pilot exalto wear report

[qship96]

ok,curiousity got me today as I was in the store buying new wiper blades,I picked up a tire treaddepth gauge-$ 2 and some change

results were 6/32 tread left at 31,000 miles use to date-wearing extremely similar across the tread of all 4 tires

new,the exaltos had 10/32 tread depth{8 usable-now 4 usable left} so 50% worn at 31,000-extrapolated life...........62,000 miles--much better than the 3 sets of pilot xgt used previously which lasted 36-39k.

[Q45tech]

Just remember the fact that Michelin pointed out to US government.That the failure rates of every tire take on a exponential upward curve after 20,000 miles.

[qship96]

yeah,lets all replace tires when they are 1/3 worn at 20,000 miles!

reports also show speed kills,lets all drive 54MPH!

[Q45tech]

Maybe not at 1/3 worn but don't trust the speed rating after 20,000 miles was the point they were making.

Speed ratings are for a brand new tire tested in a lab temp controlled enviroment.

[lino]

What size tires are you running?

[qship96]

225/60/15 V rated Exalto

[szh]

One other real-world issue (that has bit me almost) with long wearing tires. After about 5 to 6 years, the tires start hardening ... a lot! And can then develop cracks in the rubber that can fail catastrophically - sometimes without a lot of warning.

A few years ago, on my wife's Acura CL, I observed this phenomenon. She does not drive a lot and her car had less than 25k miles after about 6 years from the original purchase date - the tires were probably about 7 years from the date of manufacture at that point. The original Michelin tires had about 5/32" of tread left and got a nail, so I took it in for patching.

The tire place I went to called me from the waiting room to look at the tires. All of them had little fracture lines inside the tread! Some of the cracks were larger than others - the tires looked like they had alligator skin! One tire was shedding rubber particles just by rubbing on it hard with a finger.

Needless to say, I ended up buying four new tires instead of repairing the nail intrusion.

Z

[qship96]

not a problem for me as 60,000 miles are all done by 24-30 months max

[Q45tech]

The US gov tested hundreds of USED and New tires collected in Arizona and purposely failed them in stress testing................FAILED them at 75mph by overloading or underinflating!

Tires over 4 years old [from date of manufacturer] were deemed problematic in hot enviroments.................even Michelins.

Many tires sold are often ~~ 1 year old sitting in various warehouses thru the retail chain. So 3 years on the car would be enough if safety is a concern.

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/p...c.pdf

Darwin provides relief since 40,000 buyers are killed each year and another 400,000 may not drive much after the wrecks.As a side note China loses 700,000 per year to air pollution* and by the end of 2007 will be the world's largest producer of Green House Gases so the US will finally be off the hook.......................as 2nd then 3rd.

* This fact is being suppressed due to Olympics to avoid scaring the visitors. ""The World Bank was told that it could not publish this information. It was too sensitive and could cause social unrest," one unnamed adviser told the Financial Times.

Cut from the report were findings that air pollution levels in Chinese cities cause 350,000 to 400,000 premature deaths each year, the newspaper said. Another 300,000 people die from exposure to poor air indoors, and more than 60,000 die due to poor quality water, it said.

The mortality information was "reluctantly" cut by the World Bank, according to advisers to the project, the newspaper said.

So we should all feel good [except those in or near China]...........maybe their recent tire problems were caused by deaths of their inspectors from fumes?

See there was a connection to the second part.

[szh]

not a problem for me as 60,000 miles are all done by 24-30 months max

That is a lot of miles!

I drive about 15k miles a year (or so), so a tire that lasts me 18 months to 24 months is just fine!

Nowadays, when I get new tires, I make sure that the tire is less than 9 to 10 months old - ideally less than 5 to 6 months - to begin with. This gives me the buffer I want.

Z

[szh]

I guess my point is that, after four years (maximum) with tires mounted on a car, I would change the tires ... no matter how much tread is left!

Z

[Q45tech]

Or wear a crash helmet and don't exceed 75 mph sustained on a 4+ year old tire.

[qship96]

Thought I would provide an update on the Exalto tire wear thread I started back in july....as of today, 5/32 tread depth at 44,000 miles and just over 2 years of use., Wearing evenly across each tire, projected 66,000 mile life if you want to run down to the legal limit bars{2/32}

I will probobly replace sooner,as Tirerack has this size{225/60/15V} currently on sale for only $85, regularly $123.00 from them.

