How long before new tyres reach optimum grip?

How long before new tyres reach optimum grip?

Author
Discussion

GreenArrow

Original Poster:

3,587 posts

117 months

Saturday 24th January 2015
quotequote all
I put some Goodyear Efficient Grip Performance tyres on my Mazda 6 at the start of the year. 500+ miles later and a little incident tonight where car started to push wide beyond the tyres grip at a not ridiculous speed makes me think they still aren't gripping to the max yet. I appreciate it was only a couple of degrees out there but the car Never understeered on the old Bridgestone in the dry. Just how long does it take to wear in tyres these days?

Garvin

5,171 posts

177 months

Saturday 24th January 2015
quotequote all
500 miles is plenty. A couple of hundred is normally sufficient. Are you sure it just wasn't the road surface?

zeduffman

4,055 posts

151 months

Saturday 24th January 2015
quotequote all
They would be worn in by now. You've bought tyres designed for people who are more concerned about mpg and wear rates rather than outright grip.

KungFuPanda

4,332 posts

170 months

Saturday 24th January 2015
quotequote all
Sounds like they've been a little too efficient on the grip.

BritishRacinGrin

24,690 posts

160 months

Sunday 25th January 2015
quotequote all
I have the same tyres, they had incredible grip from the moment I fitted them. Running in tyres is a myth, simply not necessary these days. As you say OP it's cold and there could've been salt etc on the road.

TobyLaRohne

5,713 posts

206 months

Sunday 25th January 2015
quotequote all
BritishRacinGrin said:
Running in tyres is a myth, simply not necessary these days. As you say OP it's cold and there could've been salt etc on the road.
Stop talking bks, it isn't a myth.

Whether running in a tyre is necessary totally depends on the tyre you're talking about.

When MOST tyres are cast in the factory, the mould is coated with a greasy releasing agent to help the tyre separate from the mould, this releasing agent is what you need to scrub off before the tyre will grip as designed. Some tyres dont use releasing agents like the Michelin Pilot Super Sports, MOST do. It totally depends on the specific tyre. Saying it is simply not necessary these days is incorrect.

BritishRacinGrin

24,690 posts

160 months

Sunday 25th January 2015
quotequote all
You can disagree without getting all 'bks and CAPSLOCK' about it.

I'm aware of release agents, but the idea that they're still on there after 500+ miles is ridiculous. Realistically, the release agent is gone long before you get home from the tyre shop. I've started wet races on brand new road tyres and by the time the car has been driven to the grid and around the green flag lap, the tyres are gripping optimally.

TobyLaRohne

5,713 posts

206 months

Sunday 25th January 2015
quotequote all
BritishRacinGrin said:
You can disagree without getting all 'bks and CAPSLOCK' about it.

I'm aware of release agents, but the idea that they're still on there after 500+ miles is ridiculous. Realistically, the release agent is gone long before you get home from the tyre shop. I've started wet races on brand new road tyres and by the time the car has been driven to the grid and around the green flag lap, the tyres are gripping optimally.
True, after 500miles it is rediculous, however you made a blanket statement saying its a myth and isnt it isnt necessary nowadays...which is bks, as I pointed out hehe

Nedzilla

2,439 posts

174 months

Sunday 25th January 2015
quotequote all
Cold Tarmac,tyres and grit all over the place certainly won't help. Also it's not uncommon for old worn tyres to perform better in dry conditions than brand new ones.

Oilchange

8,460 posts

260 months

Sunday 25th January 2015
quotequote all
Just leave long No11 when you pull out of the tyre fitters, that should sort it...
wink

Claudia Skies

1,098 posts

116 months

Sunday 25th January 2015
quotequote all
BritishRacinGrin said:
I have the same tyres, they had incredible grip from the moment I fitted them. Running in tyres is a myth, simply not necessary these days. As you say OP it's cold and there could've been salt etc on the road.
Totally agree. Where do these silly internet myths come from?

There is some tiny room for discussion about releasing agent from the factory tyre moulds but that would be gone in a couple of miles.

Scuffers

20,887 posts

274 months

Sunday 25th January 2015
quotequote all
Claudia Skies said:
BritishRacinGrin said:
I have the same tyres, they had incredible grip from the moment I fitted them. Running in tyres is a myth, simply not necessary these days. As you say OP it's cold and there could've been salt etc on the road.
Totally agree. Where do these silly internet myths come from?

