Do not torture your tyres
By H. Kishie Singh

THE co-efficient of friction is what a tyre is all about. Basically, what is important is how well a tyre holds a car to the road. One does not realise this, but the demands on a tyre are enormous. Besides it’s your only contact with Mother Earth. A good set of tyres makes sure Mother Earth clutches you to her bosom, ahile a bad set of tyres will make sure you go flying across the road. Here a set of tyres means five tyres as the spare wheel too is a part of the set. One bad tyre can destabilise the car.

The same car with the same tyres and on the same road has to face various road conditions. One day it encounters hot dry tarmac, the next day the roads can be wet, so. the tyres have to perform equally well on both days.

On acceleration, the tyre must provide grip and propel the car forward.

On braking, the tyres must provide friction and stop the car. Two demands at opposite ends of the spectrum. On a water-soaked road, a tyre’s operating efficiency gets reduced by half. Plus your brakes are wet.

While on the move, the tyres hold the car, give it stability, plus provide a cushioned ride. The steering response is also entirely the responsibility of tyres.

The search for a perfectly round tyre led to the radial design. For good manoeuvrability, a tyre has to be perfectly round. This improves fuel consumption. Bad tyres mean higher fuel bills, also an unstable and dangerous vehicle.

In this never-ending search for the ultimate tyre, there is a new product on road. Drive Oriented New Ultimate Tyre Science. DONUTS, is the new word in tyre technology and dubbed the ‘highest performance’ radial ever. They are designed to out perform all other tyres in the market. Tests have shown that DONUTS tyre do have superior performance qualities.

The performance of a tyre depends on a simple thing — tyre pressure. Tyres while rolling generate a tremendous amount of heat. The tarmac these days is also very hot. The air inside the tube expands. At night it will contract but the contraction may not be the same on all tyres so you will end up with uneven tyre pressure.

Remember to have the pressure of your tyres checked in the morning when the tyres are cold.

Happy motoring.