Merityre Article Archive

Car tyres do a magnificent job. Few would argue with this but there are those who seem to believe that their car’s tyres can perform miracles. Most people who’ve seen the consequences of this belief would argue with it. Now that winter is upon us with a vengeance, knowing what car tyres can and can’t do, particularly on snow and ice, becomes particularly helpful. Here are some basic facts to begin with…

* Car tyres, like many shoe soles, are made of materials that provide grip in most conditions. On snow, car tyres provide much-reduced grip and on ice, can offer practically no grip.

* Treating the road surface, with a mixture of salt and grit, enhances the available grip.

* This enhanced grip is nowhere near that provided by even a wet road surface.

* Should the treated surface re-freeze, the level of grip will decrease radically.

* Loss of grip equals loss of control.

Ok. For those who would argue that their car has anti-lock brakes and traction control, there are further facts. Electronic aids notwithstanding, a car (or a van, truck or whatever) can only obey the laws of physics. ABS, DSC and other driving aids help but like car tyres, they can’t perform miracles.

So, how do we deal with snow and ice? The short answer is very carefully but there are ways of driving in such conditions. Let’s take a look at the most useful…

* When setting off, you can lose traction. A car with furiously spinning wheels won’t be going anywhere except possibly downwards. Be subtle with the controls and in really bad conditions, try setting off in second gear.

* Should your car tyres insist on spinning, you may be able to progress by using wheel spin but only as a last resort. Turn the steering repeatedly from lock to lock and you might, just might, find a little traction.

* In adverse conditions, driving becomes very much a matter of the balance between grip and sliding. This is an immensely delicate balance that’s easily upset. Your fingertips and the seat of your pants give the best feedback about what’s happening at ground level.

* Despite all the theoretical talk, your car can only skid in three ways. In understeer, the front of the car loses grip and runs wide. In oversteer, the rear loses grip and tries to pass you. In a four-wheel slide or skid, all the wheels lose grip. If you’re skidding, you’re going too fast for the conditions.

* If the front wheels skid (understeer), reduce the amount of steering you have applied. In a rear wheel skid (oversteer), steer in the direction the tail of the car has taken. In all cases, four-wheel skid included, lift off the accelerator but avoid hard braking.

*If your ABS cuts in under braking, you may have a limited amount of steering control. Again don’t expect miracles.

* Where traction and grip are radically limited, stopping distances increase vastly. Never, on any account, follow a vehicle too closely and be aware that what’s behind you could have only a minimal chance of stopping. Should a vehicle be following too close, pull in and let it pass.

* Remember that even a treated surface can refreeze. Pay attention to your car’s ice warning and act on it. Black ice can remain in shadowed areas long after sunrise.

Above all, be realistic. Should conditions be dreadful, accept the fact and don’t travel. With the abovementioned driving aids, not to mention seatbelts and airbags, you’re likely to survive an accident. However, surviving the consequent insurance issues and the inconvenience of repairs can be a major hassle.

If in any doubt at all, you need answer one question, the one that posters carried during World War Two: Is your journey really necessary?

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Driving away from a tyre bay on tyres so new that they still retain their labels can cause mixed feelings. Often, replacing car tyres is carried out to remain safe and legal, which is comforting. Sometimes, a set of replacement tyres must be bought far too early, because the originals went nowhere near fulfilling their expected life, through neglect and/or misuse. This scenario is irritating at best so knowing how to get the most out of your car tyres is valuable.

We all know tyres don’t last for ever but there are mechanical faults, road conditions and driving habits that significantly shorten tyre life. Let’s start at the ground and work upwards.

If a car’s wheels are misaligned, the tyres won’t live long, it’s a simple as that. Having your car’s wheel alignment checked and fixed if necessary isn’t desperately expensive and pays dividends in tyre life, performance and comfort. Under or over-inflated tyres also acquire strange wear patterns and stranger habits on the road – and they wear out sooner. Equally, wheels in need of balancing can compromise comfort, grip and tyre longevity; much the same goes for ineffective shock absorbers.