There is some tiny room for discussion about releasing agent from the factory tyre moulds but that would be gone in a couple of miles.
kind of depends on the tyre and the car..

that said, it's a handful of miles, not 500+

Matthen

1,292 posts

151 months

Sunday 25th January 2015
quotequote all
I've got a couple on the back of the Focus - seem good all round tyres.

It was cold yesterday though, and they are summer tyres. That combined with Grit (or ice) and a st road surface could well have put them out there comfort zone.

BritishRacinGrin

24,690 posts

160 months

Sunday 25th January 2015
quotequote all
TobyLaRohne said:
True, after 500miles it is rediculous, however you made a blanket statement saying its a myth and isnt it isnt necessary nowadays...which is bks, as I pointed out hehe
In this thread it has been suggested that new tyres need running in for 'a couple of hundred miles' and that new tyres are exibiting a lack of grip due to release compound after more than five hundred miles. This is a myth. Unless you drive everywhere at eight tenths on the old tyres, you'll be able to drive on new tyres in exactly the same way as you drove on the old ones.

Nedzilla said:
Cold Tarmac,tyres and grit all over the place certainly won't help. Also it's not uncommon for old worn tyres to perform better in dry conditions than brand new ones.
This is the other thing. These Goodyears have replaced a tyre with a stiffer construction and probably less than 3mm tread remaining. The new tyres have a very flexible construction and 7mm tread- the tread surface is going to move about more relative to the wheel and this can feel like understeer.

Claudia Skies

1,098 posts

116 months

Sunday 25th January 2015
quotequote all
Also it's fashionable for anyone who goes off the road in their high power RWD car to claim there was "diesel spill". Far more likely, their excellent modern tyres finally ran out of grip.

PhillipM

6,518 posts

189 months

Sunday 25th January 2015
quotequote all
A few dozen miles to scrub off any release agents and square the tyres up to your cars particular geometery, couple of heat cycles on some of the softer compound tyres tends to stiffen them up somewhat, but after 500 miles you should be well past that.

GreenArrow

Original Poster:

3,587 posts

117 months

Sunday 25th January 2015
quotequote all
BritishRacinGrin said:
TobyLaRohne said:
True, after 500miles it is rediculous, however you made a blanket statement saying its a myth and isnt it isnt necessary nowadays...which is bks, as I pointed out hehe
In this thread it has been suggested that new tyres need running in for 'a couple of hundred miles' and that new tyres are exibiting a lack of grip due to release compound after more than five hundred miles. This is a myth. Unless you drive everywhere at eight tenths on the old tyres, you'll be able to drive on new tyres in exactly the same way as you drove on the old ones.

Nedzilla said:
Cold Tarmac,tyres and grit all over the place certainly won't help. Also it's not uncommon for old worn tyres to perform better in dry conditions than brand new ones.
This is the other thing. These Goodyears have replaced a tyre with a stiffer construction and probably less than 3mm tread remaining. The new tyres have a very flexible construction and 7mm tread- the tread surface is going to move about more relative to the wheel and this can feel like understeer.
Good points, thanks. Also I might get an alignment check. I've had a new dynamio damper fitted to the nearside front after the old one wore out which has slightly changed the balance of the car (for the better) and I wondered if perhaps the alignment might be out slightly now.

BritishRacinGrin

24,690 posts

160 months

Sunday 25th January 2015
quotequote all
GreenArrow said:
Good points, thanks.
Not at all It's all bks wink

Alignment checks are always worthwhile if you have any doubts. Check the tyre pressures too- and maybe experiment with going two or three pound higher on the pressures if you can't get on with the 'stodgy' feeling that you get from these floppy Eco tyres.

TobyLaRohne

5,713 posts

206 months

Sunday 25th January 2015
quotequote all
BritishRacinGrin said:
In this thread it has been suggested that new tyres need running in for 'a couple of hundred miles' .....
Not by you and thats not what you said, YOU said it was a myth outright and that you dont need to do it nowadays, you did NOT say as you are trying to assert, that after 500 miles you said you wouldnt need to worry about it...

(bait set...waits for a nibble) hehe

George111

6,930 posts

251 months

Sunday 25th January 2015
quotequote all
BritishRacinGrin said:
I have the same tyres, they had incredible grip from the moment I fitted them. Running in tyres is a myth, simply not necessary these days. As you say OP it's cold and there could've been salt etc on the road.
True, tyres need nothing these days, if they ever did. Just drive and enjoy smile