How long should your tyres really last? | Auto Expert John Cadogan

[@CobetcknnKolowski]

Not only do you lay out your points in clear and understandable language but your sense of humor and creativity really is such a treat!

[@derekhobbs1102]

Swifts from about 12 years ago had a rear tyre wear issue from new, which required the beam axle to be tweaked to correct it, but once done, they lasted very well.

[@bob778_6]

Just replaced a set of Dunlop Sport Maxx tyres that had 32,00 km on them with 2 track days included in that distance, this took the tyres down to 2mm of tread life left which for how I drove my car is a reasonable lifespan for those tyres. I would have a higher than average tyre wear than most drivers as a performance car will always use softer compounds which wear more, if you are an everyday regular driver do some homework and look at what characteristics you need in your daily drive whether that is comfort, longevity or performance there is a tyre for you. And if you really want some decent tyre life skip the cheap Chinese death trap tyres and buy a good set of tyres from a reputable brand where the tyres have been independently reviewed so you have a good understanding of how the tyres will perform.

[@billharris3650]

I had a set of Toyo Proxes 4 on my 2007 BFII Falcon, got over 60,000 k's on them in 18 months. The ones I like now are the Hankook Dynapro 10ply tyres on my utes. The 2 sets (RF10) on my D40 Navara did 180,000ks each set with tyre rotation every 20,000ks. The new RF11 I have on my D-max have done 70,000 k's and still have 6.5 - 7mm of tread on them. I'm not gentle on them either, lots of long distance towing, semi regular off roading into forestry blocks and I'm not shy of cornering a little quicker than normal at times too.

[@jukkakorpelaa]

I drive mostly in the city, and sometimes a bit aggressively. I still get 50 000 km out Of a set Of premium tyres 🤷🏼‍♂️ If you buy the ”eco” tyres or the chinese budget ones, they have harder compounds and last longer. But it’s not just the brand. A single brand like Michelin has various different product lines. Some have much much harder compounds than others.

[@benchapman5247]

I will take lower km over lower grip any day. I watch wear and pressure regularly and rotate accordingly. I dont get directional tyres and always put the one with the most tread in the spot of the one with the most wear each time. Front alignment every 10-15,000km. The cost of tyres is not really much compared to the potential cost of taking an extra car length or two to pull up in an emergency.

[@marcellinden7305]

Only 20,000 km.... OUCH ! ... And here is me averaging 78,000km per set and stroking my beard wondering how I can improve on that...

[@ddsgardening7437]

Must be close to slicks at that klm😉

[@RICHOCHANGO]

Agreed. Check my pressures every second week plus rotations every 20k and my tyres are only half worn at 60k. Yokohama Advance dB V552’s for the win!

[@Dan-re7go]

I can imagine following you all…Captain Slows…wafting your way along.

[@gingernutpreacher]

That's 12000 mile's I had a Skoda city go ( it's a reabaged VW up ) and the summer tires lasted that long my all seasons lasted 22000 miles 35000 km oddly enough my susuki celerio is hard on its tyres

[@WhyWouldYouDrawThat]

I guessing large 4wd tyres? They are more expensive to begin with (speaking from experience). My theory is thus: 1) They are usually bigger (e.g. 32”). This means they turn slower, and wear less per given distance vs e.g. a bubble hatch. 2) they tend to be much thicker. E.g. 12mm. And bonus. Ppl driving 4wd (not all, looking at you P platers), tend to know more about their vehicle and hence do things like check pressure, wear patterns, alignment, wobble, etc.

[@RabidRodent69]

OMG! I used to track day my Ford Focus XR5 Turbo (which has been flashed for more torqure & power), drove it 'enthusiastically' daily and sold it after putting 110,000 kms on the clock. Never had to change tyres (Khumo sports tyres), brake discs or brake pads.

[@toothpik00]

I bought my Hyundai i30 N-Line through John's company Georgie about 13 months ago. I just replaced the factory Michelin Pilot Sport 4s at it's 60,000km service earlier this week. I do 188km per day, round trip, driving to and from my job. I always run the pressures at 39 - 40psi. I've never heard anyone say 25k is a good expiry rate for tyres. 50k is a much more common expectation from both my personal experience and those experiences of friends and family. I live in a rural area though, so logic tells me that long distance travel at 100kmh is going to be less destructive to tyres than tearing about cities in stop start traffic and roundabout surfing through suburbs.

[@peterlattimore6013]

Great points..., Im contemplating a 3oN , what would you have in its place if you had to decide?.

[@toothpik00]

@@peterlattimore6013 In short: Subaru WRX. But read on for specifics... I love my N-Line. You get a lot of car for your money. I think the power is plenty. I personally think the N is a bit overkill. Mine is already eager to spin the tyres with the 1.6T, let alone the 2L Turbo in the N. To that end, the one improvement I would make to all the N models is AWD. Especially for the kind of driving I do. I travel through some pretty shitty weather at times on my very long commute to work. Before the i30 I had a 2003 Subaru Liberty RX. I never had any scary moments on the road in that car, even in torrential rain. I've aquaplaned several times in my i30. Outside of extreme wet weather though, the car is like glue on the road. The suspension is tuned as good as Hyundai Australia claimed it was and the ride is great. Actually I will say, with my old Liberty, the suspension was never very good. It was pretty old though by the time I started commuting this long drive each day, so I think it had pretty badly worn rear shocks. So while the ride was pretty ordinary, and as a result the handling was a bit boaty at times, the actual grip from the AWD was never in question. So if the Subaru WRX wasn't so expensive, I'd buy one of them. But I'm still very happy with my i30 N-Line. 🍻

[@peterlattimore6013]

@@toothpik00 own 2 Liberty 3.6RS ... I prefer NA engines, and like you say, AWD does give a sense of confidence you just can't buy... Appreciate your breakdown...

