At one time buying parts and accessories for your car meant a trip to the high street or a local garage. But thanks to the Internet it's now possible to get tyres or anything else you need from the comfort of your home.
Tyres are important. They're the only thing that keeps your car in touch with the road so it's important that they're the right type for your car and in good condition. When you're looking for car tyres there's an almost bewildering choice of makes and types. But if you go to a garage or fast-fit centre they'll almost certainly sell you want they have in stock or have on special offer so you don't benefit from all of the variety available.
You'll know when your old tyres are worn by the indicators built-into the tread. When these form a flat bar across the surface then it's time for a replacement. Before you go shopping for tyres there's some important information that you need. All of this is printed on the sidewall of the tyre itself, you just need to be able to decode it. What you'll see on the tyre is something like 175/65 R14, the first number is the tread width in millimetres, the second is the height of the sidewall (known as the profile) as a percentage of the tread depth, the letter R indicates that the tyre is a radial and the final number the diameter of the wheel in inches. You may also see a further number and a final letter, these indicate the load in pounds that the tyre can support and speed rating - important for high performance car tyres - for example an H rated tyre has a maximum speed of 130mph.
Tyre Information Summary
* Type, indicated by a prefix, P or no prefix is a passenger car tyre; LT is for a light truck. * Width, measured across the tread from sidewall to sidewall. * Profile, the height of the tyre's sidewall as a percentage of its width. * Construction, how the tyre is put together, most modern tyres are radials indicated with an R. * Wheel diameter, the size of the wheel in inches. This along with the profile make up the total rolling diameter, if you fit bigger wheels you'll need lower profile tyres. * Load Index, the maximum weight in pounds that the tyre can support when properly inflated. * Speed Rating, shows the maximum rated speed for the tyre. * DOT, means that the tyre complies with safety standards. * UTQG, Uniform Tyre Quality Grading, indicates that the tyre conforms to a standard quality rating. * TWI, with an arrow indicates where the tread wear indicators are located.
The advantage of buying online is you can use this information to search for the right type of tyre for your car and see all of the available choices. You'll find that a much wider selection is on offer and you're more likely to find car tyres that exactly meet your needs. This is especially true if you're looking for something out of the ordinary, for a high performance vehicle for example.
AUTHOR BIO
David Anderson is a freelance writer and car nut; he always shops online when looking for high performance car tyres.
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