Ok I’ll be honest with you, few years back if you would have asked me what is tyre up stepping, trust me I would have said changing of tyre. I really didn’t have a clue then, but now I can give you a lot more deal about the same. It has been possible after meeting many car enthusiasts, including my boss and various other car lovers. I know many of you, who are reading this article, don’t know much about up-stepping of tyres. So, here I offer you my acquired knowledge over the years about the tyre up stepping. Just dig in.
Let me start with the basics. If you think that your car provides you with a good fuel economy, then in addition to the engine type there can be only two reasons, for the same. One that you really take care of your car even while driving it and two that your car is fitted with low rolling resistance tyres. Wondering how? You must be for sure because even I did when I came to know that. Surely, the efficiency of the car is enhanced if your car comes fitted with a sane engine but then a lot depends upon the tyres that are fitted in your car. The tyres with low rolling resistance minimises the loss of energy. Hence, a lot better fuel economy.
See the basic reason why the tyre becomes such a prominent part of the fuel economy is because the tyre doesn’t perform the way we imagine, there is a lot more mathematical calculation in it. To lay it in simple terms, more than two tyres transmit a driving force and almost all the tyres generate a brake force. In addition to that each tyre has its own cornering force. Since, all the tyres are sharing a mixed bag of forces it ultimately leads to a complex situation. Now the catch is that, all these forces get exerted through the contact patch of each tyre. So besides all the other aspect of the tyre, the one that is really important is the rolling resistance of it.
Now, now, now, rolling resistance of the tyres can also be achieved either by altering the inflation pressure of the tyres or by changing the amount of load on them. If you increase the load then you’ll get an increased rolling resistance, but on the other hand if you increase the inflation rate of the tyre it will result in a decrease in the rolling resistance of the tyre. So, in case you are wondering that why your car manufacturer advised you to keep a high inflated rate of pressure, then it is to achieve a better fuel economy. Also, for the heavy vehicles it is recommended that inflation rate of the tyres should be increased but then they have to be driven in low speeds so that they don’t start generating heat.
To avoid all the problems related with tyre pressure, you should add one more belt under its tread to make sure that the tyre will flex in only one direction rather than flexing on two sides. Reason being, that the tread will remain flat on its circumference even with the contact patch. Now, this reminds me that the radial tyres will give you a much much better performance than the bias ply tyres. As for the defence of my statement, I would say that the radial tyres have a unique flex action which gives it a unique ability to increase the air volume which ultimately provides a good floatation effect, also a low rolling resistance and a better load carrying capacity.
Tyres don’t grow on trees. I mean that rubber is derived from trees but then there’s a lot of hard work and dedication incorporated in it in order to provide you with the best possible end product -tyres. No, seriously, tyre according to me is one of the best examples of engineering. It takes a lot to take that master piece out of the board room to the actual execution. Besides, there are a lot of ingredients involved in the manufacturing process of a tyre. So, the rolling capacity of your tyre also depends upon these ingredients or rather compounds. Don’t think that a particular tyre is much costlier than the next one, because it is the compounds in the tyre which decides their costs not just anything else excluding brand name. Car manufacturers generally choose a tyre which has a large air volume and the one that can bear high load carrying capacity. But then it is up to us to choose what suits our need. Just to make you aware, even the condition of road matters when we talk about the fuel economy because it increases the tyre pressure. So be wise and do the needful.