[@oldfartonabmx2122]

07 Dodge Nitro, OG Goodyears - almost 100,000km. Second set, Kumho, about the same. 2016 Suzuki Vitara, OG Continentals -about 30K km. Wasn't happy ! Didn't help that dealers don't rotate tyres at services and the OG tires I think were lower "treadwear" number than the Kumho's that we got 70K km plus from. But as John said, tire life and grip are related. I once had a set of GT Radials on my ute that lasted ages. They were hard and slippery in the wet, yet kinda ironically, their tread pattern was excellent at shedding water. They didn't aquaplane in puddles of water like other tires I've had.

[@HypocriticYT]

Lots of variables that determine wear. Road conditions, temperature, air pressure , driving habits, type of tires, type of vehicle, flat or mountain driving, suspension maintenance etc

[@whatwouldiknow1759]

I'd say if you get 65-70,000 kms out of a set of tyres, you are going well. Tyres get old and the rubber hardens, so people who say they get 80,000+ kms are generally driving unsafe tyres.

[@JasonISF]

Yep the braking distances on a 80k+ km set of tyres would be far greater than compared to new fresh rubber.

[@Gnrnrvids]

Interesting question. I have a number of differing vehicles and they get widely different life from the tyres. A suzuki SX4 runs the cheapest tyres at about $200 each. Typical "efficiency" tyre for those small cars. i get about 30,000-40,000km with that one. Patrol gets about 60,000km from a sset of 4x4 AT's at somewhere around $300-400 per tyre. Outlander gets about 70,000km from tyres that run $400 and my Cayman looks like getting well over 40,000km from the new set of tyres on it averaging $500 per tyre. The tyres fitted to the cayman when i got it from its previous owner only lasted me about 15,000 but they were significantly cheaper nankang tyres. They were not even a good performance tyre having far less grip than the PS4S I replaced them with. the dirt/gravel road I live on definitely reduces the life significantly, especially on the SX4. All these are driven like they were stolen and run ~40spi pressure.

[@soundman6645]

there are a number of things that many people don't think about regarding tyre wear. #1 is how much tread depth there is on the tyre to start with ... most passenger tyres have pretty low tread depth compared to light commercial and 4wd tyres. Some of this is to reduce the weight ( and expense) of the tyre on small vehicles. #2 Tyre diameter and therefore circumference, small cars with relatively small wheels will also have dramatically less tread length #3 bigger tyres tend to have more tread depth, because of proportion and weight being less of an issue. The above three therefore easily explain why cars with small wheels, burn tyres much faster. One particular 4wd tyre manufacturer makes a big deal out of a particular mileage figure, which in fact is nothing special, but sounds remarkable to a passenger car driver who is used to burning small tyres with small tread depth. BUT there is a pay off .... these smaller lighter tyres cost a lot less. There is a sneaky little trick here though ......... most modern cars have more expensive "high performance tyres" on them than a similar vehicle would have in previous models. Yes these soft compounds have a lot to answer for too. Back in the day, my mate " The Kin Kin Kid" complained that he burned out a pair of the same tyres, on the back of his Datto 1600, as I was running in the matter of weeks, BUT, he was driving to and from work every day thru the forestry, more often sideways than not.

[@michaelxcx]

this is true. we have a subaru cross trek and a subaru impreza, same weight, same engine, same driving style. but the cross trek has larger wheels/tires. about 30% larger. and we have noticed that the cross trek gets about twice the life out of the tires as the impreza. we got around 150,000km out of the impreza tires, and about 250,000km out of the cross trek tires. mostly highway driving on both.

[@evanmiris5765]

Toyota Prado with Cooper A/T that are 95% touring on road with the occasional dirt track and I get 90 to 96,000klm out of them . This is my third set that I have just put on and they come with an 80,000klm warranty so I cant complain. I do check tyre pressures and rotate them every 12,000klm as I have a compressor and all the gear at home so that definitely keeps them running at peak performance .

[@Low760]

Most of these comments are about base model cars, my experience with sport tyres is more like 20-30,000kms and that's really stretching them. But I get great grip and excellent wet weather grip with pilot sport Michelins.

[@JL-rj9fl]

I just put a set of Pilot Sports on my car, great tires indeed!

[@kiefershanks4172]

I would say swapping tires out after about 6 years is a good idea regardless of tread life. More than that and you are more prone to encountering random failures from internal delamination, etc. Not something to take a risk with honestly IMHO. I recently bought some Michelin Crossclimate2 tires for my Corolla because I want to see if they can truly replace running two sets of tires here in Canada. So long as the tread lasts me 6 years, I will be very happy. Rotating, inflating, and will measure the wear to make sure I'm running appropriate pressures.👍

[@craigquann]

They'll perform better than an all season. But are not quite as good as dedicated winter tire. Definitely a noticeable difference on ice. I do the same, I run general Grabber ATX year round (for the last 5 years) on my Sierra. People from my 4x4 group have had similar experiences with the other brands 4 season tires.

[@kiefershanks4172]

@@craigquann My reasoning is that I don't actually see truly terrible conditions enough to justify running dedicated winters too. I now live in a major city with good road maintenance and I would say I could count on one hand how many times I actually found myself on snow and ice without plowing/salting. So the only real thing I need in my case is an all season tire that has a rubber compound similar to a winter tire so that it remains flexible in cold weather. The Crossclimate2s are a good fit 👍

[@craigquann]

@@kiefershanks4172 lol sounds like you live in around my area. Except I'm in a snowbelt and we see some pretty good accumulation.

[@arnaldo35]

I've heard the camber of the road is the main cause of the left tyre scrubbing out. Take your hands off the wheel for a sec and the vehicle usually veers left. So, we're constantly turning a little to the right, even on straight roads.

