Car Tyres

An afterthought of having my car's front tyres changed on its 2nd MOT date. 2 weeks prior to this the tyres were a couple of mm short of failing its MOT's so it was definitely time for a new set.

The tyres in question were the front two (due to the power steering of the car) whilst the back 2 still had plenty of thread on. Then again after 25.5k miles and 3.5 years of use they do deserve a break (at a cost of £170 - ouch that's quite a few days of hard work gone!)

First of all some information:

How to check car tyres for safety/usage (a random good looking google search result)

* http://www.diydoctormotoring.co.uk/projects/checktyres.htm

What the numbers on the car tyres mean:

* http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/ca/en/generaltire/automobile/themes/generaluniversity/tire_ovw_101/sidewall_en.html

My front two tyres had marked on the side walls - 205/55 R 16 91H Continental Tyres - engineered in Germany

Now the hard part was finding the seller (who had stock and could fit within 2 days or so in order to meet the MOT date which at the time of looking hadn't even been booked yet!)

The usual culprits were checked:

* http://www.halfordsautocentres.com/Tyres-Results?sw=205&ar=55&rd=16&sr=H&ds=1&m=1&q=1

* http://www.kwik-fit.com/tyre-search.asp

* http://www.national.co.uk/tyres-size-search.aspx?Width=205&Profile=55&Diameter=16&Rating=H&LoadIndex=91

* http://shop.atseuromaster.co.uk/eshop/en_GB/searchByTyreByUrl/section/205/aspectRatio/55/rimDiameter/16/loadIndex/91/speedIndex/H/xl/false/rf/false?x=135&y=19

Along with a couple of local garages including Vauxhall Grimshaws in Prestwich. The cheapest price for a single tyre started from £45 but as that would only last 10k - 15k, I decided and persuaded my dad to go for the more expensive Continental (Premium Contact 2's) @ £85 each which would do 20k-25k each!

Meanwhile my head was spinning around with so many different types, models and thread designs at which point I found a comparison site:

* http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Grid/

Kwik Fit was only £1 extra than the other on-line site but as they had the stock and could get the MOT done in 1 go within 1 hour of calling for an appointment I went with them. Problem soon followed where they couldn't match their website price for the tyre (but could for the MOT?!) so I bought the tyres online and booked the appointment for the Friday and over the phone had the MOT appointment for the Tuesday 3 days before. Whilst paying for the tyres a number of other options came up at which point I noticed a new thing - "Fill your tyres with Nitrogen instead of Oxygen for £1 each and get 25% extra life!"

Why not +£2 to the bill and if it does that's 25k to 31.25k miles each!

At the MOT station hidden behind the new Rock shopping centre in Bury, they amended the dates so that the MOT and tyre change were done in 1 go. After 1 hour of waiting they came back to me and told me the tyres were gonna get changed soon but the car needed doing slightly and retesting as it had failed the MOT due to a low aim of the headlights. It was finally after another hour that the car was completed and we could go/leave.

Now here's some "so-called advantages" of filling the car tyres up with Nitrogen instead of oxygen:

1. Better handling and road holding

2. Reduces tread wear and increases tyre life by up to 25%

3. Correct inflation pressures reduce puncture risk by up to 33%

4. Reduced rolling resistance improves miles per gallon by 2%

5. Improved pressure retention

But Karl says it's not true at all, however time should tell!

Stats taken from the supplier's site:

* http://www.uniflate.com/benefits-of-nitrogen-tyre-inflation

A footnote to the end of this era (of these 2 tyres)

The garage issued 2 MOT certificates - 1 failing the car, and 1 passing. I wonder if this might affect anything in future?!