Tyres: Your Vehicle’s First Line of Defence for Safety and Comfort

Written by Cian Ryan

3 mins read

When we think of our car’s safety ratings, we’re typically drawn to seatbelts, airbags and advanced technology. Similarly, when we think of comfort, we’re drawn to the suspension and high-quality insulation. However, in both cases, these are secondary systems.

What dictates our need for seat belts and airbags is the same vital piece of engineering that has the biggest impact on comfort and road noise, our vehicle’s tyres. Our tyres allow the vehicle to be propelled by the engines power, they allow us to turn and of course, they are the only part of the vehicle that should ever be touching the ground. As we know, they deform under the car while driving, and as the first level of suspension in a vehicle, a well-designed tyre can be significantly quieter than a cheaper option.

If today you decided to browse a tyre supplier’s website, you could be met with as many as up to 20+ different options for your vehicle, possibly more, all ranging in price, rating, brand, etc., and it can certainly feel overwhelming. A typical, and understandable, approach by many would be to “buy the tyres you can afford”, but given the rapid pace of industry change, this is not necessarily the right move.

The typical tyre size on a vehicle has changed dramatically in the last decade, and so too has the requirements of these tyres. Before, most manufacturers would opt for a “standard” tyre size which would be mass-produced, and as a result be cost effective for the manufacturer, and for the end user given bulk-buying by suppliers. In today’s industry however, we see large variations in tyre sizes and specifications between different models of the same manufacture. Additionally, given the need for greater efficiency in EV tyres, we see more “bespoke” tyre sizes in the market.

This means two things:

  1. The tyre manufacture can no longer produce the same volume of these tyres, and as such we see rising prices.
  2. The availability of these tyres can vary, and suppliers may not have what you need in stock, or they could offer a lesser quality tyre in its place.

The good news is that NiftiBusiness works closely with suppliers such as Bridgestone and Continental to review what is needed among fleet vehicles, and how we can manage the rising cost of these units. We always opt for a premium tyre first to ensure our customers are kept safe and comfortable.

If you have any questions about your tyres, please contact our Driver Support team who will be happy to assist.

Cian Ryan is Maintenance & Technical advisor at NiftiBusiness. With over a decade of motor industry experience, Cian is responsible for all technical queries and major repairs related to our fleet.

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