Just got our Honda Civic diesel back from a service and I note in the paperwork that they have measured tread depth on the front tyres as 5mm. Three measurements on each tyre*.

Its good to see them wearing evenly but ……

I only replaced the tyres at Christmas just under 8k miles ago.

They tyres are a decent Michelin Pilot Sport 3’s.

Gauging the wear rate this would equate to about 20k miles of life 😕

We hardly rally the car- we do drive quickly but no quicker or harder than our 206 whose tyres lasted ages and only cost £35 a corner rather than £100!

I am sure this is just one of those things but thought it worth mentioning.

Anyone else experience similar?

* I thought they may have an inaccurate gauge but the measure the rears as 7 & 8mm and they came with the car when we got it 12.5k miles ago

I’d be bloody pleased with 20k. Until the current car 10k or so was as much as I’d get.

I haven’t got to 20k yet 😆

Not sure I could afford to change them more frequently than 20k though!

20k of life? On my Focus I used to have I got 7k max for fronts 😀

20k doesn’t actually sound too bad for fronts on a FWD car. Highly dependant on the tyre compound and to a degree your local road surfaces.

Gauging the wear rate this would equate to about 20k miles of life

Seems nice enough to me, I get around 10-12K from fronts and 20+ on rears of my quick car, and about 20K on fronts of my slow car and 30+ on rears at the moment.

Not sure I could afford to change them more frequently than 20k though!

Not factoring in a pair of tyres every 15-20K miles would seem a mistake when budgeting IME.

Seat Ibiza diesel 130 bhp 230 lbft of torque & Toyo Proxes T1R tyres = 13k miles before they were out on the front.

Seen as I only do ~7k miles a year it’s no biggie to me

I do drive a bit quick sometimes, but no chavvy wheelspins or owt.

I assume the tyre pressures are checked regularly?

Was the Pug a petrol or diesel?

Does the Honda have more power/torque than the Pug?

Same tyres on both cars? tyre compounds can vary, you may have had harder tyres on the (less powerful?) Pug and softer tyres on the (more powerful?) Honda

I had the tracking checked when I had new tyres fitted. MOT 9 months later showed the inside of the fronts had worn right down. £600 for two new tyres. Grrr.

How can you tell if your wheels aren’t correctly aligned other that noticing the tyre wear by which time it is too late?

They wont wear evenly throughout their life and also would have worn quicker through the winter especially with the snow and ice.

I get about 25k miles out of my Mondeo which I didnt think was very good but in comparison to others it seems pretty good. Strengley the rears were more worn that the fronts!

How can you tell if your wheels aren’t correctly aligned other that noticing the tyre wear by which time it is too late?

Almost impossible without your own laser alignment kit. I had 2 people set up my car with full 4 wheel laser alignment kit and both times ended up with unever wear. Problem is there’s no come-back because you could have re-misaligned the setup by hitting potholes or kerbs, and there could be play in your bushes, so it’s a best-guess scenario.

I still don’t understand why people insist on paying for new tyres when you can get part-worns for less than half the price of new ones. I got two top-end tyres for half the price of one budget tyre and with 6mm tread ( thats 3/4 of the tread of a new tyre).
and before anyone talks about safety and all that, all part worns should be tested and you should go to a reputable dealer!

coffeeking – Exactly what Micheldever tyres said when I queried it. Apparently fat front tyres under a heavy V12 make it worse

Part worn tyres jesus whatever next, second hand condoms?

I still don’t understand why people insist on paying for new tyres when you can get part-worns for less than half the price of new ones. I got two top-end tyres for half the price of one budget tyre and with 6mm tread ( thats 3/4 of the tread of a new tyre).
and before anyone talks about safety and all that, all part worns should be tested and you should go to a reputable dealer!

They’re not tested, they’re visually inspected. Which is fair enough, that’s all they get when a puncture gets fixed and more than they get if just left on normally. However I’ve yet to find a place that is reputable and provides the savings you suggest on a decent tyre that I want. I want a specific tyre, I know what tyre I like and how it performs, I can’t get that on demand at a part-worn dealer.

20k miles !!!! are you driving like Miss Marple?

Even on an old 1.4 Rover I never got more than 12k from a front set.

Now with a big high torque diesel I’m getting about 10k from a front set

Now with a big high torque diesel I’m getting about 10k from a front set

😯 I’ve got to really try to get 10K from a set, you must be fun to drive with! 🙂

I must drive like Miss Marple’s more cautious sister. My car has done 80k and has only had 2 changes of tyres on the front and 1 on the back.

I end up having to get new brake discs more often than new tyres

Focus 2.0 tdci. When I bought the car the garage put a cheap pair of tyres on the front (Kumho?). So far done about 15K on them & about 3mm left. Noisy tyres though.

