Continental Car Lab | Caring for performance tyres

If there is a natural enemy of the tyre, it’s the performance test. Which, to be fair, is code for ‘kill all tyres’.

For the last couple of decades, MOTOR magazine has been killing tyres in the name of performance, and as part of the team, I’ve dealt with my fair share of wrecked rubber.

Tyres live and die via their heat cycles – every time a tyre is brought up from cold to hot then back again, that’s a heat cycle, and repeated heat cycles ultimately spell the end of the tyre’s life.

As well, physical distortion and abrasion – usually at the hands of MOTOR’s faster, slidier team members – also shortens a tyre’s life.

One way to ensure you’re getting all that you paid for is to ensure that your tyres are set to the correct pressure for every adventure, and this video does a good job of explaining that.

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