In many respects, your car tyres’ life is as much in your hands as your life depends on your tyres. Accelerating savagely, braking spectacularly and cornering to the squeal of tortured rubber may seem thrilling but such practices shred your treads depressingly quickly. You can’t, in general, choose the kinds of roads you travel upon but there are known tyre killers that you’ll certainly encounter. Dealing with these in the correct way can enhance your tyres’ life, your car’s life and your comfort. Whether you call them speed bumps, sleeping policeman or traffic calming measures, the potential outcome is the same.

The first rule is to never straddle a speed bump; doing so can knock your car’s suspension out of alignment. Doing so repeatedly can damage your car’s springs and suspension too. If you cross speed bumps with either the left or right wheels, your car will suffer less. Similarly, if you take a gung-ho approach to speed bumps and speed pads, you’ll pay in the long run. This even affects big, tough 4×4 vehicles so don’t be misled. Slow down, as the bumps necessarily dictate.

Kerbs are not so far removed from speed bumps, either in terms of their location or the damage they can do. Look in any busy town centre and it won’t be long before you see someone allowing their car’s wheels to mount a kerb or two. It’s an unarguable fact that despite the cushioning effect of the tyres, car wheels always come off worse in a fight with a kerb. This is especially true of alloy wheels, which are relatively soft and easily damaged. This can be verified in the abovementioned busy town centre. You won’t have to look far to find a wheel with a piece taken out of the rim by a kerb, or with an edge raked down to bare metal by the same culprit.

The bottom line here is that looking after your car and its tyres pays dividends, in terms of performance, comfort, longevity - and financially.

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“Now is the winter of our discontent”, said Richard III. In fact, he meant that the time of unhappiness was past. However, if you don’t check your car tyres – and your car – before adverse conditions arrive, you could experience a highly discontented winter.

Anyone accustomed to living in ‘this sceptered isle’ (Shakespeare again) will be more than familiar with what we are liable to encounter. Dealing with anything that puts our cars and their tyres under stress isn’t all that difficult so let’s start with tyres.

Any car tyre, but for those with studs fitted, will not grip on sheet ice. However, well-worn tyres won’t grip too brilliantly in snow, slush or even in wet conditions. So first, check your tread depth. This should be a minimum of 1.6 millimetres of tread in a continuous band around three quarters of the tyre. This is only the legal minimum but a tyre that’s down to the wear indicators won’t cope well in winter. You may consider investing in a set of winter tyres but in any case, replacing tyres for the winter is a valid action.

It should go without saying that your car tyres should be at the correct pressure. Checking this is any easy job that should be repeated regularly throughout the winter. It’s also worth running a hand over your tyres’ carcasses to check for bulges, lumps, cuts or the evidence of misalignment. Remember also that you have a spare tyre that you might need in a hurry. Check first that you can dismount it, particularly if it lives beneath the car. In some instances, it’s so long since the spare tyre has seen the light of day that its fastenings under the car have long since corroded into immobility. It’s better to discover this at your leisure than at the roadside in mid-snowstorm or hurricane.

Many people see what’s under a car’s bonnet as fit and forget items. Wrong! Having enough non-freezing windscreen washer fluid is fairly important but if your car’s coolant, oil and hydraulic fluid levels are low, you could be heading for major difficulties, if not disaster. They’re easy enough to check and your car’s handbook will tell you all about which fluids should be used and where they should go. Bear in mind that a poor battery will almost certainly let you down as the temperature drops.

Apart from letting you see where you’re going on a black winter’s night, your car’s lights also announce your presence and intentions to other road users. Ensure that each and every bulb or LED on the car is fully functional; this includes less frequently used lighting like front and rear foglights. Carry a full set of spare bulbs and make sure you have the tools and know-how to fit them, if necessary. As an adjunct to vision, your car’s windscreen wipers are extremely important. Examine them and if any are ragged, loose or ineffective, replace them. Should you find any of these tasks too daunting, remember that your local garage will be happy to carry out your winter checks for you.

