TYRE MILEAGE.

Putaruru Press, Volume VII, Issue 319, 19 December 1929, Page 7

TYRE MILEAGE.

CHANGING CONDITIONS. “ Balloon tyres do not seem to give as long mileage now as they did when they were first introduced.” This is a remark heard more or less frequently among motorists. Apparently many people think that present-day balloon tyres are not as good as those made two or three years ago (states a tyre expert in the Goodyear News). And here we strike at the very heart of a condition in dire need of remedy, a condition based upon public misconception and in direct com flict with the actual facts of the case, for it is a fact that tyre manufacturers to-day are making the best tyres they know how to make. Steady improvement has been and is being made in the art of tyre building, and at their several price classes tyres in general are of better quality than ever before. It is also true, paradoxical as it may sound, that, even though better balloon tyres are being made to-day than were made two or three years ago, the tyres of to-day do not appear to be giving as much mileage. When motorists find they are not getting as much mileage as they had expected it is perhaps logical that they first blame the condition on the tyres. Few, if any, of them stop to consider that changing conditions under which tyres are run may be the reason for the reduced mileage. Here are the conditions directly responsible in cases where balloon tyres appear not to be giving as much mileage to-day as did the balloon tyres of yesterday:— 1. Smaller-diameter tyres. 2. Higher motoring speed. 3. Quicker acceleration of cars.

4. Quicker stopping (four-wheel brakes). 5. Undermflation. 6. Overinflation.