[GseaQ]

Your wear rate seems to be lessening. Maybe the rubber is getting harder?

[StarPD]

Maybe not at 1/3 worn but don't trust the speed rating after 20,000 miles was the point they were making.

Speed ratings are for a brand new tire tested in a lab temp controlled enviroment.

You are absolutely correct, Dennis, and so is szhosain. There are a number of factors that deteriorate tires as they age. Only one is oxidation of the rubber, which as szhosain found, hardens then cracks. Another is, as you mentioned, heat. Here where I live in Arizona, heat is a major factor. Most people completely overlook the effect that high ambient temperatures are exacerbated by heat generated from highway speeds, greatly accellerating decomposition. Then there's the accumulated slight damage from hitting potholes and road irregularities over a period of time, bruising and distorting, sometimes even breaking the carcass cords. The general rule of thumb is to replace tires that are 4 years old regardless of tread wear, 3 years if driven fast and over bad roads.

Save money if you must, but not on tires. They are the ONLY thing connecting your car with the road. Lose one either at high speed or in high cornering situations and you could lose you car, and even your life.

Oh yeah, and ALWAYS keep them properly inflated, checking them at least once a week, cold first thing in the morning before driving on them.

[infinitinut2]

Qship:

Just looked at TR's web site, and still @ $123 per. Called them and, still, $123 per. Do you recall rep's name?

Thanks!

[qship96]

Qship:

Just looked at TR's web site, and still @ $123 per. Called them and, still, $123 per. Do you recall rep's name?

Thanks!

DAMN-looks like we missed the special-They had price listed at $85 "special" on their website as late as yesterday for this size...I never called....should have,and ordered them at the same time...

[qship96]

Good news, and a thumbs up for our Nico site advertiser TIRE RACK.

I called them 12/29/07 to order another set of the Exalto 225/60/15V tires,and they said sale was over....but to send a e-mail describing that I saw the sale price { $ 85.00} late on 12/28/07 on their site,well low and behold,they agreed to give me the sale price!

Wow,all 4 tires delivered for only $377.00 ...I looked at my receipt from last time I bought them locally,and I paid $651 including tax and install!{27 months ago} They will sit in the garage till current tires wear to 4/32

PS-tires were delivered on my doorstep 23 hours after placing the order by phone!!!!!!!!!!!
Modified by qship96 at 3:20 PM 1/8/2008

[qship96]

Final update on the life of the Exaltos!

Woke up this morning to my first flat tire ever on the Q. Put the spare tire on and because I am down to 4/32 tread on the Exaltos with 54,873 miles on them {3 years old this month} decided to get the 4 new ones out of the garage and tossed them into the Q and headed to the Tirerack recommended installer......got all 4 mounted/balanced for $66.00

Guess I will schedule a 4 wheel alignment check/adjust with my front end guy,even though old tires wore extremely evenly{last alignment done 54,873 miles ago}

Odd feeling thinking I have just put my FINAL set of new tires on my Q.

P.S. Check your air pressure in your spare tire, my never used one was down to 34psi {suppose to be 60psi}

[captainluigi]

so the ''new'' ones are already 3 yrs. old. was the storage area climate controlled? will be interesting to follow the longevity of the ''new'' ones.

keep us posted.

[qship96]

so the ''new'' ones are already 3 yrs. old. was the storage area climate controlled? will be interesting to follow the longevity of the ''new'' ones.

keep us posted.

NO NO NO...read thru the thread.....the new Exaltos were purchased back in January of this year from Tirerack when they had a great sale and I stored them in my garage until the set of Exaltos aready on the car warrented replacement {today!}

[captainluigi]

I get it.

[qship96]

ok,curiousity got me today as I was in the store buying new wiper blades,I picked up a tire treaddepth gauge-$ 2 and some change

results were 6/32 tread left at 31,000 miles use to date-wearing extremely similar across the tread of all 4 tires

new,the exaltos had 10/32 tread depth{8 usable-now 4 usable left} so 50% worn at 31,000-extrapolated life...........62,000 miles--much better than the 3 sets of pilot xgt used previously which lasted 36-39k.

As of today I have 30,500 miles on the set of Exaltos that replaced the set that I posted about in the above quote.......measured tread depth and I have 6.5/32 tread left on all 4 tires, shockingly close to the previous set mentioned above at about the same miles of use- they are consistant, even as the car is aging at 248K total miles- did ok too this winter with our 79 inches of snow for the season, never got stuck !!!