Tyre life?

[M12MKD]

60k possible? I don't know as I've never done that myself.

But on my mk1 fabia vrs I got just under 28k on a set including a few track sessions at combe and a trip to the ring.

At the time 95% of my mileage was motorway travelling north to south every weekend.

At the time people on here didn't believe me either........guess I'm just another fanboy too

[Czechers]

Wow 60,000 miles from a set of tyres? I remember feeling quite pleased with myself for getting 26,000 miles out of a pair of Michelin Pilot's.

[GoneToBeemer]

Ahh ok, although fullrun is a recognisable brand but reconisable to be ditch finders. I don't think they would have a good case, as you say anything sold in the UK that isn't a remould should be acceptable. I've bought plenty a car out the auction that have been ex lease and they have had new ditch finders fitted.

Luckily I don't buy cheap when it comes to tyres, just frustrating that you're giving a car back with almost new tyres, but then that's my fault for only doing a 24 month contract hire.

Oh yeah when I change the tyres for me, it'll always be a good tyre. I was more referring to if you have to give the car back, and the tyres have low tread, all you're going to want to do is find the cheapest possible to put on to hand it back.

Then again, could always stick some part worns on to hand it back!

[Dr Zoidberg]

No, it isn't.  It ***really*** isn't.

I'm pretty sure it is. I've done 30k front 60k rear without trying too hard, so an average of 45k.

That was with Michelin tyres, which are decent but not record breaking in terms of longevity. Swap them for some made-from-concrete brands and you'll have f-all grip but they'll go on forever.

[Rodge]

For those of you with full size spares and keeping your cars for a long time, do you use the spare tyre or leave it in the boot to get old? I believe there's a recommended maximum age of 6 years for tyres, although I haven't worried about that for the space saver in my 13 year old Focus.

Edited 4 September, 2016 by Rodge

[Matt Pez]

No, it isn't.  It ***really*** isn't.

Patently it is.

I don't think it is a coincidence that both the examples cited do very high annual mileage, so presumably a lot of motorway runs.

Matt complained about their awful ride, grip and noise at the time, so it seemed his tyres were a lot harder compound than mine as I find mine pretty good for all three factors.

 

I don't drive aggressively, I don't have a particularly powerful or heavy car and my tyre wear is reasonably good but not particularly spectacular as most of my mileage is urban with lots of mini roundabouts.

The Dunlop Sport Maxx GTs were very hard wearing, I rotated them front to back at over 40k, when the fronts were down to about 3.5mm, back were still over 6mm. Can't remember exactly what they were on when I changed them but it was well over 60k, with hindsight, if I'd have known I was selling at 33 months, might have even stretched them out for the full duration of ownership which was 72k!!

[Gerrycan]

I have done a couple of defensive driving courses over the years where the focus is on learning how to brake heavily and steer while doing it, one pre-ABS and one post ABS.

Both times the participants were given a hose and took turns to keep the braking area wet while the others trained/practiced, and on hot Australian days it took a fair amount of water and effort to maintain track dampness.

The conspiracy theorists thought it was to make the exercises more difficult but apparently it was to reduce excessive wear and tear on the tyres.

 

My point being that apart from all the other usual factors (alignment, power, driving style etc) then if you drive in a part of the world where there is a reasonable amount of regular precipitation then it is not unreasonable to expect to get lower tyre wear than on a hot, dry highway. But by how much?

 

The only times I have experienced really bad tyre wear have been when I have developed alignment problems.

Not that it is a factor me but do wheel alignments for good handling necessarily relate to good wear?

The only good thing about having torsion bar rear suspension is that you don't have the facility, or the worry, or costs of misalignment.

[themanwithnoaim]

You can F them up when you fit a Rear Anti Roll Bar Jerry

[Gerrycan]

You can F them up when you fit a Rear Anti Roll Bar Jerry

Ha, I bet you can, but I'm not likely to do that now am I.

[themanwithnoaim]

Firmer rear end Gerrycan

What's not to like ?

[cheezemonkhai]

I think they're good in the dry (if a little noisy) but hate them in the wet. They feel like you're on slush.

 

Compared to Premium Contact 2, the wet weather performance is not nice and compared to the nokian winter tyres, it's truly horrible.

 

Still as a pure summer tyre, they're not bad.

[Mallettsmallett]

I've certainly got 40k+ out of a pair of tyres. That was up and down the M4/5 for about 2 years and I was on a tight budget getting mileage paid so I was eeking as much out of it as bangernomics.

[GoneToBeemer]

I've certainly got 40k+ out of a pair of tyres. That was up and down the M4/5 for about 2 years and I was on a tight budget getting mileage paid so I was eeking as much out of it as bangernomics.

