Tyre Maintenance & Care

Looking after your tyres comes down to a few small habits. Correct pressure, healthy tread and even wear cost almost nothing to check, yet they keep you safe, save you fuel, and make a set of tyres last far longer. These guides show you exactly what to check, how to do it, and how often.

Tyre pressure

Pressure is the check that pays back the most for the least effort. Start with the pressure the car actually needs, a figure set by the car maker, not the tyre, and where to find it on the car. From there, checking it properly takes only a few minutes a month.

Getting it wrong costs in both directions: under-inflated tyres run hot, wear at the edges and use more fuel, while over-inflated tyres wear in the centre and lose grip. The recommended figure is the balance point between them.

Pressure also shifts with the load and the seasons: there are higher figures for a full load or towing, the rise and fall with hot and cold weather to allow for, the question of nitrogen versus air, the PSI and bar units printed on the placard, and the valves and caps that hold it all in.

Newer cars keep an eye on pressure themselves. It is worth knowing the job the monitoring system does, the meaning of the dashboard warning light, clearing it once the pressures are right, and the difference between the two types of system.

Tread, wear and even wear

Tread depth and wear patterns tell the story of how a car is set up and driven. Start with checking the tread depth, the quick coin check for a monthly habit, or a gauge for an exact figure, read against the tread wear indicators and the legal tread limit. From there, knowing the point a tyre is due for replacement and how to read what a wear pattern is telling you keeps a set lasting and a car driving true.

Rotation, balancing and alignment

Moving tyres around to even out wear and balancing the wheels so they spin smoothly are the jobs that make a set last and a car drive without a shake. Start with the case for rotating a set, then the right pattern for the car and a sensible rotation interval. On the balancing side, there is the imbalance that balancing corrects, the signs a wheel has gone out of balance, and the difference between static and dynamic balancing. Alignment is the third piece. Start with the angles it sets and what knocks them out and the toe, camber and caster behind them, then the signs a car needs it done and how a bad setting can quietly ruin a tyre. When booking it in, the difference between tracking, four-wheel alignment and a full geometry setup and the rough cost of each help in choosing.

Cleaning, storage and longevity

How tyres are cleaned, dressed and stored has a real effect on how long they last, particularly for seasonal sets and low-mileage cars where ageing matters more than wear. Start with cleaning them without stripping their protection and whether to use a dressing, then storing a seasonal set the right way and slowing the ageing that sun and ozone cause. Pulling it together, there is getting the most miles from a set and the everyday things that damage tyres.

Spare wheels and emergencies

From space-savers and repair kits to changing a wheel at the roadside, this section covers what to do when a tyre lets go away from home. Start with the kinds of spare a car might carry and, when there is none, the options that remain. For the fixes themselves, there is using a space-saver within its limits, the reach of a sealant kit, and changing a wheel step by step, and if a puncture catches you on the move, keeping control and getting safely stopped.