According to a new study, drivers in Britain are wasting hundreds of millions of pounds each year by making a simple mistake with their cars that only takes a matter of minutes to rectify.
Motorists who drive on underinflated tires are said to be wasting at least £112 million a year by burning rubber more quickly and, in the process, also avoidably increasing their fuel bills, according to The Motor Ombudsman.
The British Tire Manufacturers Association (BTMA) and the charity TyreSafe estimate that 57 per cent of cars in the UK have tire pressures 10 per cent lower than recommended by vehicle manufacturers.
With around 33 million engines on the road, this equates to around 19 million with low-performance tyres.
The British Tire Manufacturers Association estimates that 57% of cars in the UK have tire pressures 10% below the recommended level. As such, drivers are destroying their rubber much faster than they should, costing at least £112 million in replacement tyres.
The most common tire size for cars in the UK is 16 inches. On average, the cost to replace one is £85, the BTMA says.
Drivers who do not check whether their tires are inflated to the manufacturer’s recommended pressure are said to be equivalent to an avoidable annual loss of 1.3 million tires, says the Ombudsman.
With Brits said to be burning rubber much faster than they should, the bill for accelerated tire wear is at least a whopping £112m a year.
And that’s if only one tire is flat; If every corner of the car is below the suggested pressure, it could cost drivers four times as much in prematurely destroyed rubber.
There is also an additional financial burden for fuel economy.
Underinflated tires ultimately increase rolling resistance and therefore place additional demands on your car’s engine. The result is that it will have to work harder when you accelerate.
Philip Gomm, spokesman for the road safety charity RAC Foundation, explains: “Incorrectly inflated tires can be detrimental to safety, but they also have an impact on fuel efficiency.”
“If they are underinflated, fuel economy is reduced by up to ten percent due to the additional resistance from the road.”
Experts warn that underinflated tires can reduce a vehicle’s efficiency by up to 10%. For the average family car owner, this could mean £137 of fuel wasted a year.
For a petrol family car getting 40 miles per gallon (mpg), the annual fuel cost (based on the current unleaded petrol price of 146.4p, according to RAC Fuel Watch) to cover the national average of 7,400 miles per year is £1,231.
But with underinflated tires reducing fuel efficiency by up to 10 per cent, this reduces economy to 36mpg and would see the annual fuel bill rise by £137 to £1,368, according to This is Money calculations.
Continental Tires estimates that every 4.3 PSI (pounds per square inch) below the recommended pressure results in 1.5 percent additional fuel use.
One of the main reasons drivers make this mistake is because more than a third do not feel safe inflating their tires.
Surprisingly, about 37 percent of respondents to a survey of 1,000 drivers said they were unsure how to pump air into their tires, and more than half (51 percent) do not know how to correctly measure tread depth. of tread to ensure that the rubber is above the minimum legal requirement of 1.6 mm.
Bill Fennell, Chief Ombudsman, said: ‘Underinflated tires carry a number of risks and costs.
“Avoiding any unnecessary spending is especially pertinent given the current financial pressures on the country’s motorists.”
Stuart Lovatt, chairman of TyreSafe, added: “Under-inflation compromises tire and vehicle performance and can ultimately cost drivers and vehicle owners dearly, as The Motor Ombudsman’s study has clearly shown. “.
‘We strongly recommend that drivers respect the pressure levels recommended by vehicle manufacturers. This is because they have been calculated with absolute precision to ultimately keep vehicle users safe when they are on the road.
Below are our four quick tips on tire pressure, including how often you should check them.
Four Quick Tire Pressure Tips for Drivers
1. How often should tire pressure be checked?
The ideal is to check your tire pressure at least once a month and before taking long trips or transporting heavy loads, remembering to check the spare wheel if you carry it.
2. Where do I find the correct tire pressure for my vehicle?
The correct tire pressure for your car can usually be found on a label on the driver’s door frame (when the door is open), inside the fuel filler cap, or in the owner’s manual if there is none. label.
3. Check pressures before a trip with cold tires
If you can, check your tires while they are cold.
4. Perform other tire maintenance at the same time as checking pressures.
When checking your tires, also look for cracks, tears, or “bumps” in both the sidewall and tread area. If there are signs of damage, have the tires checked by a shop and replaced if necessary.
5. Is there enough tread on the tires?
Make sure you have at least 1.6mm tread depth across the entire width of the tire. This is easy to check using a 20p coin by placing the coin in the groove of the tyre. If the outer band of the coin is not visible, your tires are legal. But if you can see the band, they are probably illegal and need to be replaced.
As TyreSafe shows here, using a 20p coin is an easy way to check if your car’s tire depth meets legal requirements.
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