How long should tyres last??

chocoholic_chick

Oh and if it helps the tyres I bought were Hankook Optimo K415 Reinforced and the cars a vauxhall astra so hardly a off road 4x4 which I could understand!

Sgt_Pepper_2

chocoholic_chick wrote: »

Well got the car back and have read through the service sheet and they have put down that the tread depth is between 3 - 4mm on both tyres.

I also got it slightly wrong, it was both back tyres and 1 front tyre that was replaced last year, so 1 tyre is about 17 months old and the other I have no idea, I can't ever remember replacing it so must be maybe 2 - 3 years old? How they can both have the same tread depth is beyond me! Going to measure them myself as I'm not convinced what they've said is right.

The legal limit is 1.6 so its up to you.

GolfBravo

chocoholic_chick wrote: »

/.../ so I really would have thought the tyres would have lasted longer??

Apart from your driving style and motorway/city ratio the biggest factor is the tyre compound.

Soft compound wears out very quickly but provides good grip in both dry and wet. Hard compound lasts much longer but wet grip is usually sacrificed.

The cost of the tyre has very little to do with how long they are going to last. Before you get a new set of tyres you need to check some professional tyre reviews to get something that suits your driving and your budget - try the German ADAC website, they publish 2-3 extensive tyre test reports which give you longevity data. Needless to say it is all in German (adac.de) so view the website through Google translate.

IMHO the best long lasting tyre is Michelin Primacy HP - they are a premium tyre, but on average you should expect around 30K miles (used to have them some time ago, they lasted around 42K miles). Also Pirelli Cinturato P7 is supposed to last for ages (my current tyre) according to ADAC.

12K miles from Hankooks? Sounds about right - they are very average tyres. There is no standard tyre life expectancy unfortunately, so you really need to do your homework before buying the next set. You may spend £100 extra, but you can get tyres lasting double the distance.

chocoholic_chick

Had a look at those michelin ones and they're only about £5 more than what we paid for the hankook ones so will probably go for those ones when it comes to needing to change them, surprised that for so little extra you get so much more usage

GolfBravo

chocoholic_chick wrote: »

Had a look at those michelin ones and they're only about £5 more than what we paid for the hankook ones so will probably go for those ones when it comes to needing to change them, surprised that for so little extra you get so much more usage

Michelin make some excellent tyres and also some average ones - so make sure that you get the best type/model for your car for a reasonable amount of £££. Primacy are good, Energy are good, Pilot are performance tyres (very soft). You may also find another brand/type that suits your car better.

Check out ADAC reports (English translation here) and compare it to blackcircles.com prices.

Weird_Nev

3-4mm means another 10,000 miles in many cases.
Get a gauge out and measure them yourself. Tyres only come with 8-10mm tread depth in the first place.

photome

Dont let anyone scare you (a lot of that on here) you have a thousands of miles left on those tyres.

We have a set of hankook on one of our cars, they are now down to just under 3mm on the front and we will replace soon but we have had 24000 out of them....ON THE FRONT

I dont actually like the tyres as there is alot of road noise.

On my other car I have had many different types and always get something between 20000 and 30000 out of them doing over 30000 miles a year

GolfBravo

Weird_Nev wrote: »

3-4mm means another 10,000 miles in many cases.

photome wrote: »

Dont let anyone scare you (a lot of that on here) you have a thousands of miles left on those tyres.

I hope you guys are not serious.

You don't change tyres according to car odometer, you change them according to tyre wear marks.

There are small rubber extensions that go across the gap in between sections of tread. If they are getting close to level with the rest of the tread, it’s new tyre time.



If you have any understanding of a tyre tread purpose you don't run them down to 2mm.

vikingaero

German motorists and many of our emergency services routinely change tyres when they reach about 3mm.

andygb

maninthestreet wrote: »

20,000 miles is at the upper limit for tyre-life for the front typres on a FWD car.

How about 40,000 if you treat them gently;)

I am being serious.