One of the most overlooked measures that car owners don’t take to maintain their cars properly is checking their tyre pressure consistently and making sure they are adequately inflated. Insufficient tyre pressure can cause problems such as increased rolling resistance, greater fuel consumption, abnormal tyre wear and is generally a safety concern at high speeds.
The above picture shows how the tyre contact patch differs with varying pressures. If the tyre is over inflated, the contact patch will be minimal, which means that the car’s handling will suffer. The centre of the tyre will also wear out faster due to the road being in contact with the middle of the tread. In the case of an underinflated tyre, the side of the tyres will wear out faster, and the rolling resistance will increase. This will cause the engine to exert more power to get the car moving, hence increasing the cars fuel consumption which will in turn cause higher CO2 emissions.
These are just a few reasons that indicate why it is essential for any car driver to periodically (every 30 days or so) check and inflate their tyres at the right pressure, for their spare tyre as well. Not doing so can lead to a lot of added stress and extra expenditure on part of the owner.