Finally, what to carry on a winter journey. What you take along can be tailored to the conditions you might meet. For example, you might need a torch, reflective waistcoat or jacket and a warning triangle, and some extra screen wash fluid for normal journeys. Whether you need boots, gloves, a shovel and a thermos of tea depends on where you’re headed.

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Fun Q and As about car tyre technical terms.

Car tyres and technical terms are inseparable, which is useful especially for those who work with them. However, we mere mortals can benefit from knowing some of the jargon. Here are some questions, with multiple-choice answers. The right answers are below so see how high you can score.

1. What is ‘aquaplaning’?

A: A popular water sport involving skis and a hang glider?

B: What happens when a tyre can’t clear road water away quickly enough?

C: A technique used by a deep-sea carpenter?

2. What is ‘rolling resistance’?

A: The amount of energy required to overcome the static mass of a tyre?

B: Wartime fighters who adopted job-sharing?

C: The ability of a tyre to stop a car turning over?

3. What does ‘M+S’ stand for?

A: A well-known department store?

B: ‘Match and Slip’ as applied to tyre tread’s grip?

C: It denotes a ‘Mud and Snow’ tyre?

4. What is a ‘mid range’ tyre?

A: A tyre designed to run at a medium pressure?

B: A tyre that is of lower quality than a branded tyre but is cheaper?

C: A tyre that wears out twice as fast as a high range tyre?

5. What is ‘Mu’?

A: The coefficient of the average grip of a tyre on a wet surface?

B: A metric unit of tyre pressure?

C: The sound made by a taciturn cow?

6. What is a ‘Standing Wave’?

A: The hand signal given by a policeman directing traffic?

B: The sine wave shown on the screen of an electronic tyre-balancing machine?

C: A wave of deformation in front and behind the contact patch of a rolling tyre?

7. What is ‘Re-grooving’?

A: Cutting new grooves into the sidewall of a tyre to aid water dispersion?

B: Cutting new grooves into worn tread to extend the life of truck tyres?

C: An older person learning how to break dance?

8. What is ‘profile’?

A: The difference between the sizes of front and rear tyres?

B: A person’s self-disclosed information on Facebook?

C: The ratio of tyre sidewall height to the width of a car tyre’s tread?

9. What does ‘SST’ stand for?

A: It stands for ‘Second Set of Tyres’?

B: It stands for ‘Self Supporting Technology’?

C. It stands for ‘Slightly Slippy Tyres’?

10. What are ‘Harmonics’?

A: Annoying vibrations and noise causing discomfort for a car’s occupants?

B: Tyre noise ocurring only on certain road surfaces?

C: A 1960’s band that used musical saws?

11. What is ‘Hysterisis’?

A: The hardness of the rubber used in a car tyre’s carcass?

B: A female relative who tends to panic?

C: The resistance to deformation of the rubber in a tread block?

12. Why do some tyre fitters use nitrogen?

A: As an alternative to air for inflating tyres?

B: As a means of removing an old tyre from a wheel?

C: For a laugh in the tyre bay before a short sleep?

Answers

1B

2A

3C

4B

5A

6C

7B

8C

9B

10A

11C

12A

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Unlike on ‘Who wants to be a millionaire’, your car tyres are your lifeline in the life or death sense. Their four contact patches, their ‘footprints’, are all that are keeping you and a tonne or more of moving metal away from a close encounter with the passing scenery or worse, with a moving 18-wheeler. Unfortunately, many drivers feel their tyres are forgettable but the old adage about looking after you’re tyres so they look after you is ever true.

