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Tyres are the only parts of the car which are always in contact with the road. Safety in acceleration, braking, steering and cornering all depend on a relatively small area of road contact. It is therefore of the utmost importance that tyres should be maintained in good condition at all times and that when the time comes to change them the correct replacements are fitted.
The original tyres for a car are determined by joint consultation between the car and tyre manufacturers and take into account all aspects of operation. With that in mind, we stock the most common tyre brands and sizes fitted to Kia models today.
We offer a tyre supply and fitting service here at TMS at very competitive prices! We price match against the major competitors daily – so who better to fit tyres to your Kia than our team of expert technicians.
You can also take advantage of our FREE Kia tyre health check. Let TMS Volvo check that your vehicle tyres are ready for all conditions.
TMS Kia Hinckley: 01455 899508 | TMS Kia Leicester: 0116 4647100
Kia recommends changing tyres when 78% worn
Legal v Safe?
* source ROSPA
Tyre tread depth chart
The chart illustrates the condition of your tyres in relation to the amount of tread left. Once your tyres reach around 3mm / 78% Kia recommends changing your tyres. At this level they will not be performing optimally and will quickly wear down to the legal limit.
As of November 2012, all new car, 4x4, SUV, van and most truck tyres manufactured after 1st July 2012 carry an EU tyre label which is similar to the energy stickers that appear on white goods.
No two makes of tyre are the same, so the EU tyre label has been created to provide drivers with objective, reliable and comparable information about each tyre so that you can make a more informed choice when buying new tyres. The EU’s targeted outcome is that road safety will improve and that the environmental impact of road transport will be reduced.
Every tyre is assessed on three key areas of tyre performance and given a rating in each of these three categories for the EU tyre label, allowing the consumer to compare tyres on a like-for-like basis. The three areas assessed are:
Fuel Efficiency - How economic is this tyre? - Savings
Wet Grip - How quickly can the tyre stop in wet conditions? - Safety
Exterior Noise - How noisy is the tyre? - Volume
The EU tyre labelling criteria looks at the rolling resistance of the tyre in order to rate its fuel efficiency. Rolling resistance is the force acting opposite to the tyre’s direction of travel. As a tyre rolls along the road it creates friction, the higher the friction the more energy will be needed to keep the tyre rolling, making the engine work harder and using more fuel. Tyres with low rolling resistance place lower demands on fuel since less energy is being used as the tyres roll along the road.
The difference in fuel consumption between a car fitted with A and G class tyres is around 0.5 litres per 100km, that's a saving of around 80 litres and more than £110 per year.*
Other factors affect fuel consumption such as aerodynamics, vehicle weight, type of engine, auxiliary systems like air-conditioning slope of the road, personal driving style, tyre pressure level, accelerations or general traffic conditions.
*Savings based on a petrol engine car travelling 10,000 miles per year with £1.40 per litre fuel cost
Tyres with excellent wet grip have shorter braking distances on slippery roads and increased aquaplaning resistance, essential for keeping you safe in the rain.
These ratings are measured from the distance travelled by a car after braking at 50mph in the wet.* Tyres with the best EU tyre label rating for wet grip will exhibit a 30% shorter braking distance than those with the worst rating for a full set of tyres fitted to an average car.
A tyre’s EU tyre label wet grip rating reflects the capacity of the tyre to brake on a wet road. However, there are other parameters which are relevant for safety (e.g. road holding ability, directional control, deceleration ability on wet and dry surfaces at higher speed and aquaplaning behaviour) but wet grip was chosen by the EU as the most representative situation of reduced adherence in Europe.
*Testing according to regulation EC 1222/2009
Exterior noise levels are measured in decibels (dB) and shown as one, two or three sound waves on the EU tyre label. One wave is the best performance, three is the worst. In fact, three bars is the current limit, while two meets future laws and one is a further 3dBs below. The EU tyre label only measures the external rolling noise of the tyre which is not related to the in-cabin noise that the driver will experience.
As of May 2021 the EU Tyre Label will be changing again. Despite the UK leaving the EU we must continue to comply to the EU Tyre Labelling regulations, so will see further changes to our labeling process in the coming months.
The new guidelines follow the EU’s commitment to cut down greenhouse gas emissions and achieve climate neutrality by 2050. The new labels are intended to help consumers make informed decisions with their tyre purchases. With a clearer scale for displaying fuel-efficiency, wet grip information, and noise levels, consumers can make a decision that will save in terms of costs and emissions.
All information shown on the existing EU Tyre Label will be carried across onto the new format. The rolling resistance and wet grip categories have been simplified to a scale of A-E; tyres that would previously be placed in Class E will now be in the new Class D, and tyres from the old Class F & G will merge to form the new Class E.
The tyre noise classes will now be identified by a grading of A, B, or C, instead of the existing sound waves. The new label also includes additional icons for tyres suitable for severe snow conditions (3PMSF) and/or for grip in icy conditions.
The 2021 EU Tyre Label now covers bus and truck tyres (C3) in addition to car (C1) and van (C2) tyres. These are displayed in the ‘Tyre class’ field in the top right of the new label, along with the suppliers name and tyre size.
The new label also includes two new pictograms used to indicate if the tyre suitable for use on snow and/or ice. Finally, a QR code will now be included in the top right hand corner of the label. These are unique for each tyre model and will be linked to a product sheet on the EU product database (EPREL), allowing consumers to easily access additional product details by just scanning the code.
