Guides
How deep should the tread be?
The legal limit is 1.6 mm. By the time a tyre reaches it, it stopped being safe a while ago.
The numbers
For passenger cars the legal minimum tread depth is 1.6 mm. For winter tyres it is 4 mm — below that a winter tyre no longer counts as one. For commercial vehicles the limit sits between 2 and 3 mm. But keep the distinction: 1.6 mm is the lowest the law allows, not the point at which a tyre is still safe.
Why 3 mm is the sensible point
As tread depth drops the tyre can no longer clear water and braking distance on a wet road grows noticeably. Between 3 mm and 1.6 mm the difference at 80 km/h on wet asphalt is several car lengths — the difference between stopping and hitting something. That is why the common advice is to change at 3 mm rather than run down to the legal limit.
Checking with a coin
Without a depth gauge, stand a one-lira coin upright in a tread groove. If the outer ring disappears completely the depth is fine; if the lower edge of the ring is visible you are close to the limit. Check the inner, middle and outer grooves separately rather than one spot.
Uneven wear points at something else
If a tyre wears on the inner or outer shoulder the problem is the alignment, not the tyre. Wear down the middle means over-inflation; wear on both shoulders means under-inflation. Fit a new tyre without fixing the cause and the same wear returns within a few thousand kilometres.
We do this work
Tyre fitting
Removal, fitting and valve replacement. We use a touchless machine that does not scratch the rim.