How your car works - Tyres

Tyres Are Safety Critical
One of the easiest parts of your vehicle to check and one of the most safety critical is your tyres. There is no doubt about it worn tyres can kill. Your tyres are your only contact with the road and they affect steering, braking and acceleration. Tyres should be regularly checked for overall condition, tread depth and of course pressure.

All Unipart Car Care Centres can check your tyres and the check is FREE of CHARGE, but you should check them yourself at least once a fortnight. The legal minimum tread depth for car tyres in the UK and the European Community is 1.6mm throughout a continuous band, three-quarters of the width of tread wide and round the entire central circumference of the tyre. Many car tyres today have tread wear indicators, six small ribs across the bottom of the main tread grooves, and when the surface of these ribs becomes the surface of the tyre, the tyre is at the legal limit and must be replaced.

Tyre Pressures
Tyre pressures should be checked at least once a fortnight and only when the tyres are cold (as pressure will increase as the tyres get hot) most all Unipart Car Care Centres will happily check your tyre pressures for you and advise you of the correct tyre pressure for your car.

Mixing of Tyre Types
It is illegal in the UK to mix radial and crossply tyres on the same axle or to have crossply tyres on the rear and radial tyres on the front. The mixing of tyres can be extremely dangerous so if you are in doubt please just ask and we'll be happy to check for you.