My Michelin Energy tyres have now 4.5 years and are showing signals of oldiness:
- Pieced of rubber have come out.
- Can see hundreds of tiny scratches all over the tyre.
I've only noticed this last month. Do you think I should change tyres or it should be safe?
When to replace old tyres?
Moderator: RichardW
Really you should change them but if it's just around town you use it I wouldn't worry. They are most likely to go when they get hot on a long high speed journey as the rubber is cracking and breaking down.
And obviously their gripping ability and comfort will be compromised as the rubber hardens with age.
Basically when you have some spare cash replace them but no real urgency.
Partworns are cheap to buy!
And obviously their gripping ability and comfort will be compromised as the rubber hardens with age.
Basically when you have some spare cash replace them but no real urgency.
Partworns are cheap to buy!
No I disagree
The place I get partworns from are sourced from the companies that service fleet cars where tyres are changed regardless of wear at spacified service intervals.
Plus you can tell by visually inspecting a tyre if it is OK.
I have used partworns on the second car for 15 odd years with no problems and complete satisfaction. Plus several hundred pounds wealthier. Only the Sud gets new rubber!
The place I get partworns from are sourced from the companies that service fleet cars where tyres are changed regardless of wear at spacified service intervals.
Plus you can tell by visually inspecting a tyre if it is OK.
I have used partworns on the second car for 15 odd years with no problems and complete satisfaction. Plus several hundred pounds wealthier. Only the Sud gets new rubber!
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Homer
- Posts: 1503
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C5 X7 2.0 HDi 160 which put me off French cars possibly forever - x 16
I used to use part-worn tyres until I decided to be scientific about it. I knew roughly how long the last few sets of part worns had lasted and I had done some overtime and was feeling flush so I splashed out on a set of new ones.
New tyres lasted on five times as long and cost four times as much. So unless I'm about to get rid of a car I'll always put new ones on.
In reply to the original question. How did you manage to make a set of tyres last 4.5 years, I can't get two years out of a set of rears.
New tyres lasted on five times as long and cost four times as much. So unless I'm about to get rid of a car I'll always put new ones on.
In reply to the original question. How did you manage to make a set of tyres last 4.5 years, I can't get two years out of a set of rears.
You cannot tell by visual inspection if a tyre is damaged, the only foolproof way is to Xray them to check the sidewall cross bracing as that takes the most punishment. Even tyre inflation may not conclusively indicate any damage. Any broken steel wire will, during use, 'worry' a hole in the rubber to the point of failure and the first thing most driver would do in the event of a blow out,- apply the brakes, which is entirely the wrong thing to do. That for sure will bring the tyre of its rim and now you are a passenger. I witnessed a front tyre blow out on a pug 306 and he went from hitting the central reservation armco to resting on the slip road armco having completed several 360° and yes I went round the car and checked the tyre manufacturer - Michelin. I leart my lesson from that no remoulds and no part worns the big tyre retailers own brand tyres are cheap enough and usually made by a known manufacturer. Sorry to sound alarmist but a tyre is one of the hardest worked components on a car and most people wash their car more times than they check their tyres.
http://www.mytyres.co.uk/start.html have Goodyear Venturas for £39.99 all in inclusive and free delivery. A very good price for an A1 tyre.
Our 'family heirloom' BX (bought new by my grandad in 1983, then subsequently inherited by me, followed by various other members of the family) suffered a bad age-related tyre failure. It covered so little mileage that at 11 years old with 25k on the clock it still had the original 'Michelin X' tyres on the back.
At that stage in its life it spent most of the time locked in the garage, only being moved every few months. I borrowed it to go to a job interview as my own car was playing up. On the way back a strange vibration started, which got steadily worse. It developed into a regular thud-thud-thud feeling at which point I got out to check the tyres, assuming one was flat. They are looked fine, and I could see nothing else wrong I drove very slowly home.
When I looked at the tyres again I could see little bits of metal sticking out of one, so I thought I must have run over some debris and it had got stuck in the tyre. It was only when pulled one of the bits of metal with pliers and about 2 feet of metal wire slowly pulled out of the tyre that I realised what had happened. It was one of the steel strengthening bands that had disintegrated and come through the tread of the tyre. There were about 6 others sticking out too, and the tyre had changed from being round, to being slightly egg shaped!
Another 5 or 10 miles and it would probably have burst.
I've always been paranoid about tyres since then !
Nick
At that stage in its life it spent most of the time locked in the garage, only being moved every few months. I borrowed it to go to a job interview as my own car was playing up. On the way back a strange vibration started, which got steadily worse. It developed into a regular thud-thud-thud feeling at which point I got out to check the tyres, assuming one was flat. They are looked fine, and I could see nothing else wrong I drove very slowly home.
