With petrol and diesel prices reaching record levels in 2008, it has been proven that motorists can make a significant reduction to their motoring running costs by keeping their tyres correctly inflated.

According to research conducted by a major tyre manufacturer, driving on tyres which are just ten psi under the vehicle manufacturer’s recommended pressure can increase fuel consumption by 2.5%.

By keeping tyres at their correct pressure, motorists can travel further on each tank of petrol and help reduce CO2 emissions.

When tyres are under-inflated, the contact patch with the road surface increases, causing increased drag, which in turn places more load on the engine.

Additionally, the rolling resistance of the tyre increases as it requires more energy to return to its original shape after each contact with the road.

Keeping tyres correctly inflated helps to minimise these two negative effects and ensures that the car continues to operate safely.

As well as increasing fuel costs, running under-inflated tyres adds further financial burden to motorists as they wear out quicker than those that are correctly inflated.

At lower levels of under-inflation, the tyre’s contact patch with the road surface is reduced to two smaller areas towards the outer edges of the tread.

With the full vehicle load being placed on these areas, the tread tends to wear at a much higher rate, drastically reducing the performance of the tyre and forcing motorists to replace tyres much sooner than they would otherwise need to.

By running tyres at just 80% of the recommended pressure, motorists can expect tyre life to be reduced to around 75%.

If the pressure falls to 60%, motorists can expect to achieve just 35% of the potential mileage from the tyre.

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