Tyre pressures are the first forgotten chore. Car tyres lose pressure as a matter of course; it doesn’t mean they’re leaking. Arguably, the best way of making sure you keep your tyres at the correct pressure is all about money. Look at it this way: if your tyres are underinflated, they flex more, run too hot, wear more at the edges and have a shorter life. Low tyre pressures also create greater drag so you’ll use more fuel. Overinflated tyres wear out the centre section of their treads sooner, which is also a costly event. Should you have a tyre that has an air leak, it could let you down. Here, the best case is dealing with changing a wheel. The worst case is a one-way trip to casualty after a tyre burst, so get the leak fixed. As you can see, looking after tyre pressures is a money-saver; consider things like improved grip and enhanced safety as a bonus.

Bad wheel alignment represents another hungry mouth gnawing at your disposable income. Misaligned car tyres can wear out well before the end of their expected service life and having this fixed is simple and inexpensive. More importantly, especially in winter, misaligned tyres work at odds with your car’s steering and suspension. Result? The car is running inefficiently and the cost is in fuel and driver fatigue. Much the same applies to unbalanced wheels, which also cause vibration and increased wear.

Getting up close and personal with your car tyres periodically pays dividends too. You can check your tyre treads’ depth by studying their wear bars. When these, normally buried in the treads’ grooves, start wearing themselves, it’s new tyres time. You can also run an exploratory palm around your tyres, seeking an embedded nail, cuts, lumps, bulges or sidewall cracks. All spell the need for attention and a good tyre bay will advise you about what needs to be done. Adding a visual tyre health check to your car washing routine is a wise move.

Tyre rotation isn’t something that happens every time you drive away. A front-wheel-drive car, for example, gives its front tyres a great deal of work to do. The front tyres have to cope with steering forces, braking forces and the transmitting of power to the road. It’s no wonder that on such a car, the front tyres need replacing more often; giving them a tour of duty at the rear of the car evens things out.

Lastly, treat your car tyres with sympathy. Think of it this way: you only ever see a racing car surrounded by tyre smoke if it’s in trouble. Wheel spin, tyres yelping on corners and smoking, squealing stops are all very well in the movies but remember that stunt drivers (a) don’t own the cars and (b) don’t pay for their tyres!

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Once more unto the breach dear friends, or rather, once more into the gripping world of car tyre trivia. So, did you know?

The word ‘tyre’ is derived from the word ‘attire’ i.e. clothing. This makes the American spelling ‘tire’ the more accurate.

The very earliest ‘tyres’ actually helped hold wheels together. The part that ran on the road was an iron band, which was heated and placed over the ‘felloe’, or rim, of a wooden wheel. When it cooled, the band shrank to fit the wheel tightly, adding strength to the structure.

Formula 1 tyres lose weight during every race. The high wear rate means that a tyre weighs 0.5kg less when replaced.

Speaking of weight saving, the tyre Goodyear developed for the Gulfstream business jet had aluminium, rather than steel, bead wires. This saved 1.3kg per tyre.

Bridgestone produces 40,000 Formula One tyres per year. The company reintroduced slick tyres to Formula One in 2009, after an 11-year absence (prior to this, grooved tyres had been used since 1998).

When travelling at 300km/hour, four car tyres can displace 61 litres of water per second.

A study by Continental Tyres found that 40% of motorists in Britain claim to have never checked their car’s tyre pressures.

To make matters worse, even fewer drivers said that they knew how to check tread depth; 70% didn’t know what the legal tread depth was anyway.

Happy checking your tyre pressures at the filling station? Driving there means that although the garage’s gauge may be accurate, your tyres will be warm and give a falsely high reading. The tyres are likely to end up 12 to 15 per cent underinflated.

Racing car and aicraft tyres are filled with nitrogen rather than compressed air. Why? Because in flight, aircraft can encounter temperatures of minus 40 degress Centigrade and frozen moisture in the tyres can cause vibration and balance problems on landing. In a racing car, using nitrogen reduces the tyre pressure variations that can adversely affect lap times.

