cycleboy506

At what point would you recommend that I replace the tires on my 2005 Civic?

- tires have 40,000 miles on them
- tires are four and a half years old
- car is housed in an underground garage
- the mechanic says the tires look fine and he wouldn't even rotate them when i requested a rotation
- tires have been rotated once.
- the treads look fine, but i'm wondering if 4.5 years is a long time for tires.
- these are the original tires: Bridgestone Potenza RE92, P195/60R15 87H M+S

And what kind of tires do you recommend? I was thinking Yokohama Avid TRZ, similar to Michelin but not as expensive.


regards,
js.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

usually after 6-7 yrs, i would worry about rubber integrity problems where it becomes a safety issue even with good tread. as for mileage, depends how much you drive and the tire's rated life. my last set went for 60k but one tire had premature wear so i replaced the whole set. even tho couldve gone another 20k on the other three. did you try the penny tread test? put a penny with lincolns head facing down in the tread, and if you can see the whole head, its time for new tires. if some head is covered, wait.

cycleboy506

the treads look ok w/ the penny test, and in general, the tread looks good - a lot of rubber left. upon close inspection, i think i see what looks like a spiderweb of tiny cracks all over. i haven't been able to find this tire's rated life. i was even on the product page for the Bridgestone Potenza RE92 and it doesn't mention a rated life.

thanks,
js.

TRIZ

iTrader: (14)

I bought my car used with like-new tires, and put about 30k on it before I decided to switch them. The tread didnt indicate that it HAD to be changed, but when the road was wet, I'd have minimal grip... I got pretty good at controlled slides around corners at about 25-30mph but I got sick of it because I knew no grip on a wet road is unsafe when I live in the northwest, where it rains about 80% of the time.

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

The rated life is 40k miles. I replace mine at about 43k...but each situation will be different.

I can't recall if the Potenzas had "wear indicators" or not.

cycleboy506

r u saying that the Bridgestone Potenza has a rated life of 40k miles? If so, where can i find that rating online? I didn't find it on the Bridgestone site.

FYI, i looked for "wear indicators" on my Potenza's but didn't see any...

regards,
js.

CraigW

iTrader: (1)

I thought I saw it at tirerack, they are original equipment they don't give you much more than they need to.