An asymmetric tyre has two different halves and it only works if it goes on the right way round. The outer half carries big, stiff tread blocks with very few grooves, because that is the side that takes the load in a corner and needs the rubber to stay put rather than squirm. The inner half is cut with far more channelling, because that is the side that has to clear water out from under the tyre. Put one on backwards and you have swapped those jobs over, which costs you both cornering stability and wet performance at the same time.
The sidewall is marked, usually with the word outside on the face that must point away from the car. It is a five second check and it is worth doing after any fitting, wherever the tyres were bought. When we fit a set at an address in Jackmans or Pixmore we read the markings back, and we mount them so the marked face is out on all four. If you are choosing between an asymmetric pattern and a directional one, we will explain what each is actually good at rather than reaching for the more expensive box.
Give us the size and we will tell you what we can bring, which is the honest way round. The size is moulded into the sidewall, something like 205/55 R16 91V, and the letters at the end matter as much as the numbers. School run in Garden Square or 1am in Jackmans, we answer the same. Christmas Day in Grange, any day in Lordship: the line is open.
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Letchworth has a lot of settled residential driving with regular runs out onto the A505 and the A1(M) at junction 9, which is a mix that rewards a tyre chosen properly rather than grabbed off a shelf. Whatever pattern you go for, the mounting direction is the part that gets missed. It costs nothing to check and it is part of every set we fit.
Nothing looks obviously wrong from ten feet away. The clue is the word outside facing in towards the car, and once you know to look for it you can check a whole set in a minute.
If a fresh set feels worse in standing water than the old one did, the mounting direction is the first thing to check before anything else gets blamed.
We read the sidewall markings out loud before the tyre goes on the rim, so the set that ends up on your car is oriented correctly on all four corners.
The tread pattern differs across the width. The outer half is built for cornering stability, the inner half is cut to clear water, and the two are not interchangeable.
Look for the word outside on the sidewall. It should face away from the car on every wheel. If it is facing inwards, that tyre is mounted the wrong way round.
Neither is simply better. Directional patterns are strong at clearing water, asymmetric patterns balance cornering and wet grip. It depends on the car and the driving.
Yes, on driveways and at the kerb across Jackmans, Grange, Lordship, Norton and Pixmore, with each wheel balanced and torqued before we leave.
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