Tyre Matters

Readers learned the importance of maintenance at this Breakfast With Torque, which featured Bridgestone tyres.

FEW motorists will realise this, but the average tyre’s contact patch – the area that’s always in contact with the road – is only as big as the palm of their hand. Contact patches influence a car’s acceleration, cornering and braking performance. That’s asking a lot, given their size.

Participants picked up pointers such as these at our Breakfast With Torque in September, which was held at the cosy Portico restaurant along Alexandra Road.

Bridgestone’s Jason Soh made sure that guests got a “grip” of the tyre facts.

There was plenty of coffee to keep puzzled participants going.

Guests that morning also discovered just how important it is to keep their tyres correctly inflated from Bridgestone’s technical manager, Dennis Lee, who cautioned participants against over- and underinflating their tyres.

Torque’s senior writer, Jeremy Chua (below, right), attempted to serenade the guests.

The dangers of excessively worn tyres were also discussed. To help guests determine the state of their wheels, Bridgestone staff performed free inspections to check pressures and tread depth. While the inspections were ongoing, guests were busy filling up the squares of their bingo card. Each square had a specific task to be accomplished, which included putting together jigsaw puzzles and answering questions from an earlier presentation. The more squares were filled, the better their chances of being included in the lucky draw.

In the end, five fortuitous participants went home with prizes. Rachel Loh, Tan Su Anne and Jeremy Tay each won a $50 Fairprice voucher, while Eleanor Eng and Lim Boon Hai walked away with $100 Bridgestone vouchers.