Tyre wear - OEM Dunlop SP 225/50/17

[oldstan]

Admittedly a bit boring, this one, but, with a bit of luck, someone will offer an opinion.

 

I've just taken the Winters off (Dunlop SP Winter Sport M3 on Skoda steelies).  Had the car three years (just coming up for it's third service and first MOT).  Mileage 13,000. Have swapped them over roughly six months about but the car gets more use in the summer than the winter....maybe 9,000 miles on the summers and 4,000 on the winters.  The winters have absolutely no sign of wear.  Obviously, there must be some wear but they look new.  But the summers have 6mm left on all four (I rotate them front to back every year).  On the face of it 9,000 very gentle miles - mixed town and country driving - shouldn't have used a huge amount of rubber but they just look as though they won't do the stellar mileage that quite a few report on here.

 

How many millimetres do they have when new?

 

My style of driving doesn't see a huge difference between the two when it comes to handling and comfort - maybe the winters are a bit softer but no great shakes for me. 

 

Honest John recommends putting Michelin Alpin winters on and keeping them on all year round.  My Hyundai has Goodyear Vector all seasons on all year round and the wear rate is no different from anything else I've ever had ...pretty good so far.... and they handle and sound much of a muchness to me.  I like them and I don't have to swap them annually and they were fine in the wet weather we've all just had..

 

On the basis of the above I'd seriously think about not bothering with two sets of tyres again - along with the need to swap them twice a year and store them all year round.....I'd just stick a set of decent winters, or the Vector all seasons on, and Bob's your mother's brother. 

 

With the Hyundai I took the standard Hankooks off from new and sold them via the owners website and stuck the Goodyears straight on and, with the benefit of hindsight, I think I did the right thing there - and the wrong thing with the Yeti.

[JCP]

You are a bit less than half worn at 9k miles. Where is the problem? Tyres need to give grip and will show wear-ones that don't wear will last so well that they will oulast the Yeti when someone ahead crashes and you are unable to avoid their misfortune.

[oldstan]

Thank you. But I don't think I specifically said it was problem...but was saying how much tread the summers had after approx 9,000 miles and asking what the remaining 6mm constituted, roughly, as percentage of what it had when new...... versus my winters, which seemed to be doing better

 

 

 

 

OK, I've just Googled it and it confirms that new tyres would generally have 8mm when new.  I'm sorry, I should have done that in the first place.  Do winters have the same 8mm to start with ?  Can't find a definitive answer by searching online.

 

So I might get 18,000 miles out of a set of four OEM Dunlops if I changed when down to 2 or 3mm.  Clearly there will debate about when to change.  Tyre manufacturers seem to say 3mm ideally for summers and 4mm for winters.

 

I thank you.

Edited 13 April, 2014 by oldstan

[The Plumber]

Have factory fitted Conti Premium Contact 5 205/55 R16 V on our Octy and they were just shy of 8mm new. Interestingly however they have two wear bars similar too winter tyres but instead of the 4mm bar having a snowflake there's a water droplet; take it Conti are stating their tyres are poor in wet weather with less than 4mm then :wonder:

 

 

TP

[Franco99]

I have just replaced the four original Dunlop tyres after two and a half years and 30,000 miles.  I was impressed with how well they had worn and the low noise, so I bought more of the same.

[bilun777]

Stan ,I think you might find your Dunlops will do more miles than you anticipate .

My first Yeti (170 tdi 4x4)  was fitted with the Dunlops and had 22,000 miles on it when i part exchanged it.

The tyres were all still fine and all around 3+ m.m.

I swapped them front to back once at around 12,000 miles to even up the wear.

[Banjobach]

Hi oldstan, I have the same tyres (Dunlop SPs) fitted to my car, which has done 25000km or 15000miles in two years and they are about 15 to 20% warn. This suggests they should last for about 75000km or about 45000miles, which I would consider fairly normal. However, let me inform you that I am a steady driver and a third of the travel has been over longer distances. I mention this because steady, somewhat straight road driving over longer distances will produce the least amount of wear, when compared with lots of stop start acceleration and heavy cornering. By the way, we do not use winter tyres!

 

happy trails,

Banjobach

Edited 14 April, 2014 by Banjobach

[oldstan]

Many thanks for those helpful replies which confidently suggest that I'm mistaken in thinking that I've worn them down more than would be expected.

[muddyboots]

9000 miles for around 2mm of wear is pretty damn good IMHO. I dream of tyres lasting that long.

 

Personally, I wouldn't run winters all year round, simply because the dry braking doesn't match up to a summer tyre. Brake very heavily from speed, on warm tarmac with a winter tyre and you'll feel it skittting along the surface with the ABS working overtime.

 

Extract from this page:

http://www.continental-tyres.co.uk/www/tyres_uk_en/themes/van-tyres/winter-tyres/why-winter-tyres.html

 

If you are reluctant to change tyres and have nowhere to store summer tyres when they are not in use, you are better off using winter tyres all year round.

 

Winter tyres are as quiet and comfortable as summer tyres and, thanks to sophisticated compound technology, do not wear any more quickly.

 

There is a slight trade off with stopping distances as a winter tyre does not stop as quickly in the dry as a summer tyre, however, on balance if it is not possible to switch tyres in the winter, experts say you are better off with winter tyres all year round. This is because the  difference  in  stopping distances of summer tyres in winter is far greater than for winter tyres in the summer

 

 

As you already have the two sets of wheels, I'd carry on swapping.

[kenfowler3966]

My car is approaching 60K and will be replaced in early July. The original rear Dunlop tyres are still legal and will last until the car goes.

 

The front nearside Dunlop lasted 28k from new, and was replaced with the offside front which was the second tyre after a puncture at 8k.

They were replaced again at about 52K as the replacement tyres did not wear as well as the originals.

 

None of the tyres were completely worn out when replaced as it is a lease car and the tyres are changed when the tread average remaining depth is between 2.5 and 3mm.