Tyres & Accessories August 2013

August's Tyres & Accessories, which features winter tyres and brakes, is now available online in our e-paper format. If you are a subscriber you can click more right away and begin reading in seconds. Otherwise choose "subscribe" from the main navigation above to find out more about subscriptions.

Winter tyres

The Met Office just handed Tyres & Accessories its long-term forecast, and it appears we’re in for a drop in average temperatures over the coming six months. Our immediate thought was how this will affect tyre performance and we phoned several local councils, who patiently explained that they lacked the time, budget and inclination to build the under-road heating system we’d proposed to maintain our summer tyres’ optimal performance. You could always just buy winter tyres, they replied. 

We thought this such a good idea that we’ve decided to dedicate an entire feature to winter tyres. Join us in our August issue for our coverage on this cheaper, more practical alternative to heated roads.

Brakes

To see these pictures, enable images on your email softwareIt doesn’t matter whether you’re testing warp speed on the Autobahn or pootling along in a £100 pound rustbucket, one thing is inevitable – sooner or later, you’re going to need to stop. And this is the moment when the brake – a car part worthy of more attention and respect than it receives – comes into play.