Buying new tyres is an experience that every single driver has faced at least once in their lifetime. Nonetheless, even those who did this many, many times still seem to be doing this on random, without any careful consideration. As soon as they are forced to use a spare, they purchase a new set of tyres they get presented with and they believe that they’ve solved their problem. In truth, the choice of tyres affects their driving experience in more ways than they can imagine, so here are four great tips you need to have in mind when buying tyres.
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Physical attributes
From the very start, the thing you can recognize when buying tyres is their size and their tread. The size may matter in more ways than one seeing as how it A) impacts stability and B) impacts the gas mileage (the bigger the tyre, the more gas your spend). This alone is a vital factor, when it comes to estimating the tyre you should get. The safest way to handle this, nonetheless, is to look at your copy of the car manual or at least find one on the internet.
Another physical attribute that you need to pay a close attention to is the tread on the tyre. As far as treads go, there are three major types: symmetrical, asymmetrical and directional. Symmetrical tyres are considered to be summer tyres, directional are optimal for winter and performance cars, while asymmetrical are somewhat of a compromise between the two. While this may seem like a bit of an unorthodox advice, you also need to take the aesthetics into the consideration.
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The price-range
The most important division of tyres is according to their price range. Here you have three major groups: premium, quality and budget tyres. The names of the categories are more than self-explanatory, however, the cost-effectiveness of the purchase is not as easy to pinpoint. You see, a budget tyre may have the expectancy as low as 7,000 miles, while the premium one may last as long as 20,000 miles. In other words, it all depends on the price you get for the tyre. So, if you decide to purchase double star tyre, you should do a double star tyres review, prior to making a choice.
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The age of the tyre
The next thing you need to keep in mind is the age of the tyre in question. Previously, we talked about the way in which price-range affects the endurance of the tyre, however, this is not all that you have to take in mind. By this logic, the tyre that’s left in the garage for over a decade could still be considered as a brand new tyre, right? Well, not exactly, tyres older than five or six years should not be purchased, due to the fact that no one can give you a guarantee that they’re safe to use.
Now, for this to work, you need to know how to recognize the age of the tyre and this one is fairly simple. You’re looking for a four-digit number in which the first two digits reveal the week in which the tyre was manufactured while the latter two reveal the year. One of the most common misconceptions happens when people mistake the first two digits for the month. This mistake, on the other hand, cannot be considered as a major one, due to the fact that it still reveals the year in which the tyre was made, thus minimizing the margin of error to several months, at most.
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Keep your expectations in check
Previously, we talked about tyres that last for over 20,000 miles without breaking. Well, some tyres can exceed this by double. This means that if you’re buying replacement tyres, you might wait for a bit until you get a chance to use them. Think about it if you decide to purchase tyres that are 4 years old and don’t get to replace them in 2-3 years’ time, you might be forced to repeat the purchase and put yourself at a clear financial disadvantage.
Moreover, you could use this opportunity to fix the shortcoming of your current tyres by picking the model that makes up for it. For instance, if your current tyres are too noisy, you can look for a quieter model. Similarly, you could look for something that provides you with a more comfortable ride or gives you more steering control.
In conclusion
Thinking about these four tips alone will already put you in the top bracket of informed drivers and allow you to make a much better decision prior to buying tyres. As we already stated, several times over, this decision will impact your driving experience in many different ways and all you have to do in order to turn this to your own benefit is do some research on the topic.