Tyre tread and how quick they wear.

CiniO

For a while now tyres come with labels stating their rolling resistance, wet grip and noise. This gives general idea about the tyre (maybe with exception of wet side grip), but there's still two very important measures that are missing.

1. Tread depth that new tyre is coming with.
2. How quick this tyre will wear.

I got a set of RIKEN MAYSTORM 2 B2 tyres end of April. Bought them online, as I read reviews and was happy that they will be good tyres.

Unfortunately when they arrived, I noticed they had only 6mm tread. I thought it was bit small...

Now less than 5 months passed, I've done just over 10k kilometres, and tyres are down to 3mm. That means probably another 2-3k to go, before they reach 1.6mm minimum.

I'm astonished at pace they wore.
Indeed I drive in region where roads are very bendy with very harsh surface, I don't drive slow, and generally tyres here wear incredibly fast, but to wear down set of 4 tyres from brand new to none in about 12k kilometres (8k miles) is too much imo.
Especially considering that I swapped front to back a while ago, to even the wear between all 4.

I'm slowly looking for new set now, and I wonder if there's any data online in relation to new tread depth and pace tread wears on certain tyres?

PS - Just to mention - grip level on both dry and wet was excellent, and I was really happy with those tyres, except from fact they lasted that short.

George Dalton

We have found the same with those tyres, they are incredibly soft.

kerten

still sounds better than 4000 miles life I got from dunlop SportMaxx RTs. Very expensive lesson to learn.

Popoutman

There's already a treadwear indication on new tyres. It allows comparisons between differing tyres regarding the tread wear. I've found the numbers to be pretty accurate when comparing different brands on my car over the 120,000 miles I've driven in it.

Mycroft H

Got 45,000 miles out of Michelin Primacy HP on the C5. Savage Tyre.

porsche boy

bare in mind the tyres that dont wear quickly usually have poor grip, espically in the wet.

CiniO

Popoutman wrote: »

There's already a treadwear indication on new tyres. It allows comparisons between differing tyres regarding the tread wear. I've found the numbers to be pretty accurate when comparing different brands on my car over the 120,000 miles I've driven in it.

What do you mean by "treadwear indicator" ?

corkgsxr

porsche boy wrote: »

bare in mind the tyres that dont wear quickly usually have poor grip, espically in the wet.

Not necessarily.

It's down to compounds.

Cheap tires use more plastic and filler. They slip more so wear more.

Good tires have less of this slippage so will wear less.

Good years give great grip and big miles

Chimaera

corkgsxr wrote: »

Not necessarily.

It's down to compounds.

Cheap tires use more plastic and filler. They slip more so wear more.

Good tires have less of this slippage so will wear less.

Good years give great grip and big miles

Sort of.

All things being equal a grippier tyre will be made from softer rubber and will wear faster.

But all things are not equal: more expensive tyres usually have more research effort put into developing the compounds, so they can make a grippier tyre that lasts well compared to a less expensive alternative.

IME the worst wearing brand I've ever used is Pirelli. I had two of them on the front of a 1.4 Civic years ago and they barely got to 10000 km. A set of P6000s on the Passat I have now lasted similarly badly.

George Dalton

As above, I have a set of Bridgestones on my Merc for the last 65,000km. They have been outstanding in terms of both grip and wear. They are still legal and are only now starting to lose wet grip. I will replace them in the next couple of weeks but there would be another few k in them if the weather stayed good.

George Dalton

OP what size are the tyres and what did they cost you?

CiniO

Size is 225/45 R17

They cost me €264 for a set of 4 + 50 for fitting so €314 all together.

CiniO

George Dalton wrote: »

As above, I have a set of Bridgestones on my Merc for the last 65,000km. They have been outstanding in terms of both grip and wear. They are still legal and are only now starting to lose wet grip. I will replace them in the next couple of weeks but there would be another few k in them if the weather stayed good.

What model Bridgestones is that?

George Dalton

CiniO wrote: »

What model Bridgestones is that?

Turanza T001. Size is 225/55 16.

George Dalton

CiniO wrote: »

Size is 225/45 R17

They cost me €264 for a set of 4 + 50 for fitting so €314 all together.

That was very cheap. Your only other options in that price range would be Chinese plastic crap which might last longer but would try to kill you in the process.

What kind of car are they on?

CiniO

George Dalton wrote: »

That was very cheap. Your only other options in that price range would be Chinese plastic crap which might last longer but would try to kill you in the process.

What kind of car are they on?

Civic 2.2 i-CTDI.

George Dalton

CiniO wrote: »

Civic 2.2 i-CTDI.

Any reasonably powerful fwd diesel will be hard on tyres. But I remember recently we saw a 1.25 Fiesta and a 1.4 Focus wear out those same model of tyres in 10k miles. And neither of those cars should be doing that! So it seems to be an issue with that particular tyre.

GreeBo

OSI wrote: »

Given how many variables affect this, it would be impossible to give this kind of information as a verified stat of the product. Your only real guide is going to be reviews of other users.

Surely an industry standard test and result could be devised to allow you to compare across brands?

CiniO

George Dalton wrote: »

That was very cheap.

Well I thought it was cheap when I was buying them.
But considering I paid €314 for tyres that lasted me 10k kilometres, I could have easily bought a set for €630 of tyres that would last me 20k kilometres, and end up the same financially.

I think big issue was with amount of tread. 6mm on new tyre seems very low.
It's only 4mm to wear until they reach 2mm and need to be replaced really.
If they had 8mm when new, then there would be 6mm to wear, so that makes 50% more mileage on it's own. Not even mentioning that there surely are tyres with less wearing compound.

