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<p>The Government commissioned fundamental research to understand whether the material
properties of a vehicle tyre change with its chronological age to such an extent that
the integrity of the tyre, and therefore its safety, is compromised. 44 used tyres
were selected as potential test samples, ranging from 3 to 19 years in age and originating
from in-service use within the UK vehicle fleet. However, 18 of these tyres exhibited
evidence of physical damage, under-inflation, penetrations or repairs and were rejected
from the study. The remaining 26 tyres were included, alongside five new tyres for
comparator purposes.</p><p> </p><p>To limit the variability from differences in rubber
compound, steel cords and construction, all the tyres selected were from the same
manufacturer, and the same size and designated usage i.e. for front axles. However,
three different tyre models were used, as no single model spanned the complete age
range of the tyres selected for the study.</p>
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