How long do tyres last?

[CraigyMc]

Herman Toothrot said:

CraigyMc said:

My old elises' first set of tyres were about 6 years old when I got it and they had similar levels of flex to concrete.

C

My god that must have been driven by an old dear or been a weekend only silly low miler. 10,000 miles (admittedly including 4.5 trackdays) so far and 3rd full set of tyres on my VX fronts wore out as quick as the rears.

You're spot on, my man. It was a friend's occasional weekend car, which he decided to get rid of due to lack of use and his decreasing ability to get in and out of it.
It had covered 17,000 miles in the first 8 years of life, and was on set#2 of Pirelli ditchfinders.
In year 9 -when I became the car owner- it did another 17,000 miles.

On the road, my elise managed nearly 10K (rears) on a set of Proxes T1-S (this was a while ago, remember), then subsequently only 4000 miles (rears) on a set of Yoko Advan LTS.
The Advans *were* a lot of fun though...

On the road I hardly wore down the front tyres. I imagine it'd be a little different on a track or airfeld day.

C

[CraigyMc]

sunman said:

fronts generally wear out faster than rears so swapping them round is a good idea after 10,000 miles, you'll get more life out of all.

Only true for fwd cars. It's the opposite on various other things.

sunman said:

If you have worn the fronts but the rears have some life then I'd buy 4 new & just change the fronts; when the rears eventually go put the fronts to the rear and put the other 2 new one's on the front, you'll get good use & wear from all.

Yerp. If your car happens to have the same sized wheels/tyres front and back...

sunman said:

AND, check the pressures every month, very few people do, they'll last much longer.

I check mine a lot more often than that..

C

[A.J.M]

I had 2 original tyres on my 04 freeby, they got to 50k before i changed them.

They were also made in 2003 so had sat about for a while before being fitted in the factory to my car.

Replaced all 4 as the backs were a budget tyre and werent mud+snow rated.

Handling is much better and it no longer slides on wet corners.

[Kentish]

The tyres on my MGB were around 15 years old, they passed the MOT and they had some minor cracking.

I replaced the wire wheels with new ones and the tyres too.

[Don Veloci]

Mmm never really thought about the facts and thought brought up. Just replace 4 tyres of which the rears were just over 35,000 miles originals. Fronts propbably 25% of that, which is no surprise for me and FWD.

[GavinPearson]

Tyres will last anything from 30 miles of abuse on the Dunlop circuit at MIRA to 100,000 miles in the hands of a very careful driver.

In the OP's case 30,000 to 40,000 is not unreasonable.

When tyres get old they do craze, but fortunately in the UK you have the MOT test to check for that.

Aged tyres are a problem in hot climates with no inspections required - e.g. much of the USA.

[RobM77]

CraigyMc said:

Herman Toothrot said:

CraigyMc said:

My old elises' first set of tyres were about 6 years old when I got it and they had similar levels of flex to concrete.

C

My god that must have been driven by an old dear or been a weekend only silly low miler. 10,000 miles (admittedly including 4.5 trackdays) so far and 3rd full set of tyres on my VX fronts wore out as quick as the rears.

You're spot on, my man. It was a friend's occasional weekend car, which he decided to get rid of due to lack of use and his decreasing ability to get in and out of it.
It had covered 17,000 miles in the first 8 years of life, and was on set#2 of Pirelli ditchfinders.
In year 9 -when I became the car owner- it did another 17,000 miles.

On the road, my elise managed nearly 10K (rears) on a set of Proxes T1-S (this was a while ago, remember), then subsequently only 4000 miles (rears) on a set of Yoko Advan LTS.
The Advans *were* a lot of fun though...

On the road I hardly wore down the front tyres. I imagine it'd be a little different on a track or airfeld day.

C

On a car like the Elise that isn't inherently balanced front to rear it needs a committed turn in to get the thing balanced to the point where tyre wear will even out, which isn't going to happen on the road most of the time.

Regarding the time spent on tyres, 6 years doesn't surprise me at all. My car went for 6 years and 30,000 miles on the tyres it left the factory on. That includes two Nurburgring trips, one UK trackday and commuting on a twisty B road. I don't exactly hang around (I've raced for ten years in cars faster than the Elise, so when I'm on track in the Elise I comfortably drive at racing speed in all but the braking). Driving style has a lot to do with it (I'm not really into sideways, I get more enjoyment through driving as you would in a racing car), as does tyre compound. The tyres my Elise was fitted with as standard seemed harder than the present Yokos fitted to Elises as standard, and as such they would last longer. I think (correct me if I'm wrong) rubber goes a bit hard with time anyway, and wear per mile will eventually tail off.

[Mr Whippy]

Softer tyres will wear quickly. I'm surprised people get 25k/5yrs from tyres. If they do, is paying for a full set of lovely new safe tyres a bad thing? I can't believe people think new tyres ever 5 yrs is anything but investing in your own safety!


Dave

[RobM77]

Mr Whippy said:

Softer tyres will wear quickly. I'm surprised people get 25k/5yrs from tyres. If they do, is paying for a full set of lovely new safe tyres a bad thing? I can't believe people think new tyres ever 5 yrs is anything but investing in your own safety!


Dave

This is why I got new ones eventually. My Elise tyres had about 5mm of tread left on them after 6 years, 30k miles and two ring trips. However, I sought advice from a couple of knowledgeable people with no financial interest in selling me tyres and decided to replace them for safety (and enjoyment!) reasons.

[monthefish]

Poll on Tyre life expectancy