THE TECH OF TYRES

Choosing your next set of motorhome tyres might be the most important decision you ever make.

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Tyres are often a rather reluctant purchase. They generally only get replaced when they're worn out or have got too old to use. You reluctantly spend hundreds of pounds on their replacements and... you get another set of black donuts that look almost exactly the same. It's not the most exciting purchase, which is why so many people simply trust their local garage to fit the cheapest tyres they can source. But this casual decision could actually prove to be one of the most costly mistakes that you could ever make.

Tyres are the only thing that connects your 3.5-tonne vehicle to the road and they lead an incredibly tough life, being subject to all weather conditions, heat, high shearing and static loads as well as all manner of shock loads. The technology to cope with all these loading challenges has evolved dramatically over the years, and the top premium tyres are a marvel of engineering, using special compounds, reinforcement and computer-designed tread patterns. There's a lot of tech that goes into constructing these seemingly simple rings of rubber.

SO WHAT ARE THEY ACTUALLY MADE OF?

You might be surprised that, although rubber is a critical component (70% of the world's natural rubber is used in tyre production), it's not actually the main ingredient. Most vehicle tyres use only about 15 to 30% of natural rubber per tyre. Natural rubber is actually brown in colour, but it's the addition of carbon black (a black carbon powder produced by burning coal tar, oil or gas at high temperature) that gives them their colour. Carbon black is also common in both printer toner and mascara.