The lessened amounts of in-tyre moisture and the reduced pressure loss are not enough to make using nitrogen economically viable in road tyres.

The world’s largest tyre manufacturer by volume, with interests in Dunlop and many other regional and second line brands worldwide, is the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company.

The world’s most prolific tyre maker made 330 million tyres last year. This doesn’t really count as the tyres were for toys and models, also made by the Lego Group!

In the 1964 film ‘Goldfinger’, the scene where the tyre slicer comes out of the rear axle of James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 was faked. A mocked-up quarter of the car was filmed on a small set. The tyres (and sills) of ‘Tilly Masterson’s’ 1965 Ford Mustang convertible were shredded – but not by the DB5.

Green credentials: Interfloor recycles used car tyres to make Duralay Treadmore high quality crumb rubber underlay. Every 10 seconds one used car tyre is turned into carpet underlay That’s 60,000 tyres a week and approximately three million a year, which would otherwise go into unfriendly landfill.

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Great Britain has a temperate climate. That no one seems to have told the climate about this is by the by: the sort of conditions we experience every year are officially classified as being ‘temperate’. Yet facts are facts and like all of us, our car tyres have to cope with markedly different climatic conditions. In high summer, the mercury can hit the 30-degree mark, in midwinter, it can fall well below zero. Can a single set of tyres handle this? Let’s find out.

In winter, accidents increase by a less-than-modest 267 per cent. This begs the question of what is a winter tyre? More appropriately, what is it about winter tyres that make a difference? Car tyres conform to a given set of physical characteristics – they must, to be safe, legal and functional. However certain elements among these characteristics can be ‘tweaked’ and it is these differences that make a winter tyre.

The first tweak is to the tyre’s compound, the mix of rubber used in its construction. Water freezes when the ambient temperature is low. Car tyres don’t freeze but they harden, especially when the temperature falls to under seven degrees Centigrade. Winter tyres have a softer compound through containing more natural rubber than conventional tyres and this improves their grip in cold conditions. This specifically softer tread element gives a significant reduction in stopping distance. It also has a knock-on effect in performance terms. Because winter tyres offer superior grip, your car’s cornering, acceleration and braking benefit, as does your confidence.

The next point contains a paradox. After all, isn’t it true that car tyres with a softer compound will wear faster? In a word, no. In fact, conventional tyres have a particularly hard time in winter, pun intended. In practice, they wear out up to 20 per cent faster in cold conditions, so winter tyres can save you money. Some suggest that winter tyres’ enhanced grip means that your car’s engine has less work to do than with conventional tyres, so that fuel economy is also enhanced. This may be a moot point but a Finnish tyre maker says of its winter product, ‘Lower fuel consumption by lower rolling resistance, shorter braking distance on wet road, stronger aquaplaning protection and better snow grip are its benefits.’

The final point concerns noise. Winter tyres have a more open tread pattern, the better to clear away mud, snow and ice. This might suggest they give increased road noise when in use. However, most manufacturers claim that their winter tyres are as quiet and comfortable as normal tyres. This makes sense, as the tread compound is significantly softer.

So, are winter tyres a worthwhile investment? The above suggests that they are. Ideally, it would be best to have two sets of tyres, one set for summer use and one set for when the climate forgets to be ‘temperate’. The bottom line is still more telling. Given the use of grit and salt on the roads during a UK winter, it would make a lot of sense to acquire not only a set of winter tyres but also a set of ‘winter wheels’!

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Here are a few sobering figures. When you’re driving, the grip of your car tyres ultimately determines how quickly it can stop. At 30mph, the tonne or more of moving metal you’re piloting is travelling at 45 feet per second; every second equals 2.8 car lengths. At 70mph, every second’s travel is 105 feet. In ideal conditions, a car travelling at 30 mph takes 75 feet to stop; at 70mph, it’s 105 feet. In wet conditions, the 30mph stopping distance jumps to 120 feet and at 70mph, it’s a whopping 560 feet – that’s 35 car lengths. The strategies for coping when driving in poor conditions aren’t all obvious but the need for them will become so. Read on and learn.

