Most people will experience tyre problems sooner or later because few of us spend much time giving any thought to their condition. In addition, modern cars are far harder on their tyres than the cars of yesteryear, mainly due to their vastly increased performance levels.
How many people realise that a modern 1,3-litre family saloon will out-accelerate a 1930 8-litre Bentley up to 100 km/h?
Both of this month’s stories relate to tyres. The first one concerns a BMW X3 belonging to Abel Cohen, the local hotel keeper. His X3’s rear tyres had reached the stage where replacement was due and he asked us to order two new tyres for him, which we duly did and fitted them.
However, a few days later a very glum Abel turned up and instead of the ready wit that is part of his nature, we were treated to a complaint. He said the car did not feel happy, and seemed noisier and rougher than before. I remarked that he must have had a rough morning, but he was adamant that something was wrong.
I called Syd across and he took the car for a spin. Something was definitely wrong, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. Hennie had a go, and so did I, but we could not find any definite clue.
In desperation, Syd paged through the owner’s manual and came up with the news that the tyres should only be replaced in sets of four. “Why?” exclaimed Japie, who by now had joined the group. To which Syd and Hennie replied, almost in unison: “Because it has permanent four wheel drive”.
Yes, the penny had dropped with a bang. Four-wheel drive demands the same diameter front to rear.
We looked at each other sheepishly, each berating the other for being so dof, to use a very expressive Afrikaans word.
We should have known better, and should have advised Abel accordingly.
Needless to say, we dispatched Japie to the nearest tyre dealer to fetch two new tyres that were identical to the other new ones, and treated Abel to my wife’s melktert and tea when he arrived to fetch the happy BMW.