire circumference of the tyre, . You can check this with a depth gauge, a quite inexpensive tool but worth having.
Sidewalls
Inspect the sidewalls of your tyres for bulges, cracks, perrishing, and cuts. All of these things will fail your car.
For your safety if in doubt change the tyre.
Check the R rating of your tyres. Depending on the car you drive and it's max speed the R rating changes see the table at the bottom of this page.
Use the table below to check which rating your car needs for it's speed capability.
| Rating | Max Speed capability |
| Speed Symbol "N" |
For vehicles with a speed not exceeding 88 Mph |
| Speed Symbol "P" |
For vehicles with a speed not exceeding 94 Mph |
| Speed Symbol "Q" |
For vehicles with a speed not exceeding 100 Mph |
| Speed Symbol "R" |
For vehicles with a speed not exceeding 106 Mph |
| Speed Symbol "S" |
For vehicles with a speed not exceeding 113 Mph |
| Speed Symbol "T" |
For vehicles with a speed not exceeding 119 Mph |
| Speed Symbol "U" |
For vehicles with a speed not exceeding 125 Mph |
| Speed Symbol "H" |
For vehicles with a speed not exceeding 130 Mph |
| Speed Symbol "V" |
For vehicles with a speed not exceeding 144 Mph (e.g. 225/55 R 15 91V) |
| Speed Symbol "W" |
For vehicles having speed not exceeding 162 Mph (e.g. 225/60 R 15 96W) |
| Speed Symbol "Y" |
For vehicles having speed not exceeding 180 Mph (e.g. 275/40 R 18 94Y) |
| Speed Category "VR" |
For vehicles having speed over 126 Mph (e.g. 195/50 VR 15) |
| Speed Category "ZR" |
For vehicles with a speed over 140 Mph (e.g. 205/40 ZR 17) |
| ZR+ Speed Symbol "W" |
Tyres marked with both designations for vehicles with speed capability over 144 Mph but not exceeding 162 Mph |
| ZR+ Speed Symbol "Y" |
Tyres marked with both designations for vehicles with speed capability over 144 Mph but not exceeding 180 Mph |
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