As from the 1st of November, tyre labelling is changing. The idea that is been put into action for the new labelling is to promote the safety, fuel efficiency and help make road transport more environmentally friendly within Europe. What the new labels inform you on is three different sections; braking in wet weather conditions, external noise, and rolling resistance.
The new EU tyre label to the right, the label is split into the three different sections (left-fuel efficiency) (right-wet weather braking) and (bottom-external noise).
One of the key factors in making a motor vehicle economical is down to the rolling resistance of the vehicles tyres. When a tyre is rolling it becomes deformed, because of the deformation the tyre then looses energy in the form of heat, which is then wasted. If a tyre has a high deformation factors (high rolling resistance) then the consequence is that your fuel consumption is going to be very high and unnecessary, when on your commuting journey. In other words if you motor vehicle was to be using low rolling resistance tyres, you would be using a lot less fuel and your vehicle would be producing lower emissions, and because of this you would defiantly feel the difference every time you filled up your tank.
How the tyre performs depends on the vehicle and the driving conditions. Each tyre is rated from A to G, A being the most economical and G being the least economical. The difference between A and G is a consumption of around 7.5% decrease in fuel consumption.
What would your main key feature in a tyre be? The answer is safety in every condition that is going to be thrown at your vehicle. Wet grip is one of the most important performance characteristics, which reflects just how much of the is there when braking on a wet road. Again the effect of the tyre in a wet braking environment is depending on the vehicle and driving conditions. The wet grip performance is rated from A to G, A being the best at braking in the wet and G being the worst for braking in the wet. The difference between A and G could be up to 30% shorter braking distance.
E.G: a typical passenger car could be able to stop a whole 18m shorter, or in other words it’s the difference of around 4 car lengths. We now recommend that vehicles are fitted with the higher grip tyres.
Another important environmental issue is traffic noise; it is recorded by the density of the traffic on the road at any given time, the type of vehicle, the driving style of drivers and how much contact the tyre has with the road. Exterior noise is split up into 3 sections, and is measured in decibel (db). The diagram of just how noisy some tyres can be is shown as bars, located next to an image of a tyre (see diagram below) 1 bar is a tyre the produces very little exterior noise, 2 bars are tyres that produce a medium amount of noise and 3 bars means that the tyre produces a large amount of exterior noise.
It is to be noted that external tyre rolling noise is not in any way coincided with noise performed by the vehicle interior.
It is your tyres that stand between you and a potential life changing situation out there on the road. To ensure you are kept safe on your journeys, it is essential that you keep your tyres inflated to the correct PSI (Pounds per Square Inch), and that you have them changed if they are worn to the legal limit of 1.6mm or if they appear to be damaged.
We at Paul Harrison Car Sales are happy to help you in that department, we can happily help you maintain your tyres by keeping the inflated to the correct pressure, we can check the tread depths and check for damage. These are a few of the many things when we can keep you safe!!!
It is obvious to say that a worn tyre will reduce braking distance quite noticeably in wet conditions, and that underinflated tyres consume a lot more fuel and reduce the life span of the tyres.
Three top tips for tyre safety
- Check your tread depths and replace worn or damaged tyres before it’s too late
- Check your tyre pressures around about once a month or before you plan to go on a long journey.
- Check for damage unusual or irregular wear