[@BubblesTheCat1]

John, that's oddly low mileage for tyres/tires to be worn out. (By my standards) Just replaced all 4 tyres on my Nissan Sunny (Sentra) 1,4 front drive car when they reached the TWI. 63,000km, I've got the paperwork to prove it. They were Goodyear Duragrip 175/70×13, and were rotated every 10 k It would be interesting to see what other readers are experiencing. Very interesting as always. 👍

[@2DogsVlogs]

Used to get 75 to 90k from Commodores & Falcons. Used to drive 60k over 6 months. Moved to a VW and about 25k was all I got doing only city driving. I got 40k out of my Grand Cherokee but you have too consider it did do a fair bit of off road driving and it was pushed pretty hard on tarmac. My boss got about 300 k's out off his last set. Didn't help he turned the factory into a race track. Worst I got was about 50,000 out of my Lancer which I think is closer too normal for 75/25 city/hwy driving. My brother never gets more that 15k out of his tires. All city driving.

[@mcduck5]

I had a set of Hankook MTs last 60000kms of drifting on every wet day

[@rorylyons277]

One word - roundabouts! They will destroy your tyres, just like cul-de-sac turn abouts destroy twin axle trailer tyres.

[@dazaspc]

@@rorylyons277 Good point

[@BubblesTheCat1]

@@rorylyons277 When I drove semi's I went into a cul de sac in between houses after taking a wrong turn. Had a huge tri axle refrigerated trailer loaded with 28 tons of margarine. I panicked, and instead of carefully backing out again, I decided to make a hasty, full lock u turn. Completely destroyed that cul de sac!

[@FishandHunt]

Quality brand, correct pressure, balance and alignment.

[@kyliejamieson9969]

Hey John, a contributing factor to tyre wear in Oz (and the main one i would suggest) is that right hand turns are the longest turns in Oz, therefore the left front tyre is subjected to load for the longest time.......opposite in Merica.......and never follow manufacturers recommended tyre pressures

[@wobblysauce]

Roundabouts... bain of most people.

[@marcusvodvarka80]

I am not sure but never classed myself as a homintelictiual but I love you John you are the man keep going you legend

[@michaelsmallman1006]

A lot of FWD cars have a bit of negative camber to aid handling with crap rear suspension geometry. My experience was a DJ Mazda 2 and a w168 a-class. Both wore through the inside edge of the tyre with plenty of meat left on the rest of the tyre. That was about 30000km for each of them

[@Pete856]

At what point does over inflating a tyre affect it's grip? 20% above recommended seems pretty high.

[@petermincher4063]

For some reason most small and medium car tyre placards state around 32 psi for the front and you always ignore that and inflate to 36 as a minimum. Our Camry likes 37 front and 32 rear ( no weight in the boot ). All this is meaningless if the treadwear is not checked. Even tread depth/wear is a fair guide to optimum pressure and grip. Avoid tyres with 1ply sidewalls.

[@JasonISF]

@@petermincher4063 what year Camry? I'm finding a pound or two less pressure in the rear of my 2022 Hybrid makes the car drive more 'settled'.

[@petermincher4063]

Camry is 2010 petrol only model. Your car is heavier because of battery's and under inflation is a little harder to detect compared with over inflation eg. wearing the centre tread out. Ran 30psi in rear of our old 2007 Camry and tread wore dead flat for 60000km but again little load in rear. Check tread depth with old credit card pushed down into grooves. Under- inflated tyres will run hotter than optimal psi tyres. Check psi once a month min. and get used to a visual check every day. Low tyres are easy to spot at a glance because of high profile but if you don't look you lose

[@anakinskywalker4113]

John I have to respectfully disagree with you!! People should be able to get at least 50,000kms minimum out of a good quality set of tyres. As an independent mechanic I seriously find it hard to believe that you consider it normal for tyres to wear out after 25,000kms. For me that means there is something wrong with the vehicle itself such as suspension or wheel alignment. Or that the person driving it is a really really hard driver. I have a 2013 CX-5 & I have 80,000kms so far on my current set of tyres they are wearing evenly. So I totally refute your claims that you are ok with just 25,000kms. I would be very angry if that were me.

[@JasonISF]

Most people don't get good 'mileage' from their tyres as they don't check the pressures or rotate them regularly, especially on a FWD car. Almost on a daily basis I can see a car driving down the road with very obviously under inflated tyres.

[@pokedude104]

The roads are so terrible where I live that tires usually die to potholes, running over chunks of asphalt or solid bricks of ice hidden under the snow during winter. Lots of people drive around with totally screwed up alignment. Either that or you don't drive enough KM and the weather eats them away after about 5 years they're dry rotted.

[@jaggedlines2257]

I like watching your vids John. A little trivia for you, but true. I have a 2014 Mazda3 which I bought new. It currently has 225000ks on the clock. I got 107000ks out of the original tyres. Still on my second set of tyres, and still on the original brake pads. ZOOM ZOOM.

[@jasongarufi8187]

Hi John thanks to your advice on other tyre video, I got new tires both of our cars. I also checked the manufacturing date of the new tires.

[@HighTowerAU]

i just got 2 new tyres before driving to sydney and back from perth in our suv. tyres were manufactured 14 months before fitting. but factoring i was going to use 25% of their life in one trip it wasnt a big deal to me.

[@Peter79123]

I agree, but it depends also sometimes/often to the brand of car. Have tested hundreds of models... The biggest surprise was ones a Renault Kangoo 4x4. That car has just eaten up every year a set of tires, especially at the rear, max 15000K's. Everything was more than checked, some Driveline system are not 100% developt and creates in full steering angles a pretty hard bracing. Every car is different, especially at 4x4 constructions 🤠👍

[@peterlattimore6013]

Very true! Have been reading comments of 25-30k usage and people were complaining of a lack of longevity. I recently became acquainted with the Maserati Marque and would happily accept 10k before the inner left rear edge blows out.

[@Greggie_D]

Fitting tyres and doing front end work with wheel alignments for 12 years I’d say 20,000 is way too low kms for a standard cars tyres. 4° out on the rear end sounds like a lot to me but I’ve been out of the game a while now. Btw my 2018 Mazda 3 just got 70,000km out of the original tyres.

[@americarsqueensland1667]

The best wearing tyres I've ever had were Kelly Springfield Steelmark 78 back in the late 80's. These lasted 80,000 ks, I did alot of driving back then in a Holden Premier station wagon.