And it's not just my heavy diesel or bad driving style.
In winter I've done 10k kilometres on Debica Frigo HP winter tyres on the Continent, and during this time they wore only from 8mm to 7.5mm.
So summarising that's a wear of about 0.5mm per 10kkm comparing on Debica Winter tyres on the Continent, comparing to 3mm per 10kkm on Riken tyres in West of Ireland. 6 times faster tyre wear.

So roads in West of Ireland are main culprit, and I made a bad choice of tyre with low tread when new and quick wearing to drive in West of Ireland.

CiniO

So the question now is what tyres should I purchase now, that would be reasonably priced, provide at least as good grip as Rikens provided me, and last for at least twice the mileage?

George Dalton

Best tyres for wear in that size would be Bridgestone ER300 and Michelin Primacy HP.

Another excellent tyre to consider is the Goodyear Efficient Grip Performance. We have them on one of our work vans (Focus) and they make a noticeable difference to fuel economy. They are also fantastic for wet grip. I'll be putting a set on my own car next I think.

Chimaera

I was actually thinking of getting those Goodyears for my next set. I think you've just confirmed my choice George

George Dalton

Chimaera wrote: »

I was actually thinking of getting those Goodyears for my next set. I think you've just confirmed my choice George

They seem like a great tyre. I have a set to go on my mother's A3 as well in the next few weeks. She drives like a hooligan so needs something decent in the bad weather!

The only thing I don't know about them yet is how long they last. They haven't been on the Focus long enough to tell. I doubt they will last like the Michelins or Bridgestones but the fuel economy benefits will more than make up for that.

landmarkjohn

Best tyre wear I had was 25k miles from Nankang NSII on the front and 40k rear of Xedos 9, V6 163 BHP. I would be a modest driver now (my own car) and I know they maybe considered a low end Chinese tyre but never had an issue with them, would use again no problem.

I would consistently get 10k miles on front of Volvo S40 with Pirelli P6000 but the driving would be hard then. A grippy tyre but fast wear.

MuppetCheck

Put a set of the efficient grip performance on the back of mine the other week and they've made a huge difference to road noise too.

Interslice

+1 on them goodyears. I've have them on my primera. Will definitely be getting them again. Just for reference the local tyre man here does them for 85 quid fitted (205/55/16).

kerten

Michelin Primacy HP is a old model and they last but I actually didn't like the change in grip after 10k kms. It felt like tyre compound got very hard instantly and stop wearing as a result.

My experience with Bridgestone turanzas are aligned with what George says but they are not the most silent tyres(if it is important for you)

I would go for Goodyears without putting so much expectation on slow wearing.

pred racer

George Dalton wrote: »

They seem like a great tyre. I have a set to go on my mother's A3 as well in the next few weeks. She drives like a hooligan so needs something decent in the bad weather!
The only thing I don't know about them yet is how long they last. They haven't been on the Focus long enough to tell. I doubt they will last like the Michelins or Bridgestones but the fuel economy benefits will more than make up for that.

so you didnt lick it off a stone

mine are getting close to needing to be changed, I think I put them on in April (thats 20K and Ill get another 5 out of them) , so about the same as Bridgestone etc better than Hankook not as good as the semperits. (just for wear)

And I can confim the Fuel economy for the effecient grip tyres for any doubters, when they went on the front of my 159 I immediately got 100Km more from a tank of juice, unfortunately that stopped when I changed them to the back

corkgsxr

Chimaera wrote: »

Sort of.

All things being equal a grippier tyre will be made from softer rubber and will wear faster.

But all things are not equal: more expensive tyres usually have more research effort put into developing the compounds, so they can make a grippier tyre that lasts well compared to a less expensive alternative.

IME the worst wearing brand I've ever used is Pirelli. I had two of them on the front of a 1.4 Civic years ago and they barely got to 10000 km. A set of P6000s on the Passat I have now lasted similarly badly.

It's not as simple as more grip more wear. On a 1.5 Mazda I had a set of Dunlop sport tires (not sure the exact model) after a few thou I got a sidewall bubble. Had to go cork to Shannon next day so I rang around no one had dunlops in that size. Ended up with a basic Dunlop on it.

Grip was worse on that side. When it wore out I still had plenty on the sporty side. So going by that more grip equals more mileage.

CiniO wrote: »

Size is 225/45 R17

They cost me €264 for a set of 4 + 50 for fitting so €314 all together.

Iv given up on cheap brands that are apparently made by such a crowd or are really popular In such a country. one time I found a brand that was fine. Every other time there disappointingI buy the good brands. now I pay the money and Iv never been disappointed.

Popoutman

CiniO wrote: »

What do you mean by "treadwear indicator" ?

Take a close look at the writing embossed on your tyres.
On my Goodyear Vector 4 Season tyres, I have "Treadwear 300 Traction A Temperature A"

This is the text that I mean that allow comparisons between differing tyres.

CiniO

Popoutman wrote: »

Take a close look at the writing embossed on your tyres.
On my Goodyear Vector 4 Season tyres, I have "Treadwear 300 Traction A Temperature A"

This is the text that I mean that allow comparisons between differing tyres.

Have you got any link which would explain what Treadwear 300 means, and how it compares with other tyres?

Chimaera

CiniO wrote: »

Have you got any link which would explain what Treadwear 300 means, and how it compares with other tyres?

http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html

Actually, the info may not be there any more - scanning the pages, it doesn't appear to be there, but that might just be because I'm tired.