When I looked at the tyres again I could see little bits of metal sticking out of one, so I thought I must have run over some debris and it had got stuck in the tyre. It was only when pulled one of the bits of metal with pliers and about 2 feet of metal wire slowly pulled out of the tyre that I realised what had happened. It was one of the steel strengthening bands that had disintegrated and come through the tread of the tyre. There were about 6 others sticking out too, and the tyre had changed from being round, to being slightly egg shaped!
Another 5 or 10 miles and it would probably have burst.
I've always been paranoid about tyres since then !
Nick
The pug was about 9 months old and all the tyres were the same tread pattern so one presumes original fit tyres. The point about Michelin is they complete more tyre tests than other manufactures and therefore have a greater product knowledge and experence. One thing that really impressed me years ago about Michelin tyres was how few wheel balance weights they needed, this indicated to me how well they controlled there manufacturing process. Other major brands by comparison required many large weights per wheel and its only been in recent years that the other tyre manufacturers have caught up.
A pair of top brand tyres, say £60 each lasting 30,000 miles = £0.0033 per mile. e.g. Michelin
A pair of branded tyres, say £40 each lasting 25,000 miles = £0.0032 per mile. e.g. Vredestein
A pair of budget tyres, say £30 each lasting 20,000 miles = £0.0030 per mile e.g. Tigar
A pair of decent "part worns", say £20 each lasting 15,000 miles = £0.0026 pence per mile.
Although part worns are the cheapest in absolute terms, what price your time in getting them changed twice as often; what price in running on tyres with less tread than new tyres would have; what price peace of mind compared to buying a tyre with an unkmown history etc etc.
Between the dearest and the cheapest per mile tyres, you have to drive over 1400 miles to save a quid. That's before taking better fuel ecomomy with new model tyres into account.
Is it worth compromising on tyres?
A pair of branded tyres, say £40 each lasting 25,000 miles = £0.0032 per mile. e.g. Vredestein
A pair of budget tyres, say £30 each lasting 20,000 miles = £0.0030 per mile e.g. Tigar
A pair of decent "part worns", say £20 each lasting 15,000 miles = £0.0026 pence per mile.
Although part worns are the cheapest in absolute terms, what price your time in getting them changed twice as often; what price in running on tyres with less tread than new tyres would have; what price peace of mind compared to buying a tyre with an unkmown history etc etc.
Between the dearest and the cheapest per mile tyres, you have to drive over 1400 miles to save a quid. That's before taking better fuel ecomomy with new model tyres into account.
Is it worth compromising on tyres?
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martyhopkirk
The difference would be the rolling resistance of the tyre.The speedo would under/over read.Check out http://www.tyresave.co.uk/tyresize.html
I recently upgraded my 185/65/15`s to 205/60/15`s,with a rolling resistance difference of 0.97%.Speedo proberly about 1 mph out.But the higher the difference,the more the speedo would read untrue,sometimes upto 10mph.Check out the calculator above & have a play around with the sizes.
I recently upgraded my 185/65/15`s to 205/60/15`s,with a rolling resistance difference of 0.97%.Speedo proberly about 1 mph out.But the higher the difference,the more the speedo would read untrue,sometimes upto 10mph.Check out the calculator above & have a play around with the sizes.
1st point - speedo's are never accurate in the first place and generally overead by several mph at 70. Regulations require only 10 % accuracy anyway (if I recall correctly)
2nd point - you need to work out the circumfrence of the tyre to see what the difference will be. basic formula of 2 pi D will apply - (ie twice the diameter times pi or if you haven't got it on your calculator - 22/7 is nearly the same.) Dont measure the diameter - calculate it - you know the wheel diameter - (15 inches) and the tyre wall is a percentage of the tread width. - so tread width 195 mm - wall height is 65% of this. Remember there are 2 walls and to be consistent in the units (ie convert metric to imperial - divide by 25.4)or vice versa if you prefer kilometers.
jeremy
2nd point - you need to work out the circumfrence of the tyre to see what the difference will be. basic formula of 2 pi D will apply - (ie twice the diameter times pi or if you haven't got it on your calculator - 22/7 is nearly the same.) Dont measure the diameter - calculate it - you know the wheel diameter - (15 inches) and the tyre wall is a percentage of the tread width. - so tread width 195 mm - wall height is 65% of this. Remember there are 2 walls and to be consistent in the units (ie convert metric to imperial - divide by 25.4)or vice versa if you prefer kilometers.
jeremy