[@bruceparr1678]

Kelly's were great taxi tyres. Lasted forever and really squealed.

[@danielb8901]

I remember them great tyres. Had them on my kingswood.

[@dafoxman3272]

I am on my 5th set of Bridgestone Serenity Plus tires on my 2019 Camry. I get between 80.000 and 95,000kms and I keep my tire pressure at 40psi to protect the edges of the tire

[@stewatparkpark2933]

You drive 80,000 Kms per year in a Camry ?

[@JohnSmith-yv6eq]

@@stewatparkpark2933 Possibly a rep? (company travelling salesman)

[@BubblesTheCat1]

@@stewatparkpark2933 Just shows you what phenomenally good cars they are. Try doing that in a BMW or Audi, and it'll bankrupt you.

[@kingjulian1549]

@@BubblesTheCat1 - Life's too short to drive a Camry. There are so many better cars that are also reliable.

[@BubblesTheCat1]

@@kingjulian1549 Yep. Lexus comes to mind ☺

[@guppybaby]

Im in the Sydney Motor trade and I saw a Range Rover Sport only 3 months old that needed 4 new Michelin Pilot Sport 275/40 20s, the outer edges of the old Pilots where showing metal, I think they cost over $400 each at the time

[@secretsquirrel9722]

I've never understood these types of complaints. There are so many factors, even within the exact same tyre size, brand and and line of tyre. If you maintain a perfect tyre pressure, W/A and rotation schedule. The exact same spec car, loading and driven exactly the same etc etc. 1, Are the tyres an OE spec usually innocuously mark in some way (a star for example) or just a production model? Usually makes a significant difference in every way. Feel, performance and wear. 2, What is their country of manufacture? You may not know it, but just like cars. The same tyre can be made in several countries. Each country has their own supplier or raw materials often resulting in noticeable (if driven back to back) variance in rubber composition = grip in wet and dry, wear, shore rating and rate of change due to temperature etc etc. Even 2 tyres out of the same factory will have variances! Ever seen a race team on great pace swap out one set of tyres for a new set of exactly the same tyre (usually the same batch in high end racing) only to drop completely off the pace. These are the things tyre manufacturers spend billions on. The lesser known the tyre = how much do you think they put into the initial tyre development. Let alone uniformity of product across countries?

[@BubblesTheCat1]

I wonder if it isn't the camber of the roads in Oz and Sat Afrika, that lean towards the left, placing more weight and force on the left hand side tyres, causing them to wear faster?

[@JohnSmith-yv6eq]

Also in these countries... the left hand tyres are in the usually rougher part of the roadway...and nearest the kerb, the verges etc.

[@steved3702]

I blame tight, cambered roundabouts. 😃

[@JohnSmith-yv6eq]

@@steved3702 I'd love to see the camber on roundabouts actually have a dish shape inwards so the curve draws you in...not throws you outwards... and big trucks would be less likely to deposit wool bales on Corollas in the outside lane.... Plus no vegetation...so you get a clear view and can see the opposing(?) vehicles.... which, except for BMWs, mostly use their indicators... giving you a crack at early decison on... Do I go or do I stay????

[@BubblesTheCat1]

@@JohnSmith-yv6eq If you camber all the roundabouts inwards, you'll have little dams every time it rained hard.

[@JohnSmith-yv6eq]

@@BubblesTheCat1 You know we have engineers that can put in sufficient drainage holes around the traffic island so the water flows out under the camber and drains away...?

[@macgibbon]

Completely unrelated (to any video you've made I think) but what's the G-Shock collection looking like? Any favourites?

[@MrMickteen]

Thanks John. How about different compounds of the rubber? Winter tires vs winter tyres?

[@peterdwightsavundranayagam6758]

Thank you for your insights, it's very useful, at least now I know, what's the ball-park number to check whether my tyres have done they're part. As you know, the dealers always say 40k guaranteed, which I don't believe at all.

[@kadmow]

they-are, ballparking in their 40k guise, lol.

[@John7891]

In the early 2000s I put a set of higher spec Dunlop tires on my Corolla which was primarily used for 50k motorway commute. Rotated every 10k and checked pressures monthly. Kept pressures 3 or 4 lb above recommendation. These tires lasted 90k+. Mentioned this on a now defunct motoring column and was called a bullshitting something! But them’s the facts.

[@peterkerr6430]

Currently at 121,000 on original factory tires on a 2019 Corolla. 38psi 60/40 freeway city daily commute of 90k each way. It can be done.

[@mcdon2401]

My last car and my current car were both fitted with Hankook all season tyres, and 20,000 miles is about where I change them. They've still got 3-4mm left in them, but snow performance drops off at that point, so they get changed in the autumn.

[@rorylyons277]

What's this "snow" of which you speak?

[@MarzNet256]

Here is the US, Michelin Defenders are known for having some of the longest treadlife of any tires. Warrantied to 80k miles.

[@AndyG73]

Rotating tyres will help even out wear to a degree, which Will extend their life a reasonable amount, but a light right foot will make the most difference. I've managed to get between 25,000 and 40,000 miles out of tyres without compromising safety (i.e. not using them beyond 6 years old until my current set of Michelins, which are designed to last 10 years, wear aside). That doesn't mean I drive like Captain Slow. What also makes a big difference is whether the tyres are low profile (and thus often high performance), where such tyres grip more and wear quicker. Most standard cars don't need them, some car manufacturers use them to mask poor chassis and suspension design.

[@AndyG73]

@@Griffo34 Well, we do have great taste in names... :-)

[@leeperry1629]

I got 120,000 k on my FJ cruiser running BF Goodrich all terrains which I put on in 2014 when I bought it new. They weren’t done but retired them like Bradman on 99 because I got a screw near the sidewall. Now on second set. The KO2’s ,and odometer sits at 190,000 still plenty of meat left and very quiet on the freeway. Great tyres except they’ve got as much traction as a barefoot water skier in the wet. ( 80% tarmac 20% off-road. Always check pressures and rotate tyres )

[@TheSheperd23]

As you said, 20k is a good minimum. especially for performance tyres, cheaper or longer lasting tyres will not handle as well comparatively. if i get 20k out of my Re003s im cheering, because i know ever km of that is performance i can trust.

