Why Checking Your Tyre Pressure Matters for Safety, Fuel Economy and Tyre Life?

• Checking tyre pressures regularly is an important part of car ownership in South Africa.
• Tyre pressures should ideally be checked when tyres are cold, but at minimum they should be monitored monthly.
• Correct tyre pressure helps improve tyre life, safety, and fuel economy.
• Tyre pressures are usually listed on the vehicle and in the owner’s manual.
• In South Africa, tyre pressure is measured in kPa or bar.
• Underinflated or overinflated tyres can reduce grip, increase wear, and affect performance.
• Correct pressure is especially important when carrying extra load or towing.
• Some modern Volkswagen models include on-board tyre pressure monitoring.

Optimal Tyres: Better Drive, Less Fuel

With visits to friendly fuel station forecourts an integral part of car ownership in South Africa, many customers are too quick to dismiss the offer to check tyre pressures while their cars are being refuelled. Though it remains preferable to check the recommended tyre pressures when these items are cold, and thus before leaving home, the advantages of having them monitored at least monthly are far-reaching, including preserving tyre life, safety in varied driving conditions, and, indeed, lowering your average fuel consumption.

Usually listed on both the car itself and in the owner’s manual, recommended tyre pressures are based on several factors, including the size and mass of the car they are fitted to, as well as the application, like towing or transporting a heavier-than-usual load.

In South Africa, the unit of measure is kilopascals (kPa) or bar, the latter equating to 100 kPa.

Tyre Tread

The continuous development work carried out by leading tyre manufacturers to ensure maximum durability, overall performance and all-weather grip of their products relies heavily on the recommended tyre pressures associated with each tyre being maintained by the end user.

Each unique tread pattern, for example, is designed and engineered to disperse the maximum amount of water away from the tyre’s surface in wet driving conditions, thereby ensuring optimal grip. Any disparity in recommended pressures can result in the entire tyre surface and thus the complete tread pattern not contacting the road, undoing much of its effectiveness.

Similarly, while an overinflated tyre can favour the central part of the tread making contact, resulting in compromised overall performance and uneven wear, an underinflated tyre increases this surface area, creating unwanted drag and promoting wear on the outside of the tread. This is why it’s important to adjust your pressures accordingly when you are carrying an additional load, as it allows a margin for the entire tread area to make contact as the car’s overall mass increases, while also not overextending the tread pattern.

Saving Fuel

Any advice on long-term fuel savings will include a section dedicated to reducing drag while your car is in motion. While this includes removing accessories like roof rails and any aftermarket kit, and even extends to keeping your vehicle as clean as possible, to encourage an uninterrupted flow of air over the surface, ensuring your tyres are not underinflated, in particular, and thus creating unwanted drag at each corner, remains a key factor in delaying your next visit to the fuel pumps.

Tyre Life

As mentioned, while adhering as closely as possible to the tyre pressures recommended for your car, including adjusting for carrying load, means the tread pattern can perform within its optimal range, including maintaining grip in all conditions, a further advantage is the promotion of an even rate of wear across the surface. Together with timeous rotating and realigning by a professional centre, this promotes extended tyre life and thus financial savings.

To help maintain recommended tyre pressures, several modern Volkswagen products feature on-board monitoring, with a warning system should any discrepancies be detected.