How to Save on Your Car Tyres

What's the best way to save on your next set of tyres? It is a fact of life that they are probably the item singly most responsible for our cars handling. They have to work when cold, hot, wet, brand new, old, covered in mud, grit and oil and still last as long as possible.

The trend in Australia is for tyres with a higher coefficient of friction, advanced wet weather performance and dry performance. Design has come a long way and even the worst tyres today are better than good tyres of 10 years ago.

Tyres have an important bearing on the performance and safety of the car. There should be uniformity of tread pattern in the tyres. Don't mix radial tyres with other tyres.

Always ensure that the tyres have prescribed air pressure. Air pressure should be checked on cold tyres and not when they are hot as the air expands when hot. Having lower air pressure than prescribed adversely affect stability during drive, causes high fuel consumption and harms the suspensions, while excessive air pressure results in faster wear of treads and results in a hard and bumpy ride.

Rotate the tyres diagonally after every 5000 km; i.e. front right tyre should be rotated with rear left and front left should be rotated with rear right.

Make sure that the wheels are properly balanced. This will eliminate the centrifugal force and prevent the wobbling of tyre. Regularly check the wheel alignment of your vehicle as proper wheel alignment prolongs the life of the tyres and enhance the safety of the car.

Remember once you actually get your tyres, you have to consider balancing, scrap fee, cleaning where the bead seats and new rubber valve stems and of course, alignment. So you’d be looking at around another $150 to do this. Most stores throw in this as part of the deal (although most don’t give you a free wheel alignment) when you get 4 new ones, but don’t be fooled you are already paying for it!

Its always worth checking to see which method is actually cheaper, if buying from a shop works out cheaper when you factor in postage, fitting and alignment then go for it, but most of the time, the cost difference between online purchases plus store fitting and alignment still works out cheaper than buying it all from your local shop.

Remember 70% of vehicles are wasting fuel because their tyres are under inflated. Taking them for granted is a major cause of accidents. If you would like to compare the best car tyres, see our article on Tyre Prices