The usual explanation sounds perfectly logical. When a car slows down, its weight moves toward the front. The front tires carry more load, so the front brakes provide more of the stopping force. That
A bright red car, a metallic blue car and a taxi painted the color of a highlighter will normally leave the factory with exactly the same footwear. Black tires. The color seems so inevitable
Whitewall tires have become visual shorthand for a particular kind of motoring glamour. Put them on a long Cadillac with chrome bumpers, tailfins and enough hood to host a family picnic, and the pi
Cruise control feels wonderfully precise on a flat highway. Set it to 65 mph and the speedometer settles into place, leaving the car to handle the small adjustments that a human ankle normally makes.
The car drifts gently toward the shoulder, and suspicion immediately falls on the alignment. That is understandable. A car should travel where it is pointed, and anything that seems to tug at the s
The tires were set perfectly that morning. Then, after a long stretch of highway, the pressure display shows every one of them sitting several pounds higher. Out comes the gauge. Sure enough, the d
The sticker inside the driver’s door says 35 PSI. After an hour on the highway, the dashboard says 39. Four extra pounds of pressure sounds like a problem. The tires were set correctly that morn
A tire can look almost offensively healthy for its age. The tread grooves are deep. There are no nails in sight. The sidewalls still turn glossy after a wash, and the car has covered so few miles th
Most people do not think about their tires until one of them does something rude. A warning light comes on. The car starts feeling strange. A road trip gets interrupted. Something looks low.
There are certain car problems people take seriously the second they hear about them. Brakes. Tires. Battery. Engine. Anything expensive gets respect immediately. Even people who ignore mainten