A family member of mine has a 4×4 with big mud tyres that come with about an inch of tread. Seems to get about 80K miles from a set and doesn’t drive slowly either!

@ coffeking – Perhaps I wasn’t clear.

Of course we budgeted for running the car – It was only said tongue in cheek.

Just seems to be part of the course.

Clad we didn’t go for the type R!

I’m baffled then, not sure what the post was about.

Compound can make a huge difference. Our XF 3lt diesel came with pirelli’s when new and barely got 10K miles out of them. Had a look through various owners forums and there was much backlash against them compared the the Dunlop Sports (which were in low supply apparantly) After a bit of a chat with the dealers they did a part exchange to a set of the Dunlops and im just over 20K on them. Swapped front to back at the last service to keep the wear somewhat in check (the rears do wear heavier).

Over the winter had a set of sottozero’s fitted, and in 8k absolutely no discernible wear which I was impressed with.

I do a large portion of motorway though, so no doubt helps with the lack of standing start accelerations etc.

I have a Picasso 2.0 diesel and I used to get about 15k using michelins at the front end at £90 each ( I drive the car as a family car so no heroics in a picasso)
I changed the fronts to Prestivo’s at £50 a boot on the advice of our tyre supplier saying you will not notice the differance and they were right and the same tyres are there 30k later with loads of tread left

Prestivo also have a superb warrentee the wife hit a pot hole and blew out the sidewall in her car 10k+ miles 1/4 life of the tyre used so 75% off the cost of a replacement new tyre which cost us £14

Prestivo’s for me

20k is good average I reckon, it’s what we were getting on the Prius.

Now we’re on scilica compound tyres aka low rolling resistance aka energy saving, and they also last a stupidly long time. 25k on the Prius tyres and about half gone.

coffeeking – Member

I’m baffled then, not sure what the post was about.

To Clarify ……

Yes we budgeted for wear & tear, servicing etc but the post is about wear rates.

I just wanted some feedback on what others experience wear wise.

Until now this isn’t my experience thats all.

Simples.

20k is about right (I have the same car), you can get a bit more out if you rotate the fronts and rears. Mind you, between punctures and kerb sidewall damage (thank you dear) I’ve not actually worn out any tyres yet.

Bear in mind that diesel engines are *heavy* so tyre wear on the fronts will be worse.

coffeeking – Member
I’ve got to really try to get 10K from a set, you must be fun to drive with!

Only on Kumo’s mind Conti’s or Bridgestones were much less 😉

Quote from a friend after I passed him & he tried to stay with me.
“It had to be you I’ve never seen a Mazda6 Estate move that quick!”

Not proud as I was trying to get home quick to rescue a wife trapped on the floor.

Not proud as I was trying to get home quick to rescue a wife trapped on the floor.

😯

About 20k-miles typically. The longest lasting tyres I had were the three sets of conti eco-contact CP which ran on my old Civic. They lasted 40k-miles!

Sorry coffeeking I should explain, she has MS (secondary progressive) and sadly has many falls when her legs give up on her.
Tearful phone-calls from her trying to get up are perhaps not the best thing you want to hear before you rush back from work to help her 🙁

The wear rate over winter would have been substantially higher due to the unusually cold temperatures.

I would have thought them more likely to wear more when warmer (& hence softer?), likewise driving on nice slippy snow reduce the friction & corresponding wear ? 🙂

Dunlop Sports on our old Corolla lasted ages, was very impressed with them, but not cheap though. I had some Continentals fitted to the front of our Galaxy while away on holiday last year, I’d say those will want replacing before the year is out, after about 15k. Its a heavy car though, & we tow with it. My Mondeo seems pretty light on tyres. I go for cheaper brands these days, they wanted £190 each for the original Dunlops on the Galaxy.

Partworns – s long as you buy from a reputable place there is no problem. You don’t immediately change the tyres on a second hand car if they are okay and legal do you? In fact part worns will be safer as they will have been checked!

Winter/summer – yes I would say summer is worse for wear. First hand experience supports this but that is with winter tyres which are softer anyway.

I don’t bother rotating tyres on a FWD car as I would rather just wear out the fronts then put the rears on the front and new ones on the back. That way you are never in the situation of all 4 tyres being under 3-5mm tread and you never have to fork out for 4at once due to wear or ageing.

to the OP – 20k is about right tbh on a diesel FWD. I am guessing they are quite low profile on the Honda which doesnt help. Michelins are normally very good for wear and grip very well through their life so are often worth the expense over cheaper tyres. You can sometimes get them cheaper at Costco if you know someone with a card.

