How to Choose the Best Car Tyres

Car tyres make the motoring world go around. They’re important, too, as they’re the only point of contact that your car has to the road, so making sure that you’re running on the right rubber is vital in terms of safety and efficiency.

Here at Carsa, we’ve got a variety of used cars that come equipped with top-notch tyres but, eventually, you’ll need to swap them out. But how do you go about doing that? We’ll be exploring everything you need to know about picking a set of car tyres in this article.

When to Swap Your Car Tyres?

Knowing the right time to swap out your car tyres is crucial. A good place to start is with a visual inspection. Look at the sidewalls of the tyre - the main ‘face’ that you can see - and check for any cracks or dry spots. You’ll want to look out for cuts or bulges, too, particularly if you’ve recently hit a large pothole or groove in the road. Such imperfections could lead to a blowout.

When it comes to tread, the minimum depth legally allowed in the UK is 1.6mm, but it’s recommended that you change out your tyres well before hitting this minimum. To check where your car’s tyres are at, you can insert a 20p piece into the grooves. If the outer band of the coin is obscured, then the tyres are within the limit. However, if you can see that outer band, then they’ll need swapping straight away. An alternative is to use a proper tyre tread depth gauge, which is inexpensive and can be purchased online or via a local motor part supplier.

Sizing

Tyre sizing can be confusing, to begin with, but once you’ve worked out what the meanings of the car tyres are then things can be a lot clearer. For example, let’s look at this sample size - 225/45 R19 - and you’ll be able to apply this to the tyres on your own car.

225

This portion of the tyre refers to its width, displayed in mm. Sportier cars are often fitted with wider tyres for better grip, while smaller, city-focused cars will usually be accompanied by narrower tyres.

45

This relates to the tyre’s sidewall profile, or height, displayed as a percentage of its width

R

This is the type of construction used for the tyre. In this instance, the ‘R’ stands for ‘radial’. However, all new tyres use this radial construction, so you’ll see it on every new tyre that you’ll look at today

19

The is the diameter of the wheel represented in inches. You may have seen cars listed on Carsa’s website with ‘18-inch alloy wheels’ as a feature, and it’s this section of the tyre where this is reflected.

Speed Rating

Tyres will then often have a speed rating listed after these initial figures. This will be displayed as a letter and must exceed - or at least match - the top speed of your car. It essentially certifies that the tyre is able to cope with the top speed of the car that it is fitted to.

Tyre type

There are lots of tyres to choose from depending on the type of driving that you’ll be doing. Let’s take a look at them in better detail.

Summer and Winter Car Tyres

You’ll find the vast majority of tyres on cars in the UK will be ‘summer’ ones. These deliver good levels of grip in warmer, dryer temperatures, but they can still perform well in the wet. You’ll find summer tyres from all types of brands, too, and they’re the most common ones that you’ll see for sale, too.

Winter Car tyres offer a more specialised level of performance for - you guessed it - winter conditions. A different compound means that winter tyres can deliver better grip than summer ones when the temperatures fall, while a more complex tread pattern makes them better able to ‘key’ into the road surface when there is snow and ice about. They’ll be grippier than summer car tyres when things turn cold, but the downside is that you’ll need to swap them out for summer-ready tyres when things warm up again. You’ll be able to spot winter car tyres by the snow symbols on the sidewall.

All-season Car Tyres

All-season car tyres bring a good blend of both winter and summer-tyre attributes. As you might expect, they perform better during winter than a summer tyre, but can’t quite match the level of grip that you’ll get from a proper winter tyre. They’re a good idea if the area where you live gets mixed weather - like much of the UK - and do mean that you won’t need to swap car tyres when the temperatures change.

Should I Check out Part-Worn Car tyres?

Because they’re cheaper, part-worn car tyres can often prove to be quite appealing - particularly if you’re on a budget. However, it isn’t advisable to purchase part-worn tyres as it’s hard to certify the kind of life that they’ve had up until the point of purchase. While it isn’t illegal to sell - or purchase - part-worn tyres, they do need to be properly labelled as such and will need to present all of the key bits of information that we’ve discussed previously, such as the speed rating and various sizing details. Many suppliers do provide good part-worn car tyres but, if you’re able to, it’s always worth opting for brand-new rubber.

Where to Buy Best Car Tyres From?

There are far more tyre outlets than there used to be a few years ago, so it’s now even easier to compare prices and browse through different brands and suppliers. Providing that you’ve got all of the information that we’ve discussed earlier you can check out all types of car tyres that’ll fit right onto your car via online retailers and many will be able to organise fitting, too.

Of course, there are plenty of physical retailers that can source the correct tyres for you and have them fitted - all in one place. However, here at Carsa, you’ll find that the used cars currently in stock come with best car tyres that have been inspected before the vehicle’s listing, so you can be sure that you’re driving away safely. Contact us today for more information!