At what stage do you guys change your front tyres? I have a little bit left before the tread marker but thinking it may be soon.

Or perhaps but the fronts on the back however I fear that means replacing all 4 at once which will be around £500 I guess. However next year I am buying an RS4, C63 or M3 so maybe do this and not replace any, however I guess this will affect resale of the VRS.

Cheers in advance.

I've just seen a thread below giving similar info I need but not quite what I'm after.

I try and change when there's 2/3mm left

I try and change when there's 2/3mm left

For safety reasons or something else?

For safety reasons or something else?

2mm is close to the limit, so I'll say for safety and peace of mind

2mm is close to the limit, so I'll say for safety and peace of mind

Ok, I'm going to buy a tread depth gauge tomorrow to see where mine are at.

TBH it depends on the time of year. If they're getting a bit low (nearly at the markers) in winter I'll normally bite the bullet earlier than I would in summer.

TBH it depends on the time of year. If they're getting a bit low (nearly at the markers) in winter I'll normally bite the bullet earlier than I would in summer.

This, other wise on the marker, but of course I tend go easy in the wet when I know they are on there way, In summer I find nearly dead tyres offer loads of grip tbh (think slicks)

TBH it depends on the time of year. If they're getting a bit low (nearly at the markers) in winter I'll normally bite the bullet earlier than I would in summer.

+1, the more tread the better, especially at this time of year.

However I have always taken my tyres down to the wear bars, that's why they are there.

change them when they reach the indicator or close to so around 2mm left.

I feel your priorities are slightly mixed up though if your worrying about the potential of spending £500 on 4 tyres, yet you want to buy an RS4, C63 etc which is likely to eat tyres alot quicker than your current car, and the costs involved with that calibre of car will be a lot higher than the skoda.

At the end of the day, to sell the car for the right money, i recon decent tread on all 4 tyres will be an important factor to a buyer so why not just shop round now and buy 2 new fronts and leave the backs as i take it they are in better condition, that way you will get some use out of what you pay for, and you will also have good tyres for the sale.

Also, ever considered part worns? i picked up a continental and a michelin with 6mm of tread on each for £35 fitted these were on 16's though

Edited 7 December, 201114 yr by E11HES

if your buying a new car next year why dont you buy some part worn tyres? if you are not going to see the life out of the new tyres then just buy some with 4-6mm tred on for half the price?

As the guys said above depends what time of year but i always seem to time my tyre changes for summer (some how?) so i normally go down the wear indicator

change them when they reach the indicator or close to so around 2mm left.

I feel your priorities are slightly mixed up though if your worrying about the potential of spending £500 on 4 tyres, yet you want to buy an RS4, C63 etc which is likely to eat tyres alot quicker than your current car, and the costs involved with that calibre of car will be a lot higher than the skoda.

At the end of the day, to sell the car for the right money, i recon decent tread on all 4 tyres will be an important factor to a buyer so why not just shop round now and buy 2 new fronts and leave the backs as i take it they are in better condition, that way you will get some use out of what you pay for, and you will also have good tyres for the sale.

Also, ever considered part worns? i picked up a continental and a michelin with 6mm of tread on each for £35 fitted these were on 16's though

I'm not too concerned about spending the money on the new tyres but if I don't need to then I won't do it. Hope that makes sense.

I've never considered part worns. Maybe il have a google for it in a bit. To be honest I've only ever changed 1 tyre before as I'm not long out of uni when having a car was impossible.

A lot of good advice here guys so cheers. Il check what tread depth I have left tomorrow and see what I feel about the tyres then.

The other trouble I have is putting around 320lbft of torque and 255bhp through the fronts. Nightmare!

I wouldn't risk part worns, there have been some unpleasant experiences on here of people ending up with tyres from written off cars.

Not knowing how they have been treated or how many curbs they been up makes them not worth the risk for me.

I'd take a pair of brand new budgets over part worn premiums.

