Car tips: Tyre buying made easy

By Chris Aaron 3 days ago

Words by Nooralia Zaharin, brought to you by Michelin

Replacing your cars’ tyres is usually an unwanted expense and often a confusing purchase experience especially for first timers. As a smart consumer, you want to make sure that you get the best tyre for your money.

These days, there are plenty of choices out there, but with a little guidance, you can get yourself a set of fairly-priced, safe and durable tyres for your vehicle.

The most important rule when buying a set of new tyres is to always do a little homework before you make your trip to the tyre store, as it makes it a less intimidating process if you first assess your situation and budget. Browsing through tyre manufacturer sites, online tyre selling and your nearest local tyre store is also recommended. This little bit of homework will help you make a wiser decision when purchasing your new tyres.

You also need to consider several factors that will help you decide what is best for your daily drive when making a purchase. Treadware for example, is an indicator of longevity. The wear ratings go from 100 to 600 and higher wear ratings mean longer life and better fuel economy. However, higher wear rating for longevity generally utilises harder rubber compounds that affect dry traction.

Traction is the key to safety. A common mistake is to select a tyre without considering its ability to grip the road. Traction grades provide a basis of how well tyres will stop on a wet surface. For the Malaysian climate where rain is a factor, it is better off paying a bit more by buying premium tyres that offers good wet grip.

Buying the right tyre for your intended speed is vitally important to safety, a tyre with a higher speed rating can dissipate more heat on long highway trips. If you were to spend less time on the highway, the speed rating might not be an important factor in choosing a replacement tyre. You can determine the speed rating by looking at the letter beside the load index in the alphanumeric code. The range is A to Z, with A being the lowest and Z the highest, but you’ll usually find a range that falls between Q to Z for most cars.

You should also consider your usage condition for your tyres. If you drive mostly on paved roads and highways, a smooth road tyre and street tyre should be on your shopping list. If you drive equally on paved roads, highways, and off-road, then all-terrain tyres should be a consideration. If you are driving mostly off-road and occasionally on paved roads/highways, then you might consider choosing an “off-road” tyre. However, bear in mind that 100 per cent off-road tyres do not offer optimum grip on asphalt, especially in the wet.

Another important factor in choosing a replacement tyre is the load rating. The load capacity number on the tyre-size code indicates the load-carrying capacity of that single tyre. When selecting replacement tyres, make sure you do not select a tyre with a lower load-carrying capacity than what’s currently on your vehicle.

Again, doing some homework, being well-informed, knowing what to look for, and what is required by a manufacturer in terms of their own specifications for buying tyres, will ensure that you have made a correct decision when purchasing this product and making the tyre buying experience less intimidating.

Car tips: How to save fuel on long journeys

By Chris Aaron 10 hours ago

Roadtrips! We all love going on a roadtrip but the increasing fuel cost can put a damper on our mood so we end up giving a bunch of excuses when it comes to a long distance journey.

*Words and pictures by Nooralia Zaharin

To ease your burden we’ve got 5 fuel saving tips that can help you improve your car’s fuel economy and take some of the sting out of high fuel prices.

1. Pump up the volume; and those tyres.

This is going to sound really corny but proper tyre inflation beats inflation. The correct tyre pressure is essential to getting the best mileage out of every tank of fuel in your car. Remember this: 20 per cent of every full tank is burned up via frictional losses just to push the tyres across the asphalt.

This percentage climbs dramatically if your tyres are improperly inflated. It’s best to check the pressure when the tyres are cold, but more importantly, make it a habit to inflate them when you fill up your petrol tank before a long journey.

If your tyres are hot when you’re pumping them, add a couple of bars (psi) more to the pump to make up for the expanded hot air in the tyres. And remember, if you car is equipped with a spare tyre in the boot, make use it’s pumped too.

2. Drive smoothly

Traffic jams are the worst culprits for elevated fuel consumption. Stop / start driving is one of the greatest enemies of fuel efficiency because when the average speed of your vehicle changes from 40kmh to 20kmh, the fuel consumption will decrease by 30 per cent.

That’s why your car always records its best mileage when you’re cruising on the open highway so if at all possible, try to avoid situation that requires a lot of stop and go driving, but if you’re unable to, then be gentle on the accelerator pedal. Avoid harsh acceleration, and be as smooth as possible on the pedal.

3. Remove weight

Take note that 3 per cent of fuel will be saved for every 100kg of less weight. So if you’re able to lighten the load of your car, the engine has less of a load to push around and hence uses less fuel.

Whenever possible, do a spring cleaning on your car; remove all the stuff you hardly use from its interior and boot, you’ll be amazed how much junk your car accumulates and even more surprised how much all this weighs.

4. Constant velocity

It takes more fuel to get a car rolling to 110kmh, than it does to keep it rolling at 110kmh, therefore, get your car to its top gear as quickly as possible without over-revving it, and try to maintain a constant speed. You’ll even notice that your revs drop significantly despite driving at a decent clip.

For a car with automatic transmission, the on-board shift computer will figure out the best time to shift gears for you, but for cars with a manual tranny, refer to your owner’s handbook to see at which rpm your car makes its optimum power. If it’s say 3500 or 4000rpm, shift gears 500rpm before that, because anything after is just a waste of petrol.

5. Proper maintenance

Just as how your body would not function properly without proper rest, sustenance and exercise, your car will not perform at its best if improperly maintained. And yes, because the one thing that keeps it moving is petrol, your car will burn more of it unnecessarily to keep itself running if it’s not in the best shape.

Regular maintenance and proper care are essential to getting the best performance from your car, not just in terms of power, but fuel efficiency as well. In addition to getting your car serviced regularly, fortnightly DIY checks are also recommended, if only to check fluid levels. Always see to warning lights that appear on your dashboard warning you about something, and remember, the longer you ignore it, the more expensive it’s going to be.