It's time for one of my stories:
At one point in time, I was a technical liaison to Ford for a major tire manufacturer. As part of the process of qualifying a tire, a 3700 mile wear test was required (there were other tests, too, but this one was interesting.)
The test consisted of a pair of vehicles (candidate tires on one, controls on the other) and setting the alignment to the specification limits, then running the vehicles on a simulated city course set up at a specific location. Lots and lots of turns on an abandoned concrete runway.
That test was very severe and there were several times we had control tires that wore down to the wear bars in spots. Needless to say, these "control" tires were existing tires that had known wear issues and Ford was trying to avoid similar issues.
Shortly thereafter, I conducted a field test on some of the tires that had "passed" this 3700 mile test. One set was put on a vehicle that ran between St. Louis and Kansas City. That set got over 100K.
So, yes, without a doubt, THEE biggest factor in tire wear is how many turns a vehicle makes compared to how many miles it travels.
Is there a difference between tires? Of course.
Is there a difference if you drive hard? Yes, "spirited" driving wears tires quicker.
Is alignment an issue? Yes, toe-in plays a role here.
What about inflation pressure? Yep, that, too!
But the folks who get the most mileage are those that drive in a straight line. Not much you can do if your commute doesn't allow that.