It’s clear that when driving in rain, we need to leave more stopping space, to give your car tyres room to work with their reduced grip. Reducing your speed is a good idea too.

Car tyres have more to deal with than just surface water. If it rains after a long dry spell, the road surfaces’ build up of dirt and diesel, plus water, makes for near skid-pan conditions. Moreover, it isn’t just car tyres that are affected by rain. It’s a fact that vision is compromised on many levels by rain. First, a rain-sodden windscreen isn’t the same as a dry one, regardless of how efficient windscreen wipers have become. Furthermore, any car has areas of unwiped glass. Second, clammier conditions lead to misting up. This can be cleared by demisters and heated windows, but this is rarely instant and it obviously affects vision. Third, heavy rain and the resultant spray compromises vision yet more. Fourth and last, pedestrians tend to shy away from the rain and are unlikely to keep as sharp a lookout as they might.

Apart from attending to the elements of speed, distance and grip, you need to take further care in wet weather. A flood, for example, can cause major problems. Drive into one too fast and your engine could inhale a measure of water. This could do anything from causing it to stop to doing irreparable damage. What’s more, even if you negotiate a flood successfully, you’ll have wet brakes. Apply your brakes lightly until you feel them start to work properly or they won’t be there when you need them. Also, remember that anti-lock brakes let you steer when skidding but won’t necessarily reduce stopping distance as much as you might think. In fact, a June 1999 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) study found that ABS increased stopping distances on loose gravel by an average of 22 percent.

What about the still worse conditions of ice and snow, and fog. The former requires gentle, intelligent control inputs - you’ll soon find out how gentle you must be. Fog driving is all about vision. Some clearly feel they have magic tyres but the bottom line is if you can’t see or are following too close, you can’t stop in time, period. Remember to use your wipers when the fog droplets build up on your windscreen.

Lastly, it may seem odd to include ideal conditions, i.e. sunny, dry and bright, under defensive driving. If it does, try this. Picture yourself driving west, late in the day. The level sun is in your eyes, your windscreen’s grimy and your view of the road isn’t at all clear. This would be a good time to stop and clean your screen.

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In the colourful parlance of the motor trade, an MOT test certificate is called a ‘ticket’. A tax disc is referred to as ‘money on the glass’ and since you can’t buy the latter without owning the former, making sure your car passes its MOT test is essential to keeping it – and you – on the road. Car tyres, unsurprisingly, are candidates for inspection.

Once your car’s passed its third birthday, an MOT test becomes a yearly occurrence. What is the test for? Easy: it is to ensure that your car meets road safety and environmental standards. Should it not meet them, it’ll fail the test, which can be an expensive shortcoming. However, knowing what is tested helps in making sure a pass is within reach.

Let’s begin with the obvious, the car’s wheels and tyres. The tyres must be the right kind, have no excessive wear or damage and have a minimum of 1.6mm of tread. All the wheel nuts must be present and correctly tightened. Oddly, the spare tyre isn’t subject to inspection.

The car’s wheels and tyres naturally can’t do their job unless the mechanisms that secure and control them are sound. So, the fitness of the suspension and steering components is checked, as are the brakes. For these, testing on rollers is de rigeur. The brakes – handbrake included – must perform efficiently and evenly, within set parameters. The state of the hydraulic components is also tested, so ragged brake hoses and leaking fluid mean a fail.

Dependent on the car’s age and the type of fuel it uses, the car must meet precise emission requirements, and so computerised exhaust sniffing is carried out. Moreover, the exhaust system should be without leaks or holes caused by rust or damage.

While looking at the metalwork, the MOT tester will check the car’s structure. Excessive corrosion, damage or sharp edges are fail points. It’s important that all the strong points in the body, those holding the hardware, must be free of rust and damage.

