Once you’ve identified a suitable tyre for your car (as if that wasn’t enough to think about in itself) new EU regulations mean all tyres have to have 3 more pieces of information provided for them so you can compare them when buying. The information is represented as three charts which provide a quick visual comparison:
Fuel economy
The tyre’s fuel efficiency is graded from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient). The difference between a set of A-rated tyres versus G-rated over the lifetime of the tyres is estimated at around 80 litres or £110 at Jan 2014 prices, which is £27 per tyre, so this should be factored into your thoughts when comparing costs.
Wet braking efficiency
This chart rates tyres on how well they brake in wet conditions. Again A is best and G worst, with a proven difference in braking distance between A and G-rate tyres of up to 18 metres when braking from 50mph.
That’s 4 car-lengths less – quite a distance. Arguably this should be the most important factor when choosing tyres, after all you really want them to stop you hitting things when the time comes to stamp on the brakes. It could be the difference between a close call and a badly damaged front-end, or worse.
External noise level
The EU are bringing in mandatory noise limits for all tyres, and now rate every tyre according to its performance relative to this limit. The tyre noise chart shows either 1, 2 or 3 “sound waves” indicating the noise level heard outside the car:
- 3 waves = Noisier tyre – complies with current regulations but not the proposed future ones
- 2 waves = Average tyre – noise level equal to or below future limit by up to 3 decibels (3db)
- 1 wave = Low noise tyre – noise level 3db or more below future noise limit
Whilst 3 decibels doesn’t sound much the decibel scale is “logarithmic”, which effectively means an increase of 3db actually doubles the noise level! So you’d expect a low noise tyre to have much lower road noise even inside the vehicle than a “3 waves” one. Worth considering.
If you’re in the Brentwood area why not ask Triggs Garage for advice on your tyres – we are experienced tyre fitters and can ensure you get the best tyres for your car without spending a fortune.