Car Tyres Buying Guide | Halfords UK HD

From when to change your tyres, the different seasons and how to select the right tyres for your car. We have you covered with this buyers guide to car tyres. [Halfords. We Fit. We Service. We Repair.] With thousands of tyres available..choosing the right tyre for your vehicle.. and individual driving needs may seem daunting. First things first…you’re going to want to establish your vehicle’s tyre size. You’ll find this on the wall of your tyre and in your vehicle’s handbook. It looks like this… on the side of the tyre wall. This first number is the section width – that’s the width of the tyre in millimetres. Next, the aspect ratio – the tyre’s width to height as a percentage. Generally a tyre with a 50 aspect ratio or less is considered to be low profile. A low profile tyre gives a firmer ride with better handling….but tends to be noisier and more expensive. Following that you’ve got the rim diameter – the size of the shiny bit! Then there’s the load rating that indicates the maximum load each tyre can support, finally it’s the speed rating – which is the maximum speed at which the tyres can carry its load. If you get the wrong size of tyre, it won’t fit on your wheels. And if it’s the wrong rating it could affect your insurance in the event of a claim. Once you know which tyre is right, you need to make a choice about whether you want to go for premium, mid-range or budget tyres. In general, with tyres you tend to get what you pay for. More expensive tyres tend to last longer thanks to their higher quality construction and materials. Mid-range tyres can prove great value for money, you still get a sense of technology in their development. Budget tyres will generally only last half the miles of premium tyres, nevertheless all tyres meet strict safety standards. Cars, vans, 4x4s and camper vans all require specific tyres, so make sure you have the right type for your vehicle. Then there’s a choice of which season tyre to have. 95% of drivers in the UK use summer tyres all year round. But there are All-season tyres that have a great deal of benefits. They’re better on winter roads than summer tyres… but this does come at the expense of a slight loss of handling in summer compared to summer tyres. All-season tyres are definitely worth considering as they are specially made for climates like the UK… where we get the occasional very cold snap. Obviously, they’re not as capable as winter tyres in the harshest conditions… but you don’t have to change them twice as year as you do with winter tyres. Winter tyres do have their place though They are designed for when temperatures drop below 7 degrees celcius. You can identify them by the snowflake on the side. And they definitely work, giving much better handling in snowy conditions. The downside with them is that you have to buy them in addition to your summer tyres.. and have somewhere to store them during the summer. So there you have