Have you ever wondered what Bibendum on your tyre wall is pointing at?

It took quite a bit of digging before I found the Malaysian coin version of the test.

If all the alphabets of the words Bank Negara Malaysia on your 10 cent coin is on show when you hold the coin to the tread, it means it’s time to change your tyres.

But did you not know that there is an even better fool proof test you can carry out without the use of coins?

All tyres has a tread wear indicator designed into the grooves. These indicators are set at 1.6 mm according to legal requirements.

As the tyre wears down, the gap between the indicator and the top of the tread will narrow.

If the tread and the indicator reach the same level it means it is way pass the time you should change your tyres.

Yes, the 1.6 mm height of the indicator might be the legal limit of how worn down your tyres should be, but it doesn’t mean that you should change your tyres only when the treads reach the same level of the indicator.

Bridgestone recommends to replace tyres once the tread depth drops below 3 mm.

Tests have shown that wet braking performance is already severely compromised once the tread wears down to 3 mm.

So now you know how the tyre wear indicator works.

Just look for the little triangle on the wall of your tyre like in the picture above, this is the pointer to the little bump within the grove of the tyre that is the Tread Wear Indicator.

Or if you’re on Michelin tyres, just look for where Bibendum is pointing to and you will find the indicator.