I'm willing to bet, most never think of checking the tire pressure. Or don't think of running them 2-3 pds higher then what it says in the car door sticker. The tires that came on your car 10 years ago are probably not even made anymore. And whats available today are way better, and will last longer at higher pressure. I can't remember having a tire that needed to be changed due to it being bald. Road hazzard's will ruin a tire, but mine usually get changed out due to age. Towing will eat tires, and buying the cheapest tire you can find won't help them last.,,
Why do some cars just "eat" tires?
- Thread starter Rust_Belt_Pete
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Patman
Staff member
I don’t necessarily believe that higher pressure is necessary to make tires last longer. I have always run the specified 30 PSI cold on my Corvette and got 66k from the original back tires. I run the specified 32 in my Civic and got 63k out of its last set of tires with tread left to spare too.
It’s having them under inflated that will wear them out sooner but in my almost 40 years of driving I have had great tire life from using the manufacturers recommended pressure. The only deviation is that in the last couple of years I have started running my Civic’s tires a couple of pounds higher in the winter months (to make up for the fact that the tires won’t heat up as much in the cold)
We bought an off-lease X3 in 2005; it needed rear brakes shortly afterwards. When it needed rear brakes again the pads had lasted over twice a long. I asked my service advisor if BMW had changed pad compound and he told me no- but that I would not believe how many drivers treat the brake pedal like an on-off switch. I’ve also noticed similar issues when instructing at HPDEs. I’ve lost count of how many times I have had to tell students to squeeze on the throttle or brakes.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
Sienna 2nd generation was running on 235/60 R17 or 235/55 R18. The trick was in the pressure. Bumping the pressure to 42psi resolves the problem.
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The number one cause of fast tire wear outside of a maintenance or crazy driving is driving hard on wet roads. Wet tires, cut like butter. When the roads are wet, your tires are getting chewed up. Baby your car in the wet. Try piece of dry sandpaper on your tire and then wet the paper and try it. That is what is happening to your tires every time it rains.
Now THAT'S a symptom!
As did my sister's. She'd have the tires flipped too.
What year did Ford retire that Twin I-Beam Suspension?
I've noticed rear pads wearing faster since the advent of electronic traction control, adaptive cruise control etc which can cause the car to apply the rear brakes even if you don't touch the brake pedal. The frequency and severity of those interventions will depend on the driving style. Presumably there is a knock on effect of increased tyre wear as well.
Yea, that was a major downside to the suspension, along with a lot of alignment shops claiming they knew how to "align to fix the problem." Total nonsense imo. They did away with it in 97 I think. The King Pins last that I'll say, aside from that I have nothing good to say about the suspension other than it being a stout tire eater. LOL
I can see how you get long life out of the rears on a Corvette. The car is light to begin with, plus all the real weight is over the front tires. I personally haven't seen a tire rated at 30 psi in over 50 years. With car makers trying to squeeze the most mileage they can out of cars these, I'm surprised they don't recommend 50 psi tires.,,
In wet weather I don’t drive my car like I stole it, but I do drive it like I didn’t have permission to borrow it.
. Louder too .
You may have heard Teslas are pretty piggy. They may not feel like it, but our M3P is a slim 4,000 lbs...
When the time comes, I will not use Summer tires; I will probably get the wonderful Michelin PSAS4 rubber.
So much for savings on gas and the environment .
I bought mine primarily for business tax reasons.
As for tires wearing quickly, none of our sports cars or motorcycles get many miles out of tires either. If you want to play you have to pay. At least the Tesla's tires can be expensed through my business.
Weight distribution .
Patman
Staff member
I can believe that because I notice a significant difference in my fuel economy when driving in heavy rain vs dry roads, probably a good 5% loss at least due to the extra rolling resistance
Proper alignment and tire pressure are key. Then it’s up to the driver…..gentle acceleration and gentle braking.
I remember taking a 2007 Alpina B7 to Motorsport Ranch for an HPDE. That car was big and heavy but it was also fast. After two instructor sessions the Michelin man on the front sidewalls had a flat top- and that was with the front tires inflated to near their maximum pressure.
