New Tyres Question?

eamon

Hello Folks

My car needs new tyres. The front ones are currently at the following measurements and are in what could be stated as a Red status

• N/S Inner 3.05, Mid 2.81, Outer 2.59
• O/S Inner 2.80, Mid 2.77, Outer 2.83

Rear Tyres, Amber Status:

• N/S Inner 4.06, Mid 3.57, Outer 3.32
• O/S Inner 4.30, Mid 4.10, Outer 4.05

Current tyres are 215/55R16 97W Extra Load and they are Michelin Primacy 3's. I'll probably be getting a different brand to try and save a little money.



As its now winter and the car is front wheel drive, I need to get the front sorted sooner rather than later. My budget is a little limited and I would prefer to just get the front done this month and the rear in December. Oh I'm aware that the tyre wear is uneven, there isn't anything wrong with the tracking etc I can only put it down to the condition of the roads that I drive on.


My question, is staggering my purchase a sensible thing to do or should I just bite the bullet and change all 4 at the same time.


Look forward to your advice

wgl2014

You still have plenty of legal wear left, you could swop your wheels front to back then change all 4 next year.

gardner1

Not cheap......£100 for premium or £80 for mid range.......if money is tight get front only or change them round and wait till next year

Iceweasel

I don't think you need new tyres at all.

AFAIK Michelin Primacy 3s only have 7.14mm on them when new.

Michelin actually state 9/32" as like many other manufacturers they use North American lingo.

It depends on the brand and the specific tyre of course - but some new tyres come with as little as 6.9mm these days.

I would do as wigl2014 suggests - swap front to rear (preferably diagonally) and forget about it until at least Springtime.

z1a

I'd like to know who's measuring them to .01mm.

JP1978

Most tyre manufacturers and fitters recommend that the tyres with the most tread go on the back of the car for safety reasons.

If your car were to slide, if the rear tyres had less grip (less tread) it would be harder to control a rear end slide than a front for most drivers.

Tyres do become less effective once below 3mm, especially when driving on wet roads - with winter now upon us - personally, I would consider 2 tyres on the back and the tyres on the rear, going in the front now and then as soon as you can afford, replace the older tyres on the front.

I would also get the tracking checked as well but use a smaller indie place, as likely to be cheaper than the big nationwide brands.

As well as checking prices for tyres at Kwik-Fit, consider buying online from black-circles, camskill, pneus online, asdatyres etc and they get delivered either to your door or to one of their approved local fitters. Likes of Kwik-Fit often can match or beat other prices, incl their own web prices if you speak to the staff - just shop around to get the best prices. You may even find some buy 4 get 25% off deals that sweeten the price.

Consider also, that Michelin tyres are expensive as they are top draw - there are plenty of other makes that are still very good but are much cheaper - Hancook, Khumo, Nokian, Toyo - these would be around £60/70 each compared to £115 for Michelin Primacy. Just stay away from the very budget ditch finders. Even continental / Pirelli are often cheaper than Michelin - You could then maybe get 4 tyres now.

missile

I would fit two new tyres to the front.

AdrianC

z1a wrote: »

I'd like to know who's measuring them to .01mm.

Not just me marvelling at that accuracy, then...

Rough guide to what's available...
https://www.camskill.co.uk/m62b0s292p0/
(Filter down to 97XL and W, if you really need that load and speed rating)

Like-for-like Michs are just over a ton a corner, and most premium and semi-premium brands are within a tenner - I'd be going with the Michs. But as you look down the list, the £67 Avons leap out as a bit of a bargain, priced with the Linglongs and similar rubbish.

gardner1

AdrianC wrote: »

Not just me marvelling at that accuracy, then...

Rough guide to what's available...
https://www.camskill.co.uk/m62b0s292p0/
(Filter down to 97XL and W, if you really need that load and speed rating)

Like-for-like Michs are just over a ton a corner, and most premium and semi-premium brands are within a tenner - I'd be going with the Michs. But as you look down the list, the £67 Avons leap out as a bit of a bargain, priced with the Linglongs and similar rubbish.

those prices don't include fitting

Joe_Horner

JP1978 wrote: »

Most tyre manufacturers and fitters recommend that the tyres with the most tread go on the back of the car for safety reasons.

If your car were to slide, if the rear tyres had less grip (less tread) it would be harder to control a rear end slide than a front for most drivers.

Tyres do become less effective once below 3mm

Funny thing that. Everyone likes to stick by the manufacturers' recommendation to fit new tyres to the rear, yet practically no-one takes any notice of Michelin's recommendation to keep using tyres to the legal limit.

Selling fear has a hell of a lot to answer for - including giving tyres classifications like "red" and "amber".....

yellowlawn

And the difference in performance of a budget set to a premium set as demonstrated on tv's Fifth Gear https://youtu.be/e2c9Ry0JfMw