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4mm

3mm

2mm

legal limit

as soon as I sense a loss of handling

[D]

I remembered something that I wanted to post about but completely forgot. The last set of tyres I had on the 3.2 were Hankook's Optimo 4S. An all seasons tyre, that to be fair was very grippy, worked especially well in the wet and lasted about 18k. Usually I change tyres at or just below 3mm. But work and other issues prevented me from changing them when they got down to 3mm.

One wet Friday,few weeks ago I was travelling up the A1M and decided to take the A57 across to the M1 as the sat nav identified an accident up ahead. Going past one of the roundabouts, I remember being in the fast lane, approaching the roundabout, perhaps a tiny bit faster than I normally do/should do. As I hit the roundabout, I lost all rear end grip. The next thing I know the back was sliding out and I was applying counter lock to try and gain control of the car. It felt like an eternity before I got the car back in line and managed to drive on in one piece. Thankfully no one was next to me in the outer lane or else I would have hit them.

Got home and checked the tyres the next day. 2.6mm depth pretty much across the tyre. Reasonably even wear. No bulges/bald patches. So what caused the loss of control? Could it have been a patch of oil? Or is the advice to change tyres at 3mm the correct advice?

More so, if 3mm is the depth to change at, then these so called part worns are pretty useless?

Suspension has been poly'd and set up at WIM about 12 months ago.

So what tyre depth do you change your tyres at? I am certainly going to stick with 3mm.

[05omegav6]

Was that the Michelins good job we swapped wheels then, as the Autonogrips would have seen you headfirst into the roundabout...

[D]

No, this was a while ago. They were Hankooks. Optimo 4s. Pretty decent all weather tyres. I think it was the tyre depth and probably standing water at the roundabout.

The Michelins are fine.

[chrisgixer]

Pc an we devide the forum into;

Drives like Tunnie

Doesn't drive like Tunnie.

18k. Grippy. All season tyre. Only Tunnieists could make such statements.

Anyway, sorry. I shall read further to find the question.

[chrisgixer]

I change tyres when the hadling goes off. Regardless of tread.
 So that doesn't really help.

I'd suggest that either something was down, or those tyres are not as good as you suspect. I'm not going to suggest anything silly, but Agavating the car in corners to find the limit of grip is a good thing. That way you know your grip level, and if it lets go before that pint you know something is wrong. Either slippery substance, or a flat etc.

Presume pressures are where correct on all four?

[Sir Tigger KC]

The way it seems that some members drive, their tyres should be changed at 6mm and then the old ones sent to me for recycling! 

Premium brands only and I have no issues with winters.    Whatever the season. 

[chrisgixer]

The way it seems that some members drive, their tyres should be changed at 6mm and then the old ones sent to me for recycling! 

Premium brands only and I have no issues with winters.    Whatever the season. 

fit decent parts, and the omega is very capable. It's even possible to see where the road is when it rains. Believe it or not.

[Sir Tigger KC]

The way it seems that some members drive, their tyres should be changed at 6mm and then the old ones sent to me for recycling! 

Premium brands only and I have no issues with winters.    Whatever the season. 

fit decent parts, and the omega is very capable. It's even possible to see where the road is when it rains. Believe it or not.

I have 20/20 vision. 

[78bex]

Probably worn tyres didn`t help but just thinking roundabouts is just the place spilled fuel gets dumped on a regular basis.
 

[chrisgixer]

The way it seems that some members drive, their tyres should be changed at 6mm and then the old ones sent to me for recycling! 

Premium brands only and I have no issues with winters.    Whatever the season. 

fit decent parts, and the omega is very capable. It's even possible to see where the road is when it rains. Believe it or not.

I have 20/20 vision. 

is that with or without the prescription windscreen windscreen wipers.

(Old Billy Connoly joke )

[D]

Pressures were correct. I do test my tyres on corners, but this was completely unexpected. No warning at all. The mileage I think relates purely to 97% of those miles being bashed out on the M1/A1M/M40/M42 etc. Not much to tax tyres on most motorways. I suspect if I did those miles locally or along B roads, the mileage would be less.

[Sir Tigger KC]

Probably worn tyres didn`t help but just thinking roundabouts is just the place spilled fuel gets dumped on a regular basis.

Seems likely. 

[4x4]

Was you driving with tc off,as the tc should have cut in aswell,or was you driving like tb on a bad day in which case expect the rear to get tail happy,thats because its the right wheel drive and not a fwd shitbox

[chrisgixer]

Tc Wont cut in with just side load. It will only cut power.

To catch side load you need ESP, which was EU only.

[D]

TC was switched on. But as above, it did not cut in at all.

Should I add a poll to see what tread depth others change their tyres at?

