Replace tires every 9 months?
I put a new set of Kuhmo Ecsta MX's on my 97 coupe last May and yesterday I had my tires checked and the rear tires have no tread
but the fronts have a little left. Total miles on tires = 17,000. My tire guy (who I trust) said average life is about 16K-20K. I asked why only 16-20. He said several reasons; Can't rotate due to 18" and 17". Rotating would extend mileage. Car has lots of torque that's why rear wears out first. Wide tires wear out faster than standard passenger car tires. Also one of the fronts has a little scalping and he said this can vary due to tread design.My question - Is this typical for you guys? Can I expect to replace tires every 17K miles?
Heck, I'm thinking about changing my rim sizes so that all 4 match so I can rotate the tires.
BTW - I'm running 275/40R-17 Front and 295/35R-18 Rear
Paid $161.99 for fronts @ Discount Tires Direct
and $223. for rears @ Tire Rack
Maybe I could try a harder tire compound? Give up some of the smooth ride but gain longer lasting tire mileage ...
Suggestions?






I have 27K on my KuhmoMX's.
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
If you want something longer lasting, get something with higher treadwear. Won't have as good traction but will last 30k+.
Any performance tire will wear out fairly quickly. I don't think you'll get more than 30-35k out of any tire. Runflats do not fall in the 'performance' tire category as far as I am concerned

Dope

If you just try to swap the wheels+tires side to side (driver side --> passenger side) the above would occur. The only 2 solutions are:
1) do what Grumpy did (remounted the tires
2) buy new tires
I dream of 17000 miles a set!
Actually I don't. If they last more than 10k then they're too bl**dy hard. Or you're driving like a girl. A girly girl from girly town on girly day.
Chevrolet wouldn't have made a throttle that goes all the way to floor if you weren't supposed to use it!
I dream of 17000 miles a set!
Actually I don't. If they last more than 10k then they're too bl**dy hard. Or you're driving like a girl. A girly girl from girly town on girly day.
Chevrolet wouldn't have made a throttle that goes all the way to floor if you weren't supposed to use it!

I think ~15-20k is all you can expect for decent performance tires. Any more and they become heat cycled so much that they are useless (due to hardness). If you want more mileage go with a tire with a higher treadwear, but don't expect them to stick like the lower treadwear tires.


I dream of 17000 miles a set!
Actually I don't. If they last more than 10k then they're too bl**dy hard. Or you're driving like a girl. A girly girl from girly town on girly day.
Chevrolet wouldn't have made a throttle that goes all the way to floor if you weren't supposed to use it!

I couldn't have said it anybetter!Although, my last Kumho ASX's did last me a whole 10 monthes on the rear!!! which is amazing considering i drive 25,000+ miles a year.
Chris
Actually on discounttire you can see that the BFG T/A KDWS has a 400 treadwear too but my buddy has these on his '03 Cobra and when we went to the track my Kuhmo MX's had all sorts of stuff stuck to them and his were clean. The Kuhmo MX's are way stickier.
Last edited by 5 Liter Eater; Feb 23, 2005 at 02:31 PM.
Damon



















