Remember "3 times around the world?"

[pbassred]

Does anyone remember that Michelin advert ( Ok, it WAS 30 years ago)? I think it was the XZX range. They really did go on for years. What happened? How come we only get 20,000 miles from a set now?

[vwcabriolet1971]

It's all about grip. Todays tyres have much softer compounds.
I had an aircooled type 3 VW with 15" XZXs and it failed an MOT because of U/V cracks in the side walls. Still had a little tread left ( about 2mm ) . MOT garage was amazed when I told them that I had done 54,000 miles on rears (rear wheel drive). They fitted new tyres but requested that they could give Michelin the old ones for examination. But I wouldn't say the level of grip was anything to write home about .The grip level on old Michelins XZXs & XASs is not a patch on today's tyres.
I lost the back end of a TR4A on XASs and was amazed how easily it swung round.
If you want cheap long lasting tyres check the local taxi rank but if using them go easy round the bends.

[zollaf]

i had to change a set for a customer on a 7 series a few years back. the date code put them as being made before the bmw, so presume them to be original, and the car had done 140,000. they still had tread, but were perished. apparently michelin stopped making them because they lasted too long. nothing to do with grip, as they worked excellently. loosing the tail on a rear wheel drive sports car isnt exactly difficult though.

[vwcabriolet1971]

i had to change a set for a customer on a 7 series a few years back. the date code put them as being made before the bmw, so presume them to be original, and the car had done 140,000. they still had tread, but were perished. apparently michelin stopped making them because they lasted too long. nothing to do with grip, as they worked excellently. loosing the tail on a rear wheel drive sports car isnt exactly difficult though.
140,000 miles on set of Michelins on a heavy 7 series BMW sounds unbelievable. Could the wheels & tyres have been changed at some stage ?
I could never get anything like this mileage from a succession of different lighter vehicles with Michelin X , XZX or XASs.
Pirelli Cincuratos ( spelling ?) of the same era had much more grip than the XZXs but did not last anything like as long.
I'm sure if you performed a Shore Scleroscope scale 'A' test on modern tyres that they would be found a lot softer than the old Michelins. Natural latex rubber is very expensive and the modern use use of synthetic /natural rubber compounds is different to the old compounds used. Long lasting truck tyres have a greater proportion of natural rubber but they are much more expensive on a size /weight pro rata basis.