Do you wait until 1.6mm to change your tyres?

[r1flyguy1]

As the title suggests

I know OPC's tell you to change your tyres at 3mm but I'm wondering what's the general consensus on changing tyres before or at the limit?

I appreciate the fact that the more tread pattern depth the better the water dispersal pending speed of vehicle & water depth,

But if your tyres are wearing nicely and not significantly uneven, when would you change them?

Cheers.

[Fat Albert]

Not any more, this happened when I Aquaplaned on 2mm of tread (Bridgestone S02s)

[dadofbud]

Point taken, that would focus my attention on tread wear

[mez3]

If you live in a very hot climate then 1.6 wouldn't be a problem, but in the uk I wouldn't want to drive about with fk all tread.

You never know what weather your gonna get here and I like to drive my car in all types.

I think there is nothing bett than driving your car with new tyres on, gives you so much confidence once they are worn in a bit.

[r1flyguy1]

mez3 said:

If you live in a very hot climate then 1.6 wouldn't be a problem, but in the uk I wouldn't want to drive about with fk all tread.

You never know what weather your gonna get here and I like to drive my car in all types.

I think there is nothing bett than driving your car with new tyres on, gives you so much confidence once they are worn in a bit.

I totally agree with you, but don't get the chance to use my car that often and rarely drive it in anger unless its dry,

Like I said, speed, tread depth & standing water are not a good combination as unfortunately demonstrated above,

I have 3mm all round at the mo' and have a 1500 mile road trip!!!!!!!! What to do, what to do????

Make best use of the remaining tread & change when I get back, or go on the trip as is, if they need changing abroad then so be it, or change beforehand?

[johnycarrera]

I change mine when they are approaching 1.6 mm, but I run Cups which don't start with much and I like to get my money's worth

[majordad]

Johnny C thats the problem with cups, you start low and finish low. I make an educated guess then run them as low as possible. Like after not before a road trip. If low, I adjust my driving so as not to end up like the red 944 in the photo !

[Wozy68]

mez3 said:

If you live in a very hot climate then 1.6 wouldn't be a problem, but in the uk I wouldn't want to drive about with fk all tread.

You never know what weather your gonna get here and I like to drive my car in all types.

I think there is nothing bett than driving your car with new tyres on, gives you so much confidence once they are worn in a bit.

I'm the first to admit that tyres have got wider over the years, but I'm sure I remember when tyres were legally allowed down to 1MM. I'm sure it was only because in Europe they had a minimum of 1.6 that we changed.

Personally I change when the tyres wear down to the 3mm markers. Saying that, the worse off so far for me was in the rain in a 964 with new tyres with only 500 miles of wear.

[BertBert]

Wozy68 said:

Personally I change when the tyres wear down to the 3mm markers. Saying that, the worse off so far for me was in the rain in a 964 with new tyres with only 500 miles of wear.

I didn't know tyres had 3mm markers.

[Slaav]

Err - drive to the conditions, your wallet and the weather?

Personally I would decide this based on my wallet!

Rape the 4rse out of the tyres in appropriate conditions but NOT in the torrential rain.... as they get lower, slow down/change them/dry conditions only for spirited driving?

If torrential and I knew I was getting near 1.6mm, I would certainly take a few mph off every journey. If almost new, trust the bu66ers to do the job?

Just my 3.14159key opinion - and shamelessly stolen from elsewhere

[Martian O]

No, 2.5-3mm mimimum.

[Fat Albert]

majordad said:

not to end up like the red 944 in the photo !

<Ahem> 968

[Welshbeef]

r1flyguy1 said:

I totally agree with you, but don't get the chance to use my car that often and rarely drive it in anger unless its dry,

Like I said, speed, tread depth & standing water are not a good combination as unfortunately demonstrated above,

I have 3mm all round at the mo' and have a 1500 mile road trip!!!!!!!! What to do, what to do????

Make best use of the remaining tread & change when I get back, or go on the trip as is, if they need changing abroad then so be it, or change beforehand?

Depends on usually how many miles you get to a tyre? If its 35-40k then I'd do the 1.5k miles
If your burnt out on 6k it would make me think.

Where are you driving is it mainly M ways if so you'll have little to no wear if your doing drifting etc then or track days then

I always change on 3mm - I've seen all the testing of stopping distance and lateral grip from 6mm down to 1.6mm and frankly down to 3mm there isn't too much difference to new but after 3mm it falls off a cliff.

A 3mm of standing water isn't that much but 1.6mm you'd be pretty much gliding on any mildly most surface.

[Geneve]

Martian O said:

No, 2.5-3mm mimimum.

That's about my comfort level - and once the tyres are 3 years old they'd be getting to my personal 'use by date'.

[Welshbeef]

Geneve said:

That's about my comfort level - and once the tyres are 3 years old they'd be getting to my personal 'use by date'.

I guess that only really happens if its a second car as they should wear out long before they perish.

[cslwannabe]

Found the Contisport 3s had lost a lot of grip when they reached 3mm (and I mean grip in the dry as it's a fair weather car) so replaced them with a set of PS2s. Friend recently crashed his Cayman after it aquaplaned on the A1 - tyres were barely legal and the car was already booked in for a new set of tyres the following day...

[cvega]

2mm max for me, then time for new ones

[6C4GTS]

r1flyguy1 said:

I have 3mm all round at the mo' and have a 1500 mile road trip!!!!!!!! What to do, what to do????

Make best use of the remaining tread & change when I get back, or go on the trip as is, if they need changing abroad then so be it, or change beforehand?

Depends on where the trip is and how you are driving.
If its motorway work for 1500 miles then no probs.
If its a hoon for 1500 miles I would seriously consider how much rain will impact on your fun if you are on a good road but tyres you are worried about............

This is a little picture of a euro trip we did last year in late May for the Monaco GP.
Top of the Col de Turini in May - not the place for tyres you are concerned about!

[monthefish]

r1flyguy1 said:

I have 3mm all round at the mo' and have a 1500 mile road trip!!!!!!!! What to do, what to do????

Perfromanmce starts to deteriorate more sharply at around 3mm, so if you're on 3mm, I'd leave them and change when you get back.

(Unless your road trip is likely to be more 'hooning' than 'touring', in which case change now).

[neil-f]

Put on your spare set of wheels & tyres and keep the 3mm tyres for more local running