Each year, Consumer Reports purchases and tests almost 1,000 tires. During that process, the team checks tire pressures literally thousands of times. Building on that experience, we recently tested and rated 14 different tire-pressure gauges to guide car owners in choosing the best tool for the job.

Most of us try to be good, courteous drivers, but somehow bad habits creep up, which can put ourselves and others in danger. Make 2012 the year you resolve to change your dangerous driving behaviors. You can even start today.

We’ve complained before about the prevalence of new cars coming without spare tires. Now even when some vehicles come from the factory with spares, rental companies are starting to remove them.

Repairing flat tires is nothing new. Hence, you’d think there would be a standard practice that all service providers would follow. In fact, the Tire Industry Association (TIA) has been at it for a long time, providing training to service professionals. Also, the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) has had guidelines for professionals to follow. But repairing tires is not an air-tight practice.

As winter fast approaches, now is the time to inspect your tires and consider if you need new rubber before the snow falls, or perhaps swap out the all-season or summer tires for dedicated snow tires. A Veteran tire expert and Consumer Reports Program Manager, Vehicle and Child Safety, Jennifer Stockburger recently shared her advice during a live Facebook video event filmed at our Yonkers headquarters, and we present her insights in the eight-minute video below.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has announced a recall of nearly 34,000 Chevy Equinox and GMC Terrain vehicles. The cross-over vehicles from General Motors have tire-pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) that fail to comply with federal safety standards.

We have posted the latest SUV and pickup truck tire test results online, covering 46 models. These new ratings cover 23 all-season, 13 all-terrain, and 10 winter models, and they are the result of an intensive, year-long program. In general, we found that there are a lot of good choices in these highly competitive tire categories, but not all tires are created equal.

In our Tire Talk forum, some of our readers have questioned the interchangeability of P-metric and Metric tire size designations. But answering this question is like asking how to solve the national debt crisis. In other words, there are many answers, and some might be more practical solutions than others.

A miserable thing happened last weekend when one of the run-flat tires on our 2011 BMW 750Li was gashed by a pothole during an excursion from Connecticut to New Hampshire: Replacing the tire turned out to be an experience well short of luxurious.

Goodyear has announced a new self-inflating tire technology that would automatically maintain a tire’s air pressure. Currently under development, Air Maintenance Technology (AMT) would do away with the need for manual pressure checks and result in better fuel economy, longer tire life, and enhanced safety. All the components to maintain optimal pressure, including pumps, valves, and sensors, would be contained within the tire.

Nearly all regions of the country have been experiencing hot, repressive temperatures this summer. As we have noted in the past, winter tires generally don’t stop as well as all-season and summer tires on dry and wet roads, and because they wear quicker, it just makes sense to remove them when spring arrives. But how do all-season tires fair with the change of seasons and temperature?

Last fall we tested 53 models of summer and all-season ultra-high-performance (UHP) and performance winter tires suitable for sporty coupes, sedans, and all-out sports cars. Needless to say, it was a highly contested group.

With the official start of summer and the school year ending this week in many areas, millions of Americans will be hitting the road for a much needed vacation. But before you head out on that road trip, check out our list of important things you can do to drive safely throughout the year.

Let's put the good news right up front: We've logged over 30,000 miles on our latest AWD Toyota Sienna, equipped with run-flat tires, and we still have decent tire life left. Tire wear had been a noted owner concern with the previous model. (See our tire buying ad

A Consumer Reports 2011 Top Pick, the redesigned Hyundai Elantra is an impressive small sedan, one whose praises I have been singing for months. But today, our silver Elantra GLS left me flat. Literally.