Tires wear out faster when new?

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How much slower do you think tires wear out as they age? I've always heard that when tires get old they get harder and as a result wear slower. Anyone have any experience with this?
 
If you want your tires to last as long as possible, check your air pressure weekly and run them at the high side of the recommended range.
 
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As the tire wears more rotations are required for the same distance, but the difference is pretty small.
 
Tread squirm is a thing.

I had a uniroyal tiger paw at 4/32" that I ran and ran and the stupid thing stayed at 4/32" on two different cars!
 
I have been told by my local tire shop (which has about 40 locations) that the tire tread flexes less as the tread wear depth decreases.

So, yes, new tires wear quicker and those with less tread depth left wear slower. This isn't some mystical formula, just common sense...think about it, they're rubber...

And no, I'm not enough of a fanatic to go out there with a tread wear depth gauge every few thousand miles once the tires are half worn out, I'm taking the shop's word for it. You may consider my opinion worth what you've paid for it.
 
Tires wear faster when new because:
1. Rubber durometer increases with age
2. The tread "squirms" less as it wears
3. Tread void area decreases with wear because
- Some sipes are not full depth
- Tread elements wall slope, so their bases have a bigger area
 
Originally Posted By: 2010Civic
How much slower do you think tires wear out as they age? I've always heard that when tires get old they get harder and as a result wear slower. Anyone have any experience with this?


I've noticed it particularly with motorcycle tyres which are softer than car tyres to start with but harden up with age and wear very slowly if an old bike does low annual miles. I've thrown them away through lack of grip long before they were worn out.
 
I had some Michelin X-ice 2s and tried to wear them out one year running them all summer as the tread got down to 4/32". I finally gave up and ordered a new set of X Ice3 as they were too worn for winter but still good for summer.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino

I had a uniroyal tiger paw at 4/32" that I ran and ran and the stupid thing stayed at 4/32" on two different cars!


I had some Bridgestones that did that.

Ran them on a Chrysler 300 for 4 years and 43,000 miles,
then put them on a Dodge Grand caravan for another 4 years.

They still had good tread depth when removed because the sidewalls were all cracked out.
 
The original Michelin XZX on my '75 Civic had plenty of tread left at 70K miles.
However, they got hard and too slippery in the wet.
After a very abrupt and scary spin-out (luckily didn't hit anything) I realized it was time to let them go.
 
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