How many miles did you get out of your OEM tires?

They're only legal from October 1 to April 30 in BC, which makes less sense than year-round in my opinion, because as we know, you can run into snow in the mountain passes any time of the year.

Alberta has no restrictions at all, because we don't like being told how to live around here.

 

You should think about replacing a tire when any of your tire wear indicator bars (located within the grooves of the tread) is even with the tread - or even before this happens if you drive in wet/winter conditions. The picture below is of my Yokohama Avid at 72k miles right before replacement due to a planned Lake Tahoe ski trip (I wasn't planning on taking these tires to the snow!). If it were summertime, I'd likely would have rolled another 5k miles on the tire. In the picture below, I've circled the tire wear indicator bars (which can be located by finding the arrows on the sidewall of the tires).

 

There's no special point where the tire suddenly becomes unsafe, but as it approaches the wear-indicators, the tire's effectiveness on water, mud, snow or ice is reduced. Some people keep driving until the grooves disappear, and some get new tires every time they change between summer and winter tires. It's all about acceptable risk.

 

OP: my car's tyres do not help you decide about your car's tyres. Different tyres, different roads, different climate, different drivers.

Use the penny test, look for the "time to replace markers on the tyres," and give a close look at each tyre for cracking and/or uneven wear.

It also helps to ask the guy who recommended replacement why, and to show you what s/he sees. Then you be the judge whether the advice is reasonable. The mileage rating is useful for possible warranty replacement but should not be the reason to replace per se.

 

And by the way, if you want your tyres to last as long as possible for you, some advice:

1. Keep inflated to sidewall max psi
2. Check pressure about monthly. I use a bicycle pump for top-offs. Very easy, and no cost
3. Do not drive aggressively. Mostly that means minimize brake use and do not squeal around corners. It also means trying to stay out of potholes

 

Driving on dirt-roads can help too.

 

Agree.

I think people vastly underestimate how much quick acceleration or deceleration affects tire wear.

 

I found that to be a mixed blessing. The only tyre puncture we have had in recent memory was from a sharp rock on a dirt road. Rather like an arrowhead

 

Gravel roads are sometimes called dirt roads around here too. I got 3 flats in 2 days driving on gravel roads, but I suspect some kids were playing games with us by putting nails on the road.

 

Not a bad business-plan when you think about it. I wouldn't put it past a few tire shops to put nails on the road a few miles away.

 

You are right, a gravel road is a better description. The hole was so big, the garage laughed at me when I asked about repair rather than replacement.

 

"Grand-dad raised his family by waterin' down a patch of road, and chargin' a small fortune to pull 'em out of the mud with his tractor." -not true, but makes for a good story.

 

Fortunately, the PiP only excels (pardon the pun) in deceleration. That means our tires wear out half as quickly, right?

 

And we should be decelerating very slowly to take full advantage of regen.

 

I think the best way to optimize regeneration is to prevent the brake-pads from engaging.

 

...also known as "decelerating slowly"

 

You can slow down just fine with a deceleration rate of zero.

 

I don't know about you guys, but I wouldn't buy Michelin tires for my Prius. I know they make good high performance tires but they wear to quickly and cost too much. I put 42 to 44 lbs. of air in my tires for better mileage and I still have about 57,000 miles an 1/8" of tread left on my Yokohamas so I will see how much farther I can go. Also if you don't have any deep scrapes, cracks or cuts in your sidewalls they should be good to go (no damage what so ever). Look for your tires to be LRR (low rolling resistance) tires.

Now it would be nice for people to talk about their tires on here to see what works the best. Maybe we should start a tire thread and talk about pressure you run in them, brand name and model name, how often they are rotated and see about your mileage. You can go on Tirerack.com and see what kind of prices they have and read their reviews to find out what people think about a specific tire.

Happy Motoring!!!

 

My last set of Michelins had about 50% of tread wear remaining at 70k miles. Unfortunately my climate dried them out and replacement was required due to sidewall cracking.

 

If I drive like an old man in a Prius, I can expect to get the maximum life out of my tires.