Out of fronts? Pretty good going!

Just had my first service last week at 19400 miles, and to my surprise the fronts still had 4mm all round - was impressed by that.

[Mallettsmallett]

It was a saxo so wide-ish tyres and not a lot of weight. I think that contributed.

[SkodaVRS1963]

The Dunlop Sport Maxx GTs were very hard wearing, I rotated them front to back at over 40k, when the fronts were down to about 3.5mm, back were still over 6mm. Can't remember exactly what they were on when I changed them but it was well over 60k, with hindsight, if I'd have known I was selling at 33 months, might have even stretched them out for the full duration of ownership which was 72k!!

 

This forum is entertaining if nothing else.

 

But you really should stop posting such nonsense because it sets unrealistic expectations.

 

Maybe that's the agenda?

[ExSEAT]

Id rather my bridgestones died a premature death so I wouldnt feel guilty throwing them in the bin with 10k left on them. Ive done 4.5k and the fronts look brand new, trouble is they handle like they are on their last lap and have done from day one.

[Mallettsmallett]

Just bin them, you'll be happier.

[Matt Pez]

This forum is entertaining if nothing else.

But you really should stop posting such nonsense because it sets unrealistic expectations.

Maybe that's the agenda?

Not half as ridiculous as having a topless picture of a random bloke as your profile pic!

Just for the record, its not made up nonsense, it was a fact, those tyres were truly hard as nails and were replaced at the stated mileage well before the legal limit!

[Hettonist]

Efficient Grips and Michelin Cross Climates Climates are the best tyres I've used, nice feel, good all rounders and last ok. Why put **** tyres on a decent car. Craziness in my opinion

[pist0nbr0ke]

 ...really should stop posting such nonsense...

 

Pot, kettle, black. 

Edited 30 September, 2016 by skodaphile

[GoneToBeemer]

Id rather my bridgestones died a premature death so I wouldnt feel guilty throwing them in the bin with 10k left on them. Ive done 4.5k and the fronts look brand new, trouble is they handle like they are on their last lap and have done from day one.

Which Bridgestones are you running mate?

[ExSEAT]

Which Bridgestones are you running mate?

Sorry for the late reply!! They are bridgestone potenza s0001. I had them on my last car which was a 1.4tsi and I could light them up in the dry without any effort. As they grew older they (somehow) got even noisier. Most noticeable about them was that they seemed to lack grip when mildly pushed and in the wet were less than confidence inspiring. Ive ridden big motorbikes for the last 14 years so tyres are a bit of an obsession! Im sure others will find them to be fine but I feel theyve stopped me from actually throwing the VRS around because I dont think they will hold when I need them. Did i mention the noise?

[skd12]

To give a perspective from a different brand of tyre and class of car, I got over 40k miles from the factory fitted Bridgestone Turanzas on my 06 reg Fiesta back in the day. I had the car from brand new and was only on the second set of tyres when I got my new company car at 60k miles. It was a nice car but not the most comfortable when I was doing over 2k miles/month.

[GainfulShrimp]

I use low rolling resistance tyres in summer - I've used Michelin Energy Saver, Goodyear Efficient Grip and Michelin Energy Saver+.  The latter are my favourite.  None of them are great in standing water, but the Goodyears were worrying when they eventually let go - it was all or nothing - I find the ES+ to be more progressive, not that I push them much anyway.  The ES+ tyres seem to last for ages too. I haven't logged how long though unfortunately.

 

In winter, Goodyear Ultragrip 9 are the best I've tried and lasted much longer than the Michelin Alpin PA3, which were my first winter tyres.  The Ultragrip 9s are amazing on cold (<7degC), wet, slimy mornings - typical weather for early mornings during winter in this country, in other words.  They're great in snow too, but the last few years haven't given me much opportunity to play in the snow.

 

I plan to use my existing winter steelies (currently in the garage) for the Octavia, as it shares wheel/tyre dimensions with my current Leon: a nice bonus...

[Geek42]

Just to add my weight to the high mileage argument, I've never managed it but my dad has (but god knows how!).

 

He used to work 180 miles away from home and ran a series of Audi A6's that all had their rears change at ~60k-70k miles (the fronts didn't last quite so long). The was a lot of motorway mileage under cruise control involved, and I readily admit that he's a smoother driver than me, but I've never had more than 30k out of any tyre, so whilst being astonished I can't deny that it happened more than once.

 

The least I ever had was my last car (a focus) which I bought with 9k miles on the clock and the fronts were already pretty low, I rotated them and changed the whole set at 12k miles, but they were Conti SC2s and the car was probably a managers special before I bought it, so to be expected I guess! I would say that low to mid 20's is typical for me with a variety of cars / tyre types.