Tyre Safety and Maintenance Guide

Keep your tyres in tip top condition with our comprehensive guide for tyres.

Tyre safety and maintenance

It’s easy to forget what an important function your tyres perform. A loss of quality and performance in your tyres reduces the effectiveness of braking, steering and acceleration, all of which are vital for safety whilst driving.

We recommend that you check the condition of your tyres (including the spare tyre, where applicable) at least once a month, and before any long journey. This includes a simple visual inspection of your tyres as well ensuring that your car has the correct tyre pressure. Driving on under or over inflated tyres, your vehicle’s handling could be seriously affected, and in the long term the wrong tyre pressure could increase tyre wear and potentially cause tyre failure.

Tyre splits and bulges

When visually checking the condition of your tyres you should keep a look out for some of the more common signs of damage and deterioration.

Bulges and blisters on the tyre will cause weak spots in the rubber that can cause sudden blow outs. These can also lead to a slow loss of air in your tyre which will affect your car’s handling and stopping ability.

Splits and cuts in the sidewall will appear as grooves that are distinct enough to be visible to the naked eye. This could be a sign that your tyre is developing a leak, or worse, close to a blow out.

Stopping distance chart

Tyres with low tread depth will extend your vehicle’s braking distance, especially in wet weather conditions. That’s why it’s so important to monitor the tread depth of your vehicle’s tyres. Source: Tests were carried out by Auto Express at the Motor Industry Research Association in 2006 on 4 different vehicles: a small hatchback, a mid-range family hatchback, a 4×4 and an executive saloon. Depth of water controlled to 0.5 to 1.5mm, on an asphalt road surface. Maximum braking force applied from a speed of 70mph.

Tyre tread depth

Maintaining the recommended tread depth on your tyre is important because tyres with insufficient tread depth can create longer stopping distances, reduced grip and traction on the roads, and will eventually compromise your safety while driving.

It’s not only unsafe to ignore the minimum tread depth, it’s against the law and for each illegal tyre you face a fine of up to £2,500 and three penalty points on your driving licence.

Legally the minimum tread depth is 1.6mm, however, for safety reasons we recommend that you replace your tyres when tread depth reaches 3mm. You can check the tread depth of your tyres using the handy card below.

Be sure to fit all 4 tyres and wheels of the same size and type. When replacement of any of the tyres is necessary, it is recommended to replace all of them.

Tyre labelling

As a result of European regulation (1222/2009) all tyres produced after July 2012 carry information about their wet grip, fuel efficiency and noise performance, helping motorists make better informed choices.

On the Label

Fuel efficiency (rolling resistance)

Your choice of tyres can affect your fuel consumptions by as much as 7.5%. Fuel efficiency is graded from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient).

Wet grip

The same A-G scale is also used to show wet grip performance, with an overall difference in braking distance between the best and worst performing tyres of around 30%.

Noise

The lower part of the label shows exterior noise levels on a scale of one to three ‘sound waves’. Three ‘sound waves’ shows that the tyre meets the current European limit for noise, whereas a single ‘sound wave’ shows that the tyre’s noise level is 3 decibels better than the future European limit.

Get your tyres checked by the experts

Visit your local Mitsubishi dealer and our trained technicians will carry out thorough checks to ensure your tyres are roadworthy, safe and legal. We will check tread depth and pressure as well as inspect your tyres for any wear or damage.

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