Tyre Wear - How many miles on a set?

[Mike41]

I'm not convinced: a larger circumference will require far less rotations and therefore reduced contact per square inch of tire over a certain distance. Older cars are typically heavier than their modern counterparts too.

Yes that was what I was thinking too - certainly intuitive but is it correct? Perhaps smaller wheels use higher profile tyres meaning more rubber between wheel and road. Just a guess though maybe someone knows for sure?

[DB22]

Yes that was what I was thinking too - certainly intuitive but is it correct? Perhaps smaller wheels use higher profile tyres meaning more rubber between wheel and road. Just a guess though maybe someone knows for sure?

I understand the variables, the A6 in the US comes with 18, 19 and 20's but the circumference is the same due to the changes in aspect ratio. My theory expounded on the fact that the original mini had 10 or 12's and because they rotated so often, they didn't last long. Another factor on the A6 is that 20's are typically for performance and have softer rubber so the 20's didn't last as long due to the assumed style of driving.
BTW - I have 20 PZero's and have 20K miles and they are about half gone but 80% of my driving is freeway.

[istate75]

No, it's a 2.0D FWD Multi. It did surprise me they all seem to wear at the same rate.

[Olio]

I've just had the car at Audi to check something and they reported on the tyres and brakepads.

The car has done just under 10k miles, and still with original tyres of course (I think they're P7)

Front tyres are at 4mm, rear tyres at 8mm
Pads are 10% worn.

I do a lot of short work commutes, and small roads, with a bit of motorway, so I'm quite suprised at how worn the front tyres are compared to the figures mentiones in this thread.

[Eshrules]

I've just had the car at Audi to check something and they reported on the tyres and brakepads.

The car has done just under 10k miles, and still with original tyres of course (I think they're P7)

Front tyres are at 4mm, rear tyres at 8mm
Pads are 10% worn.

I do a lot of short work commutes, and small roads, with a bit of motorway, so I'm quite suprised at how worn the front tyres are compared to the figures mentiones in this thread.

It's not unusual for a FWD to wear its front tyres quicker than its rears.

I did 62k on the same set of rears with my last car, they were still close to 5mm - I went through 2 sets of fronts.

I'm assuming this is why it's a common suggestion to rotate tyres, to evenly wear them all.

[johnsimcox]

I've just had the car at Audi to check something and they reported on the tyres and brakepads.

The car has done just under 10k miles, and still with original tyres of course (I think they're P7)

Front tyres are at 4mm, rear tyres at 8mm
Pads are 10% worn.

I do a lot of short work commutes, and small roads, with a bit of motorway, so I'm quite suprised at how worn the front tyres are compared to the figures mentiones in this thread.

4mm after 10k miles seems quite rapid as I got 26k out of my front P7s. Couple of thoughts, what are your tyre pressures set to? If you are set to the higher pressures then with the car lightly laden the centre of the tyre will be taking all of the load and this will cause it to ware faster. Secondly it may be that the multitronic box causes faster wear than cars with manuals either due to weight or that it encourages/forces a driving style that accelerates weigh. Finally I would check the depth yourself. Believe it or not but garages have been known to get it wrong

[ukgroucho]

It does seem odd.. the last FWD Audi I had (an A4 1.9 Tdi) used to do 20K or maybe 25K on the front and 60k on the rears - and I did a LOT of motorway miles in that car in the first 2 years (40k a year).

Having said that your C7 is doing better than your C6 did based on average wear (and this might be a stretch so bear with me ).
You've averaged 38k on all four tyres on the C7 - at 3mm wear.
You averaged only 32.5k on the C6 to 2 - 2.5mm wear.

My question to you is "did the wheels get rotated (front to rear) at some point - maybe by the dealer during a service?"
That would explain it.

[Cadja]

It does seem odd.. the last FWD Audi I had (an A4 1.9 Tdi) used to do 20K or maybe 25K on the front and 60k on the rears - and I did a LOT of motorway miles in that car in the first 2 years (40k a year).Having said that your C7 is doing better than your C6 did based on average wear (and this might be a stretch so bear with me ).You've averaged 38k on all four tyres on the C7 - at 3mm wear.You averaged only 32.5k on the C6 to 2 - 2.5mm wear.My question to you is "did the wheels get rotated (front to rear) at some point - maybe by the dealer during a service?"That would explain it.

Normal rule of thumb on fwd is 2 sets of front to one rear and you would only ever wear them down together if indeed they were rotated, the biggest factor effecting mileage is driving charateristics and MAKE.....the dearest doesn't always deliver mileage you are paying for all the other properties wet grip stopping distance noise etc for example you could buy a Nankang (budget) but is possible to get more mileage than branded.....but try stopping hard in the wet.....GOOD LUCK..

[mark86]

I've just had the car at Audi to check something and they reported on the tyres and brakepads.
The car has done just under 10k miles, and still with original tyres of course (I think they're P7)
Front tyres are at 4mm, rear tyres at 8mm
Pads are 10% worn.
I do a lot of short work commutes, and small roads, with a bit of motorway, so I'm quite suprised at how worn the front tyres are compared to the figures mentiones in this thread.

Took my car in for service at 18.8k miles, 2.0 TDI Multitronic, 255/35/20 Pirelli tyres and they reported:
4.8mm - front left
5.1mm - front right
5.4mm - rear left
5.7mm - rear right (besides most tread out of the 4 it also had one nail and one screw in it)
I do short commutes and six 1.2k mile trips across Europe a year.

[Olio]

4mm after 10k miles seems quite rapid as I got 26k out of my front P7s. Couple of thoughts, what are your tyre pressures set to? If you are set to the higher pressures then with the car lightly laden the centre of the tyre will be taking all of the load and this will cause it to ware faster. Secondly it may be that the multitronic box causes faster wear than cars with manuals either due to weight or that it encourages/forces a driving style that accelerates weigh. Finally I would check the depth yourself. Believe it or not but garages have been known to get it wrong

Took my car in for service at 18.8k miles, 2.0 TDI Multitronic, 255/35/20 Pirelli tyres and they reported:
4.8mm - front left
5.1mm - front right
5.4mm - rear left
5.7mm - rear right (besides most tread out of the 4 it also had one nail and one screw in it)
I do short commutes and six 1.2k mile trips across Europe a year.

That's what I meant. 4mm left for <10k miles is a lot of wear. I know that front tyres get worn faster than back on FWD.

I do run with a slightly higher than recommended pressure (always have done, on every car), generally using a value close to laden recommended psi for each axle.

I will check current pressure and thread depth myself this week end.