Drivers have been warned of a “significant” safety gap found between premium, mid-range and budget tyres on vehicles.
The safety concern was raised following independent tests commissioned by Point S which examined the tyre types across a range of safety criterias.
The results found premium tyres performed best on average compared to mid-range and budget rivals, particularly in wet conditions.
On the wet braking test, mid-range tyres took on average 7.65ft extra braking distance to completely stop from a speed of 49.7mph.
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Budget tyres require greater stopping distance
GETTYAs for budget tyres, they required an extra stopping distance of 14.67ft. Meanwhile, mid-range tyres required a 1.86mph reduction in speed to match the handling of the average premium tyre on wet roads.
Budget tyres however, needed 3.11mph speed reductions.
Fabien Bouquet, international CEO at Point S, said: “In today’s challenging economic climate, where inflation is causing price rises, it is natural that drivers are more cost-conscious when it comes to maintaining their vehicles.
“We are increasingly asked by our end customers to justify the price differences between tyre ranges, so we commissioned these tests with TÜV SÜD Product Service to get a truly independent and objective view on this issue.”
Bouquet added that testing confirmed premium tyres as “categorically” performing better across all safety-critical test criteria.
The question he raised however was, an industry, “can you really put a price on safety?”
But as costs for motorists continue to soar, drivers are less likely to want to spend more on premium tyres.
Halfords detailed how while budget tyres will get drivers from A to B, they are more sufficient for trips to the school gates or the office, whereas premium tyres are more suitable for the motorway and long-distance travel.
As more drivers are likely to have budget tyres, which have shorter durability, the AA called for car manufacturers to reinstall the spare tyre within the vehicle.
A survey of over 10,000 AA members found that 82 per cent of drivers supported the idea of having a spare tyre in their car.
Given that a spare tyre can weigh as much as 20kg, few manufacturers include them as standard anymore.
Chris Wood, AA patrol of the year explained that since manufacturers opted to fit an inflation kit instead of a spare wheel, it can take patrols a couple of hours to resolve an issue that would take half the time with a spare.
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Budget tyres have less durability
GETTYThe AA added that it urged drivers who have a spare tyre to ensure that it is serviceable and safe in the event that it needs to be used.