OK, so the weather is turning and I get one of the cars' tyres swapped over. I try a new place more convenient to home.
He looks at the tyres and tries to sell me new ones... these are "worthless" he says. I tell him theres a good 5000km left on them, which for that car is a seasons driving and I dont drive much on snow at all.
When I get back home I measure the tread: 6mm left. OK they're not new and you cant run a winter tyre to the legal mark, but gimme a break.
It's been a while since someone tried to pull that stunt on me. The fact the insists on speaking crappy english to me despite the fact my german is fluent makes me think he thought I came off the last banana boat.
legal minimum is 1.6mm but you should change at 3mm.
Although I believe especially winter performance even at 3mm is seriously less than vs new. I will drive them this winter and not change them until they are dead next year.
I'd go 4mm for winter myself.
6mm sounds fine.
Tom
Lol! Did he have the sharp intake of breath before his announcement?
However, is the year still good on them? Perhaps it's this and not the tread?
4mm is minimum for winter use.
If they start losing grip before that then change them anyway, especially if you are going up mountains... I think 3mm is too low if you are doing anything more demanding than driving around in a fairly flat town when the snow isn't too bad.
Can swap front to back every month or so to get more even wear.
Can also wear them down to 1.6 if you leave them on for the summer.
Garages are the same worldwide... Lol
Having a thin tread would be like running on slicks - fine for a hot dry country but deadly here in the winter.
What's falling as heavy snow in the mountains is falling as heavy rainfall in the lowlands and a thin tread just won't shift the water fast enough from the tyres.
4mm in winter AND less than 5 years old.
All modern car tyres have what is known as Tread wear indicators..they are located at around 4-6 locations around the circumference of the tyre. Their location is indicated by either a small arrow or the words "TWI" near the edge of the tread. They are a raised ridge in the grooves of the tread, and are more pronounced on winter tyres. If any of the tread is worn down to these markers, then the tyre must be replaced.
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/roadsafety/t...tation-423.htm
Up to a point. Thez also lose grip badly when it gets too warm - about 25 degrees is the limit.
Another great EF thread full of mis/leading-information.
25 degrees is the limit - degrees of what, exactly? Because in reality, winter tires become relatively ineffective at temps over 8C / 45F.
As for tread depth, it is one factor to consider, but one also has to look at the age of the tire (as mentioned previously). You will find it in a rectanglar box on the sidewall, marked as (for example) 1210 which indicated that the tires were made in the 12th week of 2010. If your tires say 4902, for example, even with good tread depth, they are hockey pucks. Given that you admit to "not driving much on snow at all..." your tire guy might not have been that far off the mark.
Most people I know use winter tires year round.
Even I do it if the treads getting low, just to finish them off.
Fact is they hold as well as (cheap) summer tires, just wear out a lot faster.
Tom
My familly is too important to me to dick around with tyres: In this country, in the winter you need good tyres or you risk becomming a danger to yourself and others.
Winter tyres don't really cost anything as essentially your summer tyres last twice as long. Sure it is an investementr to start with but after an accident or where you got to pay the francise of your insyurance as you skidded off the road or whatever, the investement really is minimal.
I drive on snow plenty but not in that car, and the tyres are not old. Anyway he didn't even look at the age. My point is I'm more interested in their cold driving character wet or dry, than snow driving ie softer rubber rather than deep grippy tread.
That's the legal minimum. The tyre stopping power would have been reduced long before this is reached - especially in heavy rain or snow.
(Litespeed: I'm sure you know this but your post doesn't make this point which is quite relevant).
Fully agree. I inspected them together with the garage that took them off (and which is much closer to the mountains) to know if I needed to order fresh and they said they were still fine. But the guy at this new place was trying to get me to change half used tyres.
Rather like getting your car serviced ant a main dealers, they have a huge stock of parts they want to sell. That's why I advise people glint to a garage before an MFK to see what needs doing
I can't comment on the specific recommendation of the garage but, as mentioned above, you also want to change the tires if they are too old even if they have tread left.
The time to change them is a matter of opinion, but 4-5 years is probably the oldest that I would go.
Since 2006 or 2007 (can't remember which), all tires have the production date on them in this format (see photo) - week of production, year. Have a look at your tires to check the age (they might be older than when you purchased them). If older than 5 years (old format of production date), I would be looking to change them.
I have also in the past put on winter tires at the beginning of the season and if I felt that the holding was no longer there, I then changed them.
I have to groan myself for this one...
Summer tires become ineffective under 8C.