How to change a car tyre or use a repair kit
Car tyre safety tips
Minimise tyre wear
To get the maximum mileage from your tyres, avoid harsh braking, rapid acceleration and fast cornering – all of these will increase wear.
Remove any stones or debris wedged in the tread, and keep an eye out for any cuts or bulges. These can be signs of imminent failure.
Check your car tyres regularly for excessive or uneven wear. Remove any stones or debris wedged in the tread, and keep an eye out for any cuts or bulges. These can be signs of imminent failure.
If you hit a kerb or bad pothole, you should make sure you haven't damaged a wheel. If the rim is scuffed, has it caused any sharp or rough edges? Any damage close to the tyre’s sidewall should be repaired at once, and you should ask a garage to rebalance the wheel afterwards.
Minimum tread depth
By law, your car tyres must have a minimum of 1.6mm of tread in a continuous band across three quarters of the width of the tyre.
However, tyre performance deteriorates well before the legal minimum depth is reached, particularly in wet weather. This is because the volume of the shallower tread grooves is reduced, so they are less capable of dispersing surface water from the road.
Don't wait for the MOT test to buy new tyres. Check your tyres regularly and consider buying new ones when the tread depth reaches 3mm.
Check your tyre pressures
You should check the pressure of each car tyre (including the spare) every couple of weeks or so – depending on your mileage, try to get into the habit of doing it every second fuel stop or similar.
Your car's handbook will tell you the correct tyre pressures, or you may find them printed on a sticker inside the driver or passenger door. Some modern cars have built-in tyre pressure monitors, but we recommend regular manual checks as well.
We also highly recommend you check pressures before a long motorway run because incorrect pressures can have a major impact on stopping distances, fuel economy and tyre wear.
Look after your spare tyre
The only thing worse than getting a puncture is when you go to fit the spare and discover that it has also gone flat. Check the spare regularly for pressure and condition, because if your spare is old, the rubber may begin to perish, resulting in potentially dangerous cracks in the tread or sidewalls.
If your car has a temporary ‘space-saver’ spare tyre, which are usually much narrower and designed simply to get you home, it will usually need to be inflated to a much higher pressure than a standard tyre. Check your owner's handbook for details.