[@kingjulian1549]

Great tyre for the money the Bridgestone RE003. I'd rate them better than the standard Pirelli P Zero's my Golf GTI came with. I'm just about to buy our 4th set to go on my wife's Passat. Just waiting for a 4/3 offer again.

[@JasonISF]

They are OK in the dry, average in the wet and I got only 8000kms out of them on my old Subaru BRZ, including one track day, but I think there are better tyres out there for similar money like the Goodyear Eagle F1 asymmetric 5.

[@kingjulian1549]

@@JasonISF - I agree based on the reviews I’ve seen. I wanted to get a set of the Goodyear Assymetric 5s but couldn’t get a set when i needed them. The Goodyear F1s are great tyres too for the money.

[@farnarkleboy]

I got 60,000 kms out of the old RE001's on my 306 XSI and am currently at 40,000 kms on RE003's a GT Liberty ... I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong ?

[@sebastianmessina3285]

How about increasing tyre width by one size (ie 215 becomes 225) slightly wider to protect mags and slightly higher - less chance of scraping and slightly more rolling radius.🤔 I believe that one increment change is legal.

[@farnarkleboy]

Did that on my Subaru , the 225's were $100 cheaper than the 215's . I had to go down from 45 ratio to 40's which might not work if you are on country roads that are a bit rough.

[@MrWilliam.Stewart]

As a service adviser (I don't recomend it to anyone) the tyre life I see depends on the tyres, the tyres I'd buy, sticky ones go around 20,000klm. The harder non drivers tyres go around 60,000klm. And I've seen 80,000klm, but those tyres are harder than a priest in a, err in a nunnery, yes, let's go with that, and offer 2/10th of no real traction.

[@martinpetersen1725]

Hey John, I have a question about tyre wear. It may also be an idea for a small story. Do the microscopic rubber particles have any impact on our food or water, in the same way that micro plastic does. Keep up the good work and have a great Christmas.

[@conmanumber1]

I had a pickup truck which I fitted Michelin "X" snow n mud tires. The first set I checked tire pressures every month and wheel alignment every 12 months. This set I got 80.000 k.m life. Second set I did non of the above and got 40.000 k m. Disclaimer; I did no lockups or burnouts.

[@TaylerMade]

i used to run pirelli phantoms on my superbike in the 80's. due to having a bit of fun on it and a weekly fun run over a couple of saddles, or practice time at the local track. i would average 5k for a new set. and yes they were bloody expensive, but you could really get the power on while the bike was on its side. it was the best way i knew at the time to blow off from a high stress job where i worked at least 100 hrs a week. i would have thought with his mileage that he is not very sympathetic to his tyres or have been buying cheap rubbish.

[@richardhoulton4016]

I’m pretty hard on rubber. When I was running a Megane RS, I was lucky to get 12-15,000kms out out soft Euro rubber. MX5, around 30,000kms. 30,000kms is fine by me. Soft performance rubber wears out faster. It just does.

[@bdw66]

Tyres do have wear ratings. They are tested in a controlled environment, and assigned a number. Higher is better. Suggest you choose a tyre with the highest rating in the size you require. Of course you will compromise on handing / braking / grip to have a higher wearing tyre.

[@just_passing_through]

I’ve had my 2003 MX-5 for 19 years, and have replaced them every 6 years, with at least half the tread left, as I’ve only done 120,000 km, so that’s one set every 40,000km, but I won’t run my car on tyres over 6 years old (plus whatever time they lay fallow between manufacturer and install). 20% over inflated, regularly rotated, and tyre pressure regularly checked. I don’t accelerate, brake, or corner hard.

[@paulthompson1654]

Tyre wear is/canbe model specific . Some vehicles like being at one end of the wheel align specification some at the opposite end . Dealers never say this .

[@steve6034]

Bridgestone Dueller 235/65R18 106H on a Nissan Murano (70 to 80k) around $400 each but I believe these are more the harder compound rather than the softer more gripper and less noisy compound?

[@craigdavid6668]

$80 each on Gumtree.

[@MrRocktuga]

That’s strange…🤔 I don’t know if any specific conditions come into play in Australia, but 25.000 km would be acceptable for a set of sport oriented tires. With “premium” tire manufacturers it fairly common to get in the range of 40.000 to 60.000 km from a set of “non-eco” tires, more if you use the later (at the expense of grip, like you mention). As a reference, I’m talking about Portugal, using summer tires and with our average ambient temperatures.

[@HighTowerAU]

suzuki wheel is small compared to a camry or falcon or 4x4. little wheel rotates more for given distance as it has less circumference.... more times the tread contacts the road compared to bugger car. i get 70,000km out of my 4x4 tyres even towing the boat but they start at 15mm tread depth too (mickey thompson) and probably 3x the circumference of a suzuki wheel

[@glennmcgrath4345]

You can drive 100,000 km on a set of tires in a straight line, or maybe 50,000 km in thick traffic, stop/start cornering every day of every week.

[@kahuna1247]

Love the shirt bro!

[@siiioxide]

someone going through that many tyres in a shopping cart needs their own tyre review channel.

[@charlesjames1442]

My ST rides on Dunlop Wintermaxx from Nov. to April. They’re 10 years old now, as is the car. Guess I’ll change them out for new next winter even though they still have about half the tread left. The dear wife will weep bitter tears but once per decade can’t be too bad.

[@Perl88]

My old Marc C-Class would last around 15,000 miles (24,000km) before the tyres would be below 2mm which is when I tend to replace them since the U.K. is a wet place and I find the performance drop off in the wet under 2mm to be a bit too much for my liking. Some other vehicles I’ve owned have gone more than double that distance between tyre changes so I get where the writer of the question is coming from. It really does seem to be down to the car how fast they will wear out.

