The Importance of Proper Tire Inflation
March 10, 2009 by Robert
There are a lot of benefits to keeping your vehicle's tires correctly inflated. These include safety, better fuel consumption rates, and environmental benefits, plus correctly inflated tires will save you money in the long run. Let's take a look at why it's so important to keep your tires inflated correctly if you want to get the most out of your car.
Safety
Your car's tires have been engineered to provide safe performance whenever you need them, but they can't do that without some help from you. Regular maintenance and keeping them at the right pressure will help you. That's because tires that are under or over inflated will cause problems with handling. You may not notice it right away, but your vehicle won't be steering, accelerating or slowing down correctly, and traction control and anti-lock brake systems might not work right, either.
Fuel Economy
If your tires are correctly inflated, you'll save more gas. That's because well inflated tires have less rolling resistance and take less fuel to move. If you were to maintain your tires correctly, you could save two weeks or more worth of gasoline each year. That's a lot of money, especially with gas prices fluctuating.
Environmental Factors
Did you know that every gallon of fuel you use results in around twenty pounds of carbon dioxide being released into the air? This greenhouse gas has been attributed with making climate change much more severe. If your tires are inflated and your fuel efficiency goes up, your emission will go down. Given the number of tons of CO2 released each year just because of badly maintained tires, isn't it worth it to inflate yours? On top of that, using less fuel means requiring less fossil fuel production, which is also environmentally advantageous.
Another environmental impact that tires have is disposal. Most tires end up either in recycling centers or landfills, and tires don't really decay. Even recycling them is difficult, with some states banning the use of shredded tires in asphalt, and this material being difficult to use in the amounts in which it's produced. Better tire maintenance means less need to figure out what to do with the old ones.
You'll Save Money
If your tires are maintained correctly, your car will be a lot more efficient, and your tires will last longer. You'll get those two weeks worth of gas savings, and you won't have to replace your tires as often, too. Those are pretty good cost benefits compared to the price of the air needed to keep your tires in top condition. So, if you think your tires are over or under inflated, check them out now.
Tags: car tires, suv tires, Tire Pressure, Tires, truck tires
I’m a tire pressure checking son of a gun!