Quote:
"we recommend customers don't go into the winter season with less than 4/32" tread depth."
I would actually suggest you change that to MINIMUM 6/32". From what I have read on Tire Rack, various government reports, and private institutions,
4/32" is the minimal required in wet weather, and its still marginal. Also,
6/32" is the minimum needed to be suitable for winter/slush driving.
I am sure people are stingy when it comes to tires regardless of what they drive. I have a friend who paid top $$ for an Infiniti I30 and wants to spend $200 Canadian on 4 tires. I know of another person who spent over $100K on a Mercedes and wants to spend the absolute minimum on tires.
People should keep in mind that all that keeps the car planted to the road are 4 rubber contact spots and there really should be no corner cutting when it comes to replacement tires. You can have the best and most advanced safety features on the car but they are meaningless if your tires do not offer adequate grip and handling. Frankly, having a good set of tires on a car can help you to avoid using all those advanced features. Heck, its nice to know I have side curtain air bags and things but I sure as hell don't ever want to be in a situation where they go off (i.e. never in a car accident).
My advice has always been to replace tires if the tread depth is at 6/32" or lower if you drive more then the avg. person (24,000 KM/year) and its the start of winter. In Toronto and the GTA, we tend to get decent snowfalls.
Also, I suggest that you buy the best rated tire that you can afford and not choose on brand alone. A Michelin X One is not the same as the MX4, the Harmony, or the Energy LX4. Each of these tires have different levels of wet/dry/snow traction and comfort levels.
Of course, these are my opinions and others will agree or disagree to this.
most tire manufacturers recommend rotating tires every 5k or 6k. here at
> the lexus dealership, we rotate tires every 5k. why is this important?
> front and rear tires wear in different ways. rotating the tires
> regularly keeps the wear on the tires even, so they'll last longer. >
> ie> this guy i just put new tires on for, a 2001 SC400, the rear tires
> were going mickey thompson (slicks) and the front tires were worn
> heavily on the shoulders, but barely any wear in the middle of the
> tread. the car only has 32k on it. this is an extreme case of abuse, as
> the tires were running very low pressure inthe front on low profile
> tires. had the tires been rotated regularly i would expect the tires to
> have gone another 20k.
>
> ie> another customer with an RX300, 65k, finally had to have new tires
> put on. regular tire rotation, (with each 5k svc) led to an even wear
> pattern on all four tires. here in the northeast though, we recommend
> customers don't go into the winter season with less than 4/32" tread
> depth. the OE tires on this RX300 were and even 3/32" all around. had
> this been a california car, we could have probably let this go another > 15 or 20k
>
> --
> Ben Jerew
> ASE Master Technician
> New Country Lexus of Latham, NY
> Amateur Off-Roader
>