Extraordinary tire wear on 2002 Prizm

Hi,

I only have 25K miles on my '02 Prizm but the front tires are pretty much worn down. I do have a tendency to take corners rather hard but I would expect stock tires to last a litte longer.

Any comments? Is this common?

Thanks,

-hp

Reply to
Harsh Potlapalli
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Not enough info here.

What air pressure do you keep in them? Do you ever check?

Is there any indication of alignment problems (pulls to one side or the other, uneven wear on the tires, etc)?

Did you rotate the tires as often as recommended?

You can take out a tire in 1,000 miles or less if something is out of whack and it can be as simple as the wrong air pressure in the tires.

Reply to
E. Meyer

You provide a big clue:"I do have a tendency to take corners rather hard". If you drive hard, like you say, 25k would probably be what you can expect. If you want to drive like you have a race car, why do it in a Prizm? Not exactly the sportiest of cars.

Reply to
D Lawrence

Approximately 10/10/03 11:43, Harsh Potlapalli uttered for posterity:

Slow down would be too obvious?

Yes, particularly if not properly inflated and rotated regularly. You appear not to have done the rotation properly or you would have 4 worn tires rather than just the fronts.

You think 25K is bad, you should try the gumball soft tires found on exotic cars that are lucky to get half that. I'm lucky to get 25K on a set of the Yokohama high performance tires...they are quite sticky but treadwear is not a feature. All else being equal, a V rated tire won't wear near as long as an S rated one, with H being a halfway decent compromise.

Take a look at the tires to make sure they are worn evenly both around the tire and across the tire. A quick check of suspension.

Then try a longer life tire, you'll want 4 of them since you'll be changing compound style and probably prefer to drive with the front end pointed frontwards. Stick with a good premium steel belted radial such as a Michelin Pilot or Pirelli Scorpion so you don't lose traction to gain tire life.

Reply to
Lon Stowell

Only among people who need viagra or who just drank their first beer.

See

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for any technical service bulletins related to tire wear or bad alignment. Only summaries are available there, but having a TSB number can help you get free service (but they don't guarantee it). Some libraries and parts stores carry Mitchell On-Demand and Alldata, which have the full TSBs.

Tire wear varies considerably with driving style. General Motors found that rear tires driven at a steady 55 MPH in a straight line would often last 100,000 miles, and this was back when radials didn't last as long as they do now. But when they drove a car in a tight figure-8, tires would go bald in just 400 miles.

Any time you get a car, get the alignment checked, and don't accept any uneven tread wear or any tendency to veer to the side (test on a flat, level road that's not busy by removing your hands from the wheel momentarily). Complain early in the case of a new car because most auto makers warrant alignment and similar adjustments for only the first 12 months or 12,000 miles, and a fairly high percentage of cars come from the factory with wrong alignment.

Reply to
do_not_spam_me

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