I need tires. Which ones? Alighment?

[mikec]

I was a little shocked today to look at my rear tires. They are down to the wear bars in 4K miles. My origional back tires lasted 5K. The tires are OE Bridgestone RE010's. My front tires look great at 9K miles with very even wear and can easily last another set of rears. That will be 3 rears to 1 front. So..... here are some questions if you please.

1. I'm looking to replace the rears with RE010's, but they seem to be getting hard to find. Are they going out of production? Does anyone know of a good deal on them?

2. Should I go outside factory specs in aligning the rear to prolong tire life? I'd like to hear from someone who has done this and what your settings are and if your happy with handeling.

3. If I have to replace all four tires, can you recommend a good long wearing model? I do not go for ultimate handeling, but i would not want to alter the nice crisp feel or make the car dangerous. If I go with non OEM tires on stock rims, what sizes are best and do not cause TSC issues?

Thanks as always

 

[Ennesssex]

Mike,

I know Discount tires are offering the stock Yokohama's for $192.00. I would think that the Bridgestone tires would be in the same neighborhood +/- $10.00

Sam

 

[hlweyl]

I haven't heard of Bridgestone stopping production of the RE010's. Tirerack still carries them and they are still here: http://www.bridgestonetire.com/dpp/sizespecs.asp?passproductid=1014

I could be wrong though.

You can go to a longer wearing tire. I'm using the RE750's on the rear ($158 a piece for rear). I have over 10000 miles on them now with OEM alignment settings.

You can also go to less toe which would extend tire life. With both of these options come decreased handling performance, therefore less safety.

 

[Hrant]

Mike, where was the tire wear? Inside, center or evenly. Long wearing depends on several factors, one of which is your driving style, but perhaps the simplest and most obvious is the one that a few of us have discussed on these forums with some controversy.

If it is the center, what tire pressure are you using during daily driving? I have now experimented with 3 Yoko OEM sets. Here is my finding. All with about 4 mm toe; and all wore at the center first, again and again but mileage varied:

40 psi cold barely 5000 miles with about 5 track days - mostly as novice. Hey, what can I say! I was a newbie and thought OEM recommendations were the bible ... LOL!

38 psi cold about 8000 miles with at least 10 track days and several aggressive driving mountain events. The last 600 miles was iffy with a constant watch as we went on a club event to Reno through backroads. Track tire pressure after a few experiments settling at 28/33 cold.

36 psi cold about 11000 miles with at least 10 track days and several aggressive driving events (the tires were actually done by 10000 as the grip was quite mediocre and the rubber had hardened). However, as expected, the wear on the sides were greater than when I was running 40 psi. Track tire psi 27-28/32-33 cold.

So going from 40 psi and occasionally bouncing on the roads ..... to cruising at 36 psi increased the life of the treadwear by 100% - and my driving was more aggressive! My next experiment will be to go with 6 mm toe as I need all the grip I can from the OEM tires on the track.

And yes, the fronts will last about twice as long if you are following OEM alignment specs (ie the insides will wear out first) with the rear at 40 psi. But with 36 psi in the rears, the fronts will last about 60% more all things being equal.

HTH/YMMV

Hrant
98-T

PS: And at both 38 and 36 psi experiments I had a patch and plug, both on the rear left!

 

[mikec]

Reply to Hrant

The wear is very even. The front tires are wearing evenly, no inside wear at this point. They are the origional tires from when the car was new and have almost 10,000 miles on them and look like they will go another 6K at least.

I'm on my second set of back tires. They are now down to the wear bars. The wear is even across the width of the tire.

However, the right tire is slightly more worn than the left one.

I'm running stock alignment and pressures of 32 front, 35 rear.

 

[Lud]

I'm running stock alignment

When did you last check the alignment? And assuming it is still within OEM spec, where within the OEM spec does your rear toe fall? The more aggressive the rear toe setting the faster you burn off the tires.

 

[mikec]

The alignment was done when I replaced the rear tires. The second set lasted shorter than the first set so it would appear the the toe setting is even more aggressive.

I printed out the alignment primer in the FAQ and will take it along when I go for an alignment. I'll take the car in next week before I replace the rear tires so he can see the wear pattern.

I think i'll try 1.5 d (3 total) degrees of toe for the rear as the primer suggests. I think going for zero toe would not be wise.

I will put RE010 back on the rear since I have so much front tire left.

comments?

 

[Hrant]

Hmmmmmm!!!

If you don't track your car (and I mean aggressively), and the roads you drive on in PA do not have necessarily abrasive surfaces - just guessing as Colorado eats tires like crazy from what I have heard, then this is really an interes6ting scenario to explain.

I would agree with focusing on the alignment. Also verify the accuracy of your tire gauge - but even then I am sure it is not off by 5 psi!