[@aaronfischer7199]

My daily drive is rolling on 295/45 R20 tyres. On average they last 35k km. That is one years driving. Tyre pressure done monthly and rotated every 5k km. And it's not a performance car. It's an old rodeo ute that carries over a ton ( metric tonne) of tools and equipment. And mainly high speed long distance country driving. My safety and vehicle handling is paramount over cost.

[@formulafish1536]

My mates FG XR6 only got 30,000km from my memory. That being said, whilst he doesn’t do burnouts and shit, he isn’t the most sensible driver sometimes. He also had low profile Falken tyres.

[@supercededman]

John recommends tyre pressures 20% over the placard rating? Did I get that correct?

[@AutoExpertJC]

For spirited driving in a mainstream car, as a starting point, and monitor the wear. 32psi + 20% = about 38psi.

[@supercededman]

@@AutoExpertJC Thankyou, John. I had guessed this was the case, but didn't know for sure. i'll check my placard now. My Cerato GT has tyre pressure monitoring, but it doesn't take much to check the pressures on a regular basis. Good video :-)

[@AutoExpertJC]

No worries - it's more about optimising the pressure for the car and the kind of driving you do, in a systematic way. Rotating the tyres every 5000km is not a bad idea, either.

[@morgandrives]

Love your stuff, especially since you have a great sense of humour and a Physics degree. Yet this one confuses me - 20,000 km for a set of tires is ok?! That is far too low in my experience. I have been driving 1,500 to 2,500 km a month for 34 years. I’d say I’m an average driver - some spirited trips, some relaxing ones, most in between. With regular rotation and pressure checks, even performance tires usually last me 40,000 km (no track days or burnouts, of course). So why suggest 20,000 km is acceptable? One more thing - I live in central Canada, which is hell on tires (though I do use dedicated winter tires and summer tires).

[@andrewb8548]

I used to live in New England, and thought the same. Moved to Florida. ..the lack of winter makes the pavement last so long its rough as hell and eats a $1400 set of Michellins that lasted 70k up north in about 45k miles.

[@jayjaynella4539]

I had a set of Nexen tyres on the back of my WH STato that did 100K kilos and still had lots of tread on them.

[@draken68]

I think you should look at how long tyres on new cars last compared to ones bought at a tyre dealership. I am in the industry and store bought tyres last 50-100% longer then manufacturer factory fitted tyres do.

[@chrisbarclay]

17000km on Bridgestone potenzas. I do about 8-10000km a year. Onto my second set

[@waldemarii]

Got 35 000 km out of my Nokia summer tires. Would do easily another summer. Car: e-golf 2018, pressure 3 bar. 😊

[@siiioxide]

some strange physics anomaly allowed my early 90s astra to seem to have zero tyre wear over the 30k I had it after a random rim and tyre combo. I sold it as "50% tread" because of the age but no one believes they were not only just replaced.

[@Tore_Lund]

I got wildly varying life out of my tyres, but I usually don't care about which online seller I get them from. Sometimes I gotten old stock and rubber quality is not always the same. Best set lasted 10 years worst 2.5. Don't drive much so usually an aging issue.

[@maheshy1]

25k is too low. Mine lasted 55k on Chevy beat/ spark diesel. I run 3_4 psi high in front. Second set is close to 45k right now. I do alignment every 5k and alignment plus balancing plus tire rotation every 10k. I never let the pressure drop below manufacturer recommendation.

[@darrenthorne1]

If you are a gentle driver who looks after the car, highways driving mostly, including checking the pressures every two weeks as John says, then the best you can expect is five years or 100,000 km max. after this expect to buy five new Tyres including the spare that you never even took out of the boot.

[@warrenjohnknight.9831]

When I was a security contractor, my tyres only got 30,000 maximum on my family car 60,000 but then again low profile tyres aren't designed by last for ever they're designed for high performance only and wear out.

[@JohnWilliamsGTS]

I have a HSV VF GTS with 586 KW at the rear wheels. For some reason the rear tyres, no matter what the brand, seem to not last for very long.

[@shanea9613]

Jealous of you sir. That would be fun

[@JasonISF]

Leave Traction Control on, they will last longer 😏

[@JohnWilliamsGTS]

@@shanea9613 kzbin.infovTGNBU6RNJc

[@csjrogerson2377]

Depends on the roads you drive on and the manner in which you drive for any given tyre. Also whether tyres are rotated (no, not the going round and round way) and if not whether the car is front or rear wheel drive. I dont see why anyone should not be able to 60-70K KM out of decent tyres on good roads and sensible driving. I got 62K Km from the fronts and still have another 30K Km left in the rears.

[@paulthompson1654]

hi 50,000--60,000 km multiple sets early Ranger Tradie ute 98%city drive . All terrain tyres Michelin and cheaper sets lasted the same . Michelins were approx 10% quieter and more comfortable . The differences are only slight but no deal breaker .

[@gregsullivan7408]

Yep I did ok with my Caprices - 120,000k on Michelin Primacy 3ST & then 4ST. But yes - gentle driving. Will be switching to Michelin Primacy SUV+ on my new Audi Q7 when the factories wear out (probably at about 50,000)

[@gregsullivan7408]

Factory tyres (Bridgestone Dueler H/P Sport), treadwear rating 300, lasted 58,000km, with rotation every 10,000. Have now fitted Michelin Primacy SUV. (*not* the newer "+" version - I decided to save a bit of money), which have a tread wear rating of 440. Tyre size is 255/55R19

[@gregsullivan7408]

As expected, the Michelin Primacy SUV are performing brilliantly - extrapolated longevity after 40,000: 118,000km. 🕺 They are also a bit quieter than the factory Bridgestones, and grip is absolutely fine despite the harder compound. It's interesting to note that they are lasting much longer than the treadwear ratings predicted - they should only have lasted 440/300 X 58000 = 85000.

