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Why You Should Regularly Check Your Car Tyres

It is essential that you check your car tyres regularly, for wear, cracking, bulging, pressure or objects caught in the tread. Not only are defective tyres highly dangerous but if found by the police to be defective (that is with a tyre tread of less than 1.6mm across the central 3/4 of the tyre or in any other way not roadworthy) you will face a fine of up to£2500 and 3 penalty points per tyre.

Most car tyres have tread wear indicators, usually six small ribs across the bottom of the main tread grooves. When the tread surface becomes level with these ribs the tyre is at the legal limit and must be replaced.

You should check the pressure of your tyres, including the spare, once a week. Correct tyre pressures result in optimized braking, handling, grip and fuel efficiency. Low tyre pressure will increase your cars fuel consumption, shorten the life of the tyre and increase risk of tyre failure. High tyre pressure will cause diminished grip, reduce stability in braking and cornering and increase risk of impact tyre damage. You must check tyre pressure only when the tyres are cold. Warm tyres, archived by driving no more than a few miles, will provide a false reading. The correct tyre pressure for your particular car will be listed in the owners manual.

If you don't own a pressure gauge then the easiest way to check tyre pressure is by using a digital air dispenser found at most petrol stations. These are very easy to use and there should be instructions on how to do so on the machine itself.

Most car tyres are made to very high quality standards however there can still be variations in the thickness of the rubber, the steel belts and the radial webbing that forms the structure. This can lead to a slight weight difference around the tyre. This is a well know issue and can be cured by balancing the wheel and tyre. A less well known problem caused by these slight variations is a problem called run-out: a measure of how straight the tyre will run if fitted to a wheel and allowed to roll along a flat level surface.

Some tyres will run straight and true others will veer to the right or left. When buying a new tyre you will see an indication of this. Look for a red or blue line running the tread of the new tyre. this is a run-out indicator. The nearer it is to the centre the straighter the tyre will run and which side of the centre it is on shows the direction of the run-out.

If both tyres on the front axle of your car run-out significantly in the same direction a steering problem can occur. When buying new tyres it is important to go for two with run-outs that are of the same amount but in opposite directions. This way the two will cancel each other out and you have straight steering.

For more young driver information see the driving test and driving schools website. A site for learner drivers which provides guides on topics such as the driving theory test and the driving test DVD.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_M_Jenkins

'Green' Car Tax Changes a Fundraiser, UK Treasury Admits

What a giveaway! How often is that said after a government Budget day?

But buried in the small print of the UK government's annual announcement of its tax and spending plans was an official admission that changes to the car tax system, being spun as having 'green' objectives, will in fact be a healthy fundraiser for the UK Treasury.

Budget documents have revealed that by 2010-11, when six additional car tax bands and a £950 ($1925) 'showroom tax' on higher emissions cars will come into force, higher vehicle taxes will be delivering an extra £735m ($1.5bn) to the government's coffers.

But with tax rates on lower emissions cars set to be cut at the same time, news that the government's income from the scheme is projected to increase by such a large amount indicates that the changes will not succeed in their stated objective of encouraging people to switch to less polluting cars.

Despite this effective admission in their own documents, the government has clearly decided to implement the changes and label them 'green' regardless.

The move will fuel suspicions that government is again using the theory of man-made global warming as an excuse to raise the tax burden, with car users perceived as a particularly easy target.

Motorist's groups have leapt on the revelation as reinforcing their view that attempts to force people out of large cars using financial penalties are unlikely to be successful and deliver 'green' goals because many people actually need larger cars to accommodate their families.

Coupled with the news that the fuel tax increase (albeit delayed until October) will be contributing an additional £270m ($547m) to the UK Treasury by 2010, and that the government will announce the results of its investigations into how to hit car users with yet more bills via pay-per-mile road charging next year, it's no wonder this year's Budget has been described as a 'war on the family car'.

Stuart Coster is editor of motoring advice site KwikGuides.com, which provides free guides and tools to help with buying, selling and running a car.

The site's newest guide is on Choosing Car Insurance and Cutting the Cost

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stuart_Coster