I wouldn't risk part worns, there have been some unpleasant experiences on here of people ending up with tyres from written off cars.

Not knowing how they have been treated or how many curbs they been up makes them not worth the risk for me.

I'd take a pair of brand new budgets over part worn premiums.

Another good point to consider.

I wouldn't risk part worns, there have been some unpleasant experiences on here of people ending up with tyres from written off cars.

Not knowing how they have been treated or how many curbs they been up makes them not worth the risk for me.

I'd take a pair of brand new budgets over part worn premiums.

+1

Never skimp with tyres. Old cliche, but they are quite literally the only thing that keep you on the road.

Even more relevant with 255bhp!

1.6mm across three quaters of the tyre width is the legal limit but tyres loose performance at 3mm

C63!? You wish!! Lol

E11HES I couldn't agree with you more.

It's frightening to think of you buying one of these high powered cars but not having the knowledge of when to change your current car's tyres.

The legal limit of 1.6mm is far from adequate at this time of year and if driving at any speed on wet roads the water clearing abilities will be severely restricted. I think on the continent (winter tyres) the legal minimum is 4.5mm maybe that will tell you something.

just because the UK legal limit is 1.6mm doesn't mean you do not have to use common sense.

It's like people harping on about making winter tyres a legal requirement in the UK. Surely if people have enough common sense to drive(legally) they can work it out for themselves.

I would imagine many of those calling for them to be a legal requirement do not have them fitted themselves.

Edited 8 December, 201114 yr by loskie

C63!? You wish!! Lol

Well I had a pretty sweet promotion and am being fast tracked into management after only 3 years of working so one of the 3 super saloons is happening. Why not treat myself, only young once!

E11HES I couldn't agree with you more.

It's frightening to think of you buying one of these high powered cars but not having the knowledge of when to change your current car's tyres.

So because I earn good money and good afford an upgrade in car means I should know about changing tyres. I forgot about that one. As said previous I am not long out of uni and have only changed one tyre before. My vrs is my 2nd car from which I chopped in my old vrs after only 4 months so changing tyres is not something I have had much experience in.

With experience comes knowledge so forgive me for not having changed my tyres so often. I figured a forum such as this was for this kind of info and not for your criticism?!

Nicky, FWIW I do aroudn 30k miles a year and have done for many years - in my experience you get a significant drop off in tyre performance when you're below 3mm. My advice, ignore the wear indicators, change the tyre when you feel the grip levels have reduced.

Thanks for that. Getting annoyed with some comments earlier so appreciate your post. I'm going to get a tread gauge today. Il post up what my tyres are like in terms of depth later on.

I don't want to stereotype and say you can't afford one of those cars because you're young- after all my brother bought his first M3 when he was 22 and it was less than 4 years old at the time.

However, you either need to do a serious amount of research into the costs of running them or have a complete attitude change to maintenance.

With that type of car you can't afford to skimp or think twice about maintenance, my brother just spent £600 on two rear tyres for example.

As for your original question, last winter the wife still had her fabia and the front tyres had about 3mm on them. It was hopeless in the snow so I changed them and it was like night and day.

As others have said, don't skimp on tyres, especially at this time of year. Just bite the bullet and get a nice fresh pair for the bad weather.

My advice, ignore the wear indicators, change the tyre when you feel the grip levels have reduced.

You will know in the new car when grip levels have reduced :yes:

Even if your on the markers your probably still safer than half the cars on the road, for some reason I always look at people tyres and the state of some is plain shocking.

Another thing that baffles me is when you an uber quick car rolling on some cheap ass crap tyres.

Nicky be prepared for mega money on tyres on the super saloons, my old just had 2 Bridgestones RE050A's fitted to a 330D on 19's

£606 for two and that was a good price, BMW wanted nigh on £400 each !!!!

So stick a cherry on top for the The M's, AMG's etc

, my brother just spent £600 on two rear tyres for example.

See what I mean