What makes your world go round

H. Kishie Singh

Buying a tyre is not a simple affair. The tyre for my car may not be suitable for your car. There are many things to be considered while buying one.

My friend Surinder was in a dilemma about the expiry date of the tyres he wanted for his Swift.

First thing, and I quote a very highly respected brand. The warranty for a tyre is good for five years from date of manufacture and three years from date of sale.

Surinder was concerned that if he bought a four-year-old manufactured tyre how would it affect the warranty? Well, to begin with, no dealer can keep a tyre for four years. If he can’t sell a tyre for four years he should be in another business! Many times, if you go to buy a set of tyres, the dealer says, “Please come after lunch” and he rushes off to the factory warehouse.

He does not stock tyres and block his money. He picks up a fresh set of tyres and sells them. He may have a 30-day billing cycle with the manufacturer, but he has collected the money from you on the spot. And you have got a fresh set of tyres.

Under normal driving conditions, a radial tyre should give you 50,000 km of driving. On Chandigarh’s smooth roads, with sensible driving, you can expect more.

Hill driving, which means excessive cornering and braking, will reduce the life of the tyre. As will your bad driving habits. There is one other reason when the warranty may expire. This is when a TWI is exposed! TWI is the Tyre Wear Indicator. These are little bars between the sipes. Sipes are the grooves in the tread that define the pattern of your tyre. These may not be easily visible to the naked eye but as the tyre wears out, these will be seen clearly. At this stage the tyre is dead! Change it or risk a blow out.

Back to the date of manufacture — it is clearly printed on the side wall. Actually, there is an awful lot of information on the side wall in addition to the date of manufacture.

To begin with the tyre size — 205/5, this is in millimeters. 205 is the width of the tyre, also in mm. 55mm, the aspect ratio is the distance between the rim and the road. This decides the height of the car’s ground clearance.

The ‘R’ for radial is self explanatory. It is the ‘16’ that is diabolical. It is the rim size in inches. So far all measurements were in millimeters!

The date of manufacture is shown in the accompanying picture is 0204. The 02 means that the tyre was manufactured in the second week of 04 (2004).

If there is no manufacturing date, take it for granted, it is made in China! Do not buy.

The most important and critical after-sales purchase for your car will be your tyres. They hold you to the bosom of Terra Firma, Mother Earth, Bharat Mata.

Saving money on buying tyres or driving beyond their life span is really foolhardy. You put everyone in the car and on the road in a life-threatening situation.

Happy motoring!