Other tyres to try are Uniroyal and Vredestein – both will wear faster but be cheaper and grip well or Nokians summer range which should have a good balance of grip in changeable conditions, low drag and good wear bt not sure on price. Camskill sell them but you need a friendly local fitter to put them on for you.

Fit new to the back.

Sorry coffeeking I should explain, she has MS (secondary progressive) and sadly has many falls when her legs give up on her.
Tearful phone-calls from her trying to get up are perhaps not the best thing you want to hear before you rush back from work to help her

Ah! I see, how unpleasant for her, and you. Sorry, didn’t mean to pry, was just a tad confused!

Fit new to the back.

I know this is the accepted wisdom, but I couldn’t disagree more with this statement. I want my grip where the braking and turning is done, if the rear lets loose I can handle that and use the front to control it, if the front lets loose I’ve no directional or braking control. (Much as many people prefer a RWD car over a FWD in sketchy situations)

Also agree that uniroyals (rainsport) are a cracking tyre – a bit weary but amazing grip and predictable slip wet and dry.

Nokians summer range

I got four 215/55/R16s for the Passat for £93 each FF from mytyes.co.uk. They are superb tyres – scilica compound for low rolling resistance and long life and they are very quiet.

My Focus has P7s and is going to need new fronts soon.Currently at 3mm and 18k miles.

VW GOlf 1.6, don’t hammer it and currently on 25k miles for the front two with about 1.5mm left before they need changing. Rears are on about 20k with about 4mm left. Bridgestone ER300 I think – will be buying them again!

I would have thought them more likely to wear more when warmer (& hence softer?), likewise driving on nice slippy snow reduce the friction & corresponding wear ?

In a normal winter? Maybe, but in extremis the opposite is true. Below a certain temperature the rubber in the tyres doesn’t activate and simply ablates on the cold road surface. Most tyres are rated for temperatures over 5 degrees, that’s another reason winter tyres are more successful in the cold.

You’re right that the tyre wear would be lower on ice, but the majority of the roads you drove on in winter weren’t ice covered, they were simply cold and wet.

Look at winter tyres, they degrade in the opposite way once the temperature increases above 10 degrees.

Fit new to the back.

I know this is the accepted wisdom, but I couldn’t disagree more with this statement. I want my grip where the braking and turning is done, if the rear lets loose I can handle that and use the front to control it, if the front lets loose I’ve no directional or braking control. (Much as many people prefer a RWD car over a FWD in sketchy situations)

Also agree that uniroyals (rainsport) are a cracking tyre – a bit weary but amazing grip and predictable

but…if you are concerned the tyres you are moving to the front from the back are no good then you shouldnt be using them at all.

And the tyres you previously had on the front must have been dangerous for a while by that logic.

It just doesnt work when you think about it.

New tyres on back. Older on front.

Rear tyres on a FWD car will wear at a very low rate so if you have new 7-8mm all round then when the front at <3mm your rears should still be well over 5mm.

If you wait for rears to wear down to <3mm then they will probably be horribly aged and cracked and unsafe and you will be driving round on <3mm rear tyres for a lot longer waiting for them to wear out.

As for grip of new V old it goes back to the original argument – if a tyre is no good enough to be on the front it should not be on the back. Rear stepping out is FAR more dangerous than understeer so new should go on the back. Your engine sits over the front wheels so they have more potential for grip. If you keep the old ones on the back you will also have a massive difference between old 3mm rears and new 7-8mm fronts making the chance of losing the lighter back end even more likely.

I do know where you are coming from though, seems initially silly to put older tyres on the front but the tyres you move from the back will still have 80% of their life left in most situations as they are only on the back while waiting for the used ones on the front to wear down.

How long your tyres last has lots of variables.

The compound of the tyre, whether you check the tyre pressures, whether you drive locally or motorways, whether your have a heavy engine, whether your car has a good chassis, whether you turn the steering on the spot or only when its moving, how you drive etc etc.

Currently I’m getting about 25k miles out of Pirreli P7’s on the fronts and 40k miles on the rears, but thats driving 100 miles a day up and down a motorway.

If I wasnt doing a silly commute on motorways I would reckon on getting between 10-15k miles around town and country.

I know this is the accepted wisdom, but I couldn’t disagree more with this statement. I want my grip where the braking and turning is done, if the rear lets loose I can handle that and use the front to control it, if the front lets loose I’ve no directional or braking control. (Much as many people prefer a RWD car over a FWD in sketchy situations)

Can’t make my mind up about this.

I think day to day, I’m more likely to need to do an emergency stop than deal with oversteer, but I guess that uncorrected (or tankslapper-style overcorrected) oversteer would be more likely to result a big crash.

Also agree that uniroyals (rainsport) are a cracking tyre – a bit weary but amazing grip and predictable slip wet and dry.

How about ice/snow?