[@gregsullivan7408]

Update: 37% worn at a tread depth of 5.6mm (a loss of 2.4mm), 50,000 travelled. Estimated longevity: 135,000km!! Awesome. 🕺

[@gregsullivan7408]

Update: current distance: 100,000, estimated longevity: 140,000 Excellent tyres indeed

[@Mr-JF-11]

15k imperial miles on a set of tires in a compact car? That's insane! Are we using uhp summers?

[@paulb1951]

74000 miles on an old Citroen AX back in the 00’s. 20,000 km seems a bit shite to me, 40000km on the only tyres I’ve changed in Aus.

[@MattBlack6]

A hard man in a reasonably priced car.

[@Lakikano]

Are Aussie roads made of sandpaper or something? Tires here in the US are generally expected to last 50,000 miles or more and come with guarantees to that affect.

[@coweatsman]

RE: Walking across a bridge from Singapore to India. You would need to make sure said bridge steered away from North Sentinel Island. I hear the natives there are unfriendly. Just ask the late John Allen Chau.

[@daviddaw999]

If the dealer checked the alignment and found it to be four degrees out (and within their tolerance) then I'd be seriously upset. Four degrees is a lot and wouldn't be anywhere near my tolerance. I cannot see why the rear nearside tyre should be the first to wear out, as the fronts do all the accelerating and maintaining speed, the majority of the braking, and all of the steering. I normally find that rear tyres on a FWD car wear at about a quarter of the rate that the fronts wear.

[@HighTowerAU]

small rolling circumfernce on oem suziki tyres means compared to a touring 4x4 on 33" tyres, i bet that little suziki wheel will be doing almost 2.5x rpm of the 4x4. So if suzuki got 25000km, x 2.5 = 60'ish thousand km on the touring 4x4, in the ball park? maybe the suzuki wheel is doing 3xrpm of a touring 4x4 getting 80-120k km out of a set of tyres

[@thomasDLC]

BFG AT's currently on 55,000kms. Tread still good. Hoping to get 70-80,000kms from them

[@vk3fbab]

Should get that easily. I'm getting about 100k

[@outlandyishrig2557]

You have cracked me ! off Maccas for life now ✔ P.S Kluger factory tyres got 75,000 over 5 years, wear markers still in place, changed as did not want the wife killed. insurance policy needs updating......

[@nomyafiftyonefifty8081]

I got 45,000 put of a set of 295/35 21 Davanti 640's ( driven reasonably hard at times) and I reckon I could of got another 15- 20,000 easily if only I had picked up on a wheel alignment issue that wore out one inner edge right on the side wall area.

[@wafive]

That seems pretty low to me, ESC etc might be an issue on wet and or twisty roads, but cant really see it activating much during highway driving. And given the mileage mentioned, I reckon highway driving would be a safe bet.If it was a sport with sticky tyres, that might explain it, but for a run of the mill model, that is dreadful. Mate had an 02 Toyota Echo, can't recall if it had 13s or 14s, but I do recall that he would get one hundred thousand kms out of a set of tyres, They had another 5k in them at that point before they became unroadworthy, but, thats the point he would change them at. Had the car for around three hundred and twenty five thousand kilometres and put three sets of tyres on it. Just on Echo and Yaris, Great little cars if you want something easy on fuel that just keeps going. I was in the dismantling industry and we really only sold accident replacement parts on them, Engines lasted a long time, Manual transmissions were a little weak, Mate sold his car due to the M/T seizing at 325ks, it had been whining since 100ks.. We sold a few gearboxes, but not a whole lot, I can recall a security car owner that came in for an engine as his was still running fine, but he felt that it was good preventative maintenance to replace it, as it had well over one million km on it.... Almost 120Y levels of cockroachness in those little cars... They were built old time Toyota Tough, to my mind, one of the best things Toyota ever made.. (My first rule for a good car, it has to start every morning and bring you home every night, I feel sure others will tell me how wrong I am.... )

[@peter9117]

Golden rule with tyre wear, smaller diameter tyres rotate more often than larger ones so 14 inch tyres won't last as long as the same one in 18 inch. Still, 25000ks is really low unless you're driving under inflated around curvy roads. 40k minimum is expect.

[@edwardt1941]

Yes 25000k on a little car seems poor to me . i have a small Toyota and usually get around 40000k+ out of set of tyres. Maybe the driver just pushes the car hard. maybe accelerates and brakes hard. Under inflation possibly too.

[@kadmow]

who has a 14 inch tyre?? - that would be on ~an 8 inch rim?? - not too many minis running miniature wheel any more- or maybe you drive Cessnas?? (Wheel / rim diameter doesn't have to relate to tyre diameter at all, just brake rotor clearance). take it easy, just making a joke..

[@peter9117]

@@kadmow it's the inner diameter. Check your tyre size on the tyre itself. Most small cars ran 14s until recently.

[@kadmow]

@@peter9117 : Hi Peter, Just doing a p!$$ take on the nomenclature... cheers for deadpanning it. Thanks for clarifying you are talking re. RIM/wheel size... ie. the R Number... (or was it the number following the R?) Some people out there aren't terribly literate (car related), and need things clarified . (Some people also talk TYRE size- ie. 29 inch or thereabouts (for DP Creek one might like to have 35s or 40s except for on regulated roads, Qld especially), this is a number not written on the tyre but derived from a Stanley FatMax - or Lifkin tape measure.

[@gamma-rayburst4271]

I feel like anything under 100000km is low. I got 177609km on my last set. I have 450514km on the odometer and I am on my third set of tyres

[@michaelbamber4887]

Fuck me they must be hard as rock shit handling shite. 18 to 20k miles is about your lot in the uk no matter what tyre you fit. You can get less by using toyos or something else 'sticky' but 100k is for coaches and 44 ton hgvs.

[@TheKnobCalledTone.]

I've been running a couple of Baleno-sized FWD cars for the past 20-odd years, both of which have always been shod with decent brand name tyres (e.g. Bridgestone, Continental etc). Ther worst performing set of tyres lasted about 40,000km. Usually get around 50,000km or so. The secret? Rotating the tyres every 10,000km.

