What Car? Q&A - Are my tyres substandard imports?

Q: You reported recently that 10% of Goodyear tyres are imports. I fitted new ones approximately 6000 miles ago and found at the MoT that wear is twice as much as normal. How can I check if these are substandard imports?
R Clarkson

A: Even if the tyres are imported, they're still perfectly safe – they're not 'substandard' in any sense at all. Look for a small 'E' in a circle on the side of the tyre, which indicates that they've passed European regulation.

The imports we mentioned in our story will carry this 'E' mark. They're approved for use in Europe, but if they're imported from hotter climates, they could use a different compound than those optimised for our climate.

While they'll still be safe to use, performance won't be top notch. They might offer slightly less grip in the wet or, as you have found, wear faster.

Ask the retailer whether they are European tyres or whether they have been sourced from outside the EU.

If you want to check on them further, call the Goodyear technical helpdesk on 01902 327070. They will be able to tell you if they are European tyres, provided you tell them the name of the retailer and/or give them the batch number of the tyres. This number is on the side of the tyre.

If they're bona fide European tyres, the excessive wear you're experiencing could be down to incorrect inflation pressure. Under-inflation will cause wear to the outer edges of the tyres' contact patch, and over-inflation will wear the central section.

Progressively greater wear rates across the front tyres could indicate that they're not aligned correctly, while wear on one side of the tyre and not the other might mean that camber angles need to be adjusted.