[cem_devecioglu]

Turkeys weather and road conditions are highly different than UK..  so needs a bit of explanation ..


here the tyres can harden long before they reach 3-4 mms..  because the spring and autumns are hot and summer is like hell ..


on many places we hit totally melted tar in summer time and no need to be in south region.. so if I remember correctly I discarded hardened tyres even with 5-6 mm depth in the past   ( I hate making sideways and donuts with expensive tyres) ( and usually check tyres surface for grip and softness with my fingers)


however, when I discovered that sanding tyres bring some grip back,  I started to use the tyres until 4 mm depth and until they harden again..  below 4 mm sanding is meaningless as each sanding session nearly moves around 1 mm..




ps: the first sign for me is the grip loss when braking

[cem_devecioglu]

and a note : I never measure summer tyres performance when the rain just started as it highly effects grip

[Kevin Wood]

Serious amounts of standing water aside, I don't find tyres get significantly low on grip until the legal limit, so I would say you hit some standing water that wasn't noticed or some diesel. Diesel spill on a damp road will do it.

Of course, some tyres will go off earlier for other reasons, and develop handling issues before reaching the legal limit, but the tread is there mainly to disperse water, so it stands to reason that low tread depth affects mainly the ability to deal with standing water.

[plym ian]

Change mine when I see the cord coming through like to get my moneys worth 

I change them when it gets to the limit tbh, as I dont drive fast enough to loose grip

[flyer 0712]

Six years ago while on the A6  heading south towards the  Barton -le-clay  r/a in the pouring rain  in befordshire I came to the roundabout in my miggy  slowed down then proceeded clockwise towards Luton and I lost the back end of the car completely..This spun my car backwards on to the r/about and back off again facing the wrong direction and thus having a head on collision with an on coming vehicle and writing both vehicles off..thankfully no one was injured.The police did their bit,,breath test  ect...and on inspection by them to the road surface they said that their was oil spillage beneath the water on the road and thats what caused the car to loose it...my tyres were,,on the front brand new two days before and the rears were 3 months old.so my point is that no matter how good your tyres are...expect the unexspected and even then you may not be able to do anything about it....

[LFF64]

I have just bought two new tyres they cost me £17000 though  but they do come with a few extras namely an Insignia Elite Nav 163 sport tourer in flip chip silver 

[TheBoy]

As soon as I notice the handling has gone off. This tends to happen at around 3mm (wet or dry) with most tyres, notable exception being TT's, which were nigh on bald, way below legal limit  .  Note to self, check tyre tread more regularly 

[TheBoy]

Autogrip FS1xx aside. These are "budget" grip for about 2k, then after that will kill you at the first hint of dampness. A truly shocking tyre (and not just on Omegas, as Terry the chip man will vouch after being tight enough to fit a set to his Audi, and learning that new alloys are far, far more expensive to replace)

[05omegav6]

As soon as I notice the handling has gone off. This tends to happen at around 3mm (wet or dry) with most tyres, notable exception being TT's, which were nigh on bald, way below legal limit  .  Note to self, drive more progressively 

Fixed

[biggriffin]

I have just bought two new tyres they cost me £17000 though  but they do come with a few extras namely an Insignia Elite Nav 163 sport tourer in flip chip silver 

Is that a rare silver like z157 omega

[YZ250]

Stating the obvious here but loss of traction on one side only, under braking, normally slews the back end of the car. The way the car slewed will tell you which wheel gripped. As said, a wet road, a bit of diesel on the road and bingo, you have a slide. Happened to my daughter, she was approaching traffic that had suddenly stopped, she braked, nearside wheel hits wet leaves, offside wheel grips, front of car slews to the right, she counters steers, then counter steers opposite way and had a back end slider on the go. 
She did end up in the ditch but was thankfully unhurt. 

Much much more fun to hit uneven Tarmac/wet leaves etc mid bend at speed in the wet. The dash lights resemble disco lights. 

[aaronjb]

Where's the option for "when they look like slicks"?

[Kevin Wood]

Where's the option for "when they look like slicks"?

Oh, those need a session with the stanley knife.

[aaronjb]

Amazingly got me through a winter looking a lot like that on the turbocharged MR2  Yoko Neova LTS (Lotus specific fitment) tyres, amazing things..

[05omegav6]

Certainly nothing an hour with a soldering iron couldn't sort

[Kevin Wood]

Amazingly got me through a winter looking a lot like that on the turbocharged MR2  Yoko Neova LTS (Lotus specific fitment) tyres, amazing things..

Ahh, yes. I have the non-LTS variant on the Westfield, at your recommendation, IIRC. Stick like sh1te to a blanket (once warm, at least), don't try to kill you in the wet and they've done about 3 years and still plenty of wear left in them.

[TheBoy]

Amazingly got me through a winter looking a lot like that on the turbocharged MR2  Yoko Neova LTS (Lotus specific fitment) tyres, amazing things..

Ahh, yes. I have the non-LTS variant on the Westfield, at your recommendation, IIRC. Stick like sh1te to a blanket (once warm, at least), don't try to kill you in the wet and they've done about 3 years and still plenty of wear left in them.

Mr Wood, you clearly must try harder

[chrisgixer]

3years....?


NO...



.....WAY!