[@steved3702]

Sounds more like it. I've been getting nearly 70,000 km on Bridgestone RE92s on my Magna with very satisfactory all-round performance (great in the wet and a smooth progression between slip and grip if it does happen). The Territory maxes out around 50,000km, but it's not that light.

[@prenticecrerar1441]

Suzuki Vitara has an issue with rear tyres wearing. It's a bent axle issue. Get a four wheel alignment check. My friend did and it was replaced by Suzuki. For goodness sake 20,000km is only 12,500 miles. Should be double that before they need replacing.

[@grahamcampbell9261]

Soft compounds grip better and wear faster. Hard compounds wear better but offer less grip. I've had Yokohamas on an AMG and got 10,000km from them and Firestones that lasted 60,000km on an Econovan. 'Commercial' tyres are harder compounds because small trucks don't need grip as much as a sports car. As you say - try other brands.

[@arcbarba1804]

Hello, Cadogan. Do you have input on rubber grades such as all season vs. performance tires? I have a 2016 Mustang GT Ford Performance Pack 2 with a 6sp manual and 4.09 rear end. When merging onto Donkey Shit Highway from Donkey Shit Street (here is California) in 3rd gear it lights up the tires with between half and 3/4 throttle (I have to go from 25-30mph to 70mph in a short... very short distance). Traction control, being a better driver, takes over and it is smooth sailing after I back out the throttle, it does it's math, and I ease back on the throttle. I currently have NTSSS G2 at 36psi (they reach 38psi on Donkey Shit Hwy travelling at 75mph at 80F). Max press. rating is 40psi with a do not exceed 340kPa 50psi rating for both F and R tires. Treadwear 320 Traction AA Temperature A Tread Plies: 2 steel, 2 poly, 1 nylon Sidewall Plies: 2 poly (sorry, no crackers for poly) Mounted them 3 years ago as of July and have about 15k miles. The latest manufactured tire is the front right (45th week 2018 according to the placard) currently 5.71mm outer, 5.58mm mid, and 5.65mm inner tread. The oldest, coincidently, is also the right side but rear tire made the 44th week of 2018 with 6.67outer, 5.89mm inner, and 6.23 inner tread, rear left is 5.78mm outer, 5.56 mid, and 5.85 inner (may have to add a psi to the rears). Front tires are 255 and rear tires are 295 width. The rubber of these tires feels harder than the Micheline Defender LTX on my other vehicles. They are directional, so I cannot rotate left-right. I will probably get non-directionals next time. Are "performance" tires only good when abused and brought up to a certain operating temp compared to all season rubber which seems softer when cold? I do not track the car. First gear is great for up-hills regardless of grade but the car will happily spin the tires after rolling even in second gear at... say 2500rpm... all the way to one's heart's content... which I do not want because no traction is bad. Note: tires do not smoke or leave skid marks on the road as those that can be found in some people's undies between where their rear cheeks meet. And it does not take much throttle to light them up. The car is generally driven on dry surfaces between 56F and 78F... occasionally up to 85F but rarely. There are guys that say performance tires are always better but I am pretty sure there are operational temperatures that make some rubbers better than other in some condition such as those here on Donkey Shit Road and Donkey Shit Hwy. I am not concerned about Donkey Shit Ave. or Ln. as there is no need do to the 25mph to 45mph speed limit. The issue is entering Donkey Shit Hwy from 25-30mph and matching Hwy speeds in a fairly short distance safely. Regardless of the tread life left above the wear bars (based on wear rate over this time, I will come no where close to these bars), I will be replacing these tires in less than 2 years as they are getting old. Maybe I need to replace the 4.09 rear for a 3.73 to reduce torque load... or should I consider all season tires? I appreciate your input. Cheers, M.A. Barbosa

[@bradlybryant4897]

theres a man who is known as the highway man, grant johns is his name. and he walks around australia and gets 600 to 700 kms out of a brand new pair of denstock boots. hes been walking since 1977.

[@JohnSmith-yv6eq]

My grandmother started walking 5kms a day in 2012. No one knows where she is today.....

[@JasonISF]

Had a rear set of Bridgestone Potenza RE003 on my old Subaru BRZ last about 8000 kms, so they were soft as cheese, although that car was driven hard for most of them.

[@HighTowerAU]

and the re003 is a sport tire... on a rear drive car... dont get a motorbike. you could change a rear tyre as quick as 1500km if you dont know how to ride, and youll wear out the side of a sports tyre before the centre if you do know how to ride... aboht 4,500 on a sport tyre, 12,000 -15000km on a touring tyre. thats for litre sports and sport touring bikes. traction control has definately helped bike tire wear.

[@JasonISF]

@@HighTowerAU lol, the tyres on my previous bikes (Honda CBRs) wore fine even with lots of commuting and gunning from lights, as I would take it in the hills most weekends to 'even it out'. The Michelin sports touring tyres were decent.

[@farnarkleboy]

currently on 50,000kms on RE003's on a Gt-B Liberty ??

[@wdhewson]

Should do a video on tire balance. Balance machines are so high tech now that techs can't use them properly !!

[@mindfreeze0838]

Mr Cadogen, a Baleno isnt that bad, its a honest little hatchback with decent fuel economy. Sure it might not have the cushiest ride as compared to its competitors, but those were much pricier than the Baleno. If you wanted a reasonable hatchback at a reasonable price it was your best bet. I say was because car prices have gone up since then and the one in Australia is long in the tooth and youre not getting the new one with all the new bells and whistles because Suzuki Australia thinks its too poor and shabby for your market(im paraphrasing but when you cut through all the corporate speak thats what it amounts to) . On the tyres, yeah i hope to get that as the brand im using would have to be imported to be replaced at great expense.

[@bme7491]

I typically get 75,000km out of Goodyear Assurance all season tires on my 2002 Toyota Highlander.

[@mickyd2673]

Hi John I drive a 202 Kia Sorrento GTLine. WhenI drive it around 50klm the tyre seem to make a woh woh sound (wop wop Italian style) would this be common or have they a flat spot? Over 50klm they are silent.