# The good, the bad and the underinflated - which type of tyres are on your vehicle



## WHIZZER (Oct 25, 2005)

With over 50% of tyres driven on Britain’s roads being below the vehicle manufacturers’ recommendation, TyreSafe is urging drivers to get into the habit of carrying out regular checks this Tyre Safety Month.

Correct air pressure is essential to ensure safety on the road. If the tyres are under- or over- inflated they have less contact than when they’re properly inflated and can cause handling problems while driving. Incorrect air pressure will also add to the vehicle’s running costs and reduce tyre life. In fact, TyreSafe research shows up to £1billion1 could be being wasted by UK motorists in unnecessary fuel bills purely because of underinflated tyres.

TyreSafe is highlighting the message as part of October 2020’s Tyre Safety Month with an animation called The Good, The Bad and The Underinflated, which can be viewed at TyreSafe.org or on YouTube. The animation is part of this year’s campaign which asks, Are your tyres ready for ACTion?.

To correctly inflate a tyre, owners should first check their tyre size. This can be found on the sidewall of each tyre and will be a sequence of numbers and letters such as 195/55 R16. On modern cars, the front and rear size maybe different, and if that is the case both have to be taken into account. The appropriate pressure will be found in a chart in the handbook, fuel filler cap or one of the front door pillars.

An accurate pressure gauge should be used to check each tyre’s pressure and inflated to the correct level. This will need adjusting should the vehicle be driven fully loaded rather than with just a light load.

To help owners, TyreSafe has a new app available through Google Play and the Apple App Store which will help guide them through the process. The app also allows them to store the tyre size and pressure information, and if they allow notifications, they will receive a monthly reminder to check their tyres again.

Stuart Jackson, Chair of TyreSafe, said: “Underinflation is arguably the most common tyre defect. That’s frustrating as it’s in everybody’s interest to ensure pressure is set to the right level. Not only are the risks of an incident reduced, owners also reduce motoring costs. As we’re all watching our spending at the moment, it makes sense to ensure tyre pressures are right for the vehicle and its load.

“A monthly check is all it takes. So, if you’re heading back on the road, follow the TyreSafe advice and make sure you’re ready for ACTion.”


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## Andy from Sandy (May 6, 2011)

I would suggest monthly is too long. As the temperature now is quite variable and dropping tyre pressures will be dropping with it.


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

> Correct air pressure is essential to ensure safety on the road. If the tyres are under- or over- inflated they have less contact than when they're properly inflated


On cars only perhaps... 

My bikes tyres are underinflated according to the OE spec to INCREASE their contact patch when riding.

:thumb:


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## Bulkhead (Oct 17, 2007)

The Cueball said:


> On cars only perhaps...
> 
> My bikes tyres are underinflated according to the OE spec to INCREASE their contact patch when riding.
> 
> :thumb:


Agreed - the tyres on my Land Cruiser are a non-standard size but I run them considerably lower than most. It seems a bit pointless to not use the full width of the tyre for road contact. The added advantage is that it massively improves ride comfort.


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## SteveW (Feb 21, 2006)

I have TPMS on my new car, it's the first car that I've had with it, but I don't trust it :lol:

I tend to check the pressures every month anyway at least, or before I go on a longer journey - despite my car having the ability to now warn me if the pressures have dropped. Last time I checked, a couple of them had fallen 1psi below where I had inflated them to, but the TPMS hadn't told me about them, so I'm not sure what the tolerance is for these automatic monitoring systems?


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## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

SteveW said:


> I have TPMS on my new car, it's the first car that I've had with it, but I don't trust it :lol:
> 
> I tend to check the pressures every month anyway at least, or before I go on a longer journey - despite my car having the ability to now warn me if the pressures have dropped. Last time I checked, a couple of them had fallen 1psi below where I had inflated them to, but the TPMS hadn't told me about them, so I'm not sure what the tolerance is for these automatic monitoring systems?


Mother in law has tpms on hers, not a week goes by where she doesn't want me to check tyres because some alarm is going off or 1has dropped or gone up!

My guage is out now as standard when she says she's popping round:lol:


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## Mikesphotaes (Jul 24, 2016)

Tyre safe indeed! 

Monthly is far too long, weekly is best.


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