6 yrs,102,000 Miles 2006 Outback Michelin Harmonys

[JHZR2]

Ive routinely had >50% of original tread on tires when we got rid of them. Usually age is the determinant, I dont recall a single set of tires Ive actually replaced based upon wear. Extrapolating on a variety of tires, not necessarily 90k mile spec tires, we would achieve similar use, so it is more than doable.

It has a lot on how you drive, how you maintain them, etc.

 

[Hollow]

Nice.

My Outback is wearing Michelin Primacy MXV4. Currently at 55,000 miles on them and have between 6.5/32 and 7.5/32 on them. Not bad for a 60K rated tire. I'll be replacing them due to age at around 70K miles and I expect them to still have 5-6/32 on them at that time.

Will be the first time I've replaced tires due to age and not wear. I'll probably be going with the Altimax RT43 or Nokian Entyre next, as the MXV4 will have been phased out by then and the Premier A/S will have priced itself out of my budget for a 15 year old 150K vehicle with rust issues.

 

[hattaresguy]

I do all city driving, I never even get close to the stated wear on a tire. I'd be happy getting 45k out of those and the outer corners on the fronts would probably be bald.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Ive routinely had >50% of original tread on tires when we got rid of them. Usually age is the determinant, I dont recall a single set of tires Ive actually replaced based upon wear. Extrapolating on a variety of tires, not necessarily 90k mile spec tires, we would achieve similar use, so it is more than doable.

It has a lot on how you drive, how you maintain them, etc.


Agreed. The primary reason for replacing them at this point is age more than wear.

On a side note, I ordered a set of General AltiMAX RT43 for the car today. After a couple of phone calls to local tire retailers, no one could come close to the price that Discount Tire Direct has them for, including a $25 internet discount and $50 rebate. Factoring in both of those I'll have less than $330 in all 4 tires. A neighbor down the road owes me a couple favors (I bush hog his fields a couple times a year) and he owns a tire store. I'll have him put the tires on, and it won't cost me anything.

It will be interesting to see how the General tires hold up compared to the Michelins. They are rated as a 75,000 mile tire, and if they do reasonably well it will probably be the last set of tires I put on the car.

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
It might be time for my lecture on tire wear.

Most tire wear occurs in the cornering mode. The more corners you take, and the more severely you corner, the more rapidly a tire wears. Drive in a straight line and you hardly get any wear at all.

You could think of this as the difference between city driving and country driving - with country driving having lots of miles between turns.

It is not uncommon for people who pull RV trailers to get over 100K in a set of tires - all because the drive long distances on the highway.



Thanks-I have a huge amount of respect for the information you provide and I appreciate your comments.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Originally Posted By: Hollow
and the Premier A/S will have priced itself out of my budget for a 15 year old 150K vehicle with rust issues.


I seriously looked at the Premier, but like you I couldn't justify the cost. My wife's Subaru doesn't have any rust, but it does have 140,000 miles on it and I simply don't see the return on investment.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
It might be time for my lecture on tire wear.

Most tire wear occurs in the cornering mode. The more corners you take, and the more severely you corner, the more rapidly a tire wears. Drive in a straight line and you hardly get any wear at all.

You could think of this as the difference between city driving and country driving - with country driving having lots of miles between turns.

It is not uncommon for people who pull RV trailers to get over 100K in a set of tires - all because the drive long distances on the highway.



While I appreciate the commentary, I do at least 50% city type driving! my wife probably more like 75%, and we both see excellent tread wear. This tells me that the way that a maneuver is executed is more important than the fact that one is making maneuvers and not straight line highway driving.

 

[CharBaby]

I will do a review on our RT43's as I put on more miles. Especially as snow & ice arrives.

As of now, I am liking the RT43's compared to the Good/Year Assurance Comfort Tread's(G/Y ACT's) that were on previously and waaaaaay more that the OE G/Y Integrity's(J'huuuunk). I did like the ACT's very much especially in foul weather. A bit pricy though to be replacing on a 14 year old car. So, this is where the RT43's come in!

I never found the G/Y ACT's to be that much(if at all) better riding(considering their 20% cussion layer) than the OE Integ's. And I've dabbled with PSI!

The RT43's have a better absorption/isolation over broken road/ruts even with higher PSI. And the normal type handling is much crisper...Normal meaning, daily driving, not hard cornering!!!

 

[supton]

I suspect speed as an impact too. I live out in the sticks, and IMO I don't corner hard. My wife certainly does not. Yet my Primacy's did 30k on my Camry. Which according to the dealer was about normal. Which is easily half of what others here get. Likewise, my Jetta has gotten poor tire life, usually 40k although the Nokian enTyre's I just took off did 51k (into wear bars and scary to drive). But my highway cruising is at high speeds (70-80). Slow speed might scrub shoulders but I wonder if every gentle curve you take at highway speeds does just as much damage, albeit across the entire tread face.

I'm curious how my truck will do, as generally try to keep it at 60 for mpg reasons.

 

[eljefino]

I've noticed Subarus like OPs with relatively huge tires, and in 70 series. I'd give this some of the credit as there's just more rubber in every revolution.

I wonder if the AWD has helped, if a lot of wear is from one tire scrubbing itself slightly on a 2wd during medium accelleration and this is negated by assigning the task to more than one tire. One might think that a semi smart center diff would still drag some corners some of the time, but maybe subie is a generation ahead on this tech.

Anyhow, nice job, Pop's wife.

 

[daves87rs]

I've heard nothing but good stories with Harmonys, but then again most of those people do quite a bit of highway driving. Though I think the generals will do the job well for your wife...

I have the older model of the RT43, the plain ol' RTs on my Cavalier. In hindsight with the low milage put on the car, I really could have got a much cheaper tire (with a 40k warranty), but the Generals handle quite well, and grip well in the rain. I was planning on the RT43 for my wife's car, but a cut tire had my picking up what Discount tire had in stock. Her Yokohama Avid Touring S have been great tire, expect that they are S rated (they look flat to me all the time..)

When it's time for the Cobalt to get a set (they too are coming up on time), I will still be looking at the RT43s as well, along with Cooper's C3/C5 tire lines.