Why Replace Tires?
On a serious note now, the importance of replacing worn tires cannot be emphasised enough. If you continue to drive with worn tires, your vehicle cannot grip the road effectively. This can drastically decrease the handling performance of your vehicle, and increase stopping distances in emergencies. These two factors can potentially cause accidents.
Tire Rack recently carried out tests to prove the point. Stopping distances were measured for a BMW travelling at 70mph. The tests were repeated 3 times with different tires: full-tread depth, 2/32-inch and 4/32-inch tread depths.
The results were dramatic:
“The BMW on new tires stopped from 70-0 mph in 195.2 feet in 3.7 seconds. When the testers ran the BMW on tires with tread shaved down to 2/32-inch, it failed to stop at the marker where the new tires stopped and continued at a speed of 55 mph. The BMW finally came to a stop after 378.8 feet, almost double the distance.
With tires shaved to a tread depth of 4/32-inch, the stopping distance of the BMW was 290 feet in 4.7 seconds, about midway between the runs with new tires and those with 2/32-inch tread depth.
The results show how crucial tire tread depth is to a faster stop, which could be the difference between being in an accident and avoiding it.”
Read the full article here.