While considering structural elements, the tester must make sure that the car’s seats are secure in their upright position. Seatbelts must be present and correct in the front and rear, as well as working and in good condition. Next out, as it were, the doors must work properly, and have functional locks. The mirrors must also be present and fully usable – a cracked glass may cause a fail.

The matter of visibility comes next. The car’s windscreen must be free of all but the smallest amount of damage, the windscreen wiper blades must be in good order and the screen washer must work and have an adequate supply of fluid.

Now for the lights. All the lights – indicators and hazard lights included – must be secure, properly aimed and working. This just leaves two legalities, the number plates and the Vehicle Identification Number, or VIN. The ‘plates must be in good shape, legible and have the correct format and, so fancy typefaces and ‘plates modified to read in special way can earn you a fail. The VIN, which you’ll find on any car registered after the 1st August 1980, must be present and readable.

In practice, the four most common MOT failure points are suspension, brakes, lights and, of course, tyres. The checklist above will guide you towards winning an MOT pass, which will save you both hassle and money. However, if in any doubt about any aspect of your upcoming MOT test, it’s advisable to call in the experts. Consult a garage or tyre bay as necessary.

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The world of car tyres is awash with technical terms. You don’t need to know them but they sometimes come in useful. So try answering the following questions, each of which has only one correct answer. The answers are at the foot of the list and for those planning to scroll down and cheat - we’ll know what you did!

1: What is BS AU159f?

A: The British Standard for puncture repairs to car tyres.
B: The British Standard for puncture repairs to Australian car tyres.
C: A code to access holiday discount vouchers on the Internet.

2: What do the initials RWL stand for?

A: Reprogrammable Warning Lights.
B: Right Wheel Latitude.
C: Raised White Letters

3: What is an aspect ratio?

A: The number of attacks per bird experienced if you bend over in a chicken run.
B: The ratio of a car tyre’s height to its width expressed as a percentage.
C: The ratio of tyre pressure (in lbs per sq. in.) to tyre life (in miles).

4: What is a car tyre’s bead for?

A: Holding it on the wheel rim.
B: Keeping it in balance.
C: Threading on a string.

5: What is a butyl liner?

A: A rubber cruise ship.
B: A fine layer in a tyre that prevents sudden deflation if a puncture occurs.
C: A fine layer in a tyre that makes fitting it easier.

6: What is calendaring?

A: The method of assessing tyre wear per month.
B: Adding markings that denote when a tyre was made.
C: Part of the tyre-making process.

7: What is carbon black?

A: The measurable polluting content of a carbon footprint.
B: The marks left on a snooker table by the last ball to be potted.
C: A filler material used to make grey rubber into black tyres.

8: What is de-vulcanisation?
A: A process of mechanical and chemical decomposition that affects tyres.
B: The post court-martial execution of the first officer of the Starship Enterprise.
C:  The final process in tyre manufacture.

9: What is a contact patch?

A: A damp chamois leather pad used with the electric chair.
B: The area of a tyre’s tread in contact with the road at any given time.
C: A place where you go to meet with business associates.

10: What is deformation?

A: An offence you can be sued for?
B: The flexing of a tyre in response to the forces acting on it.
C: The distortion a tyre undergoes during fitment.

11: What is an E Marking?

A: A marking all post-June 1997 tyres carry to show they comply with European requirements.
B: A marking carried by all post-May 1986 tyres to show they may be sold in Yorkshire.
C: A marking all post-July 1990 tyres carry to show their sell-by date.

12: What is a sipe?

A: A medium sized, skulking wading bird with short legs, a long straight bill and poor spelling skills.
B: A tyre-fitter’s contraction of the words ‘stand pipe’.
C: A narrow slit between two blocks in a tyre’s tread, designed to dispel water and enhance grip.

Answers
1A
2C
3B
4A
5B
6C
7C
8A
9B
10B
11A
12C

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