19" and 21" Tire Wear (informal) Survey

[R²B]

So I ordered the P85 w/ 21". In my limited research I've read wildly different lifespans for tires from different folks. Everything ranging from 6k miles to 30k miles. I drive a new Jeep Grand Cherokee (V8 Hemi) today and I'd say my driving tends to be spirited but not overly intense. I'm at 54k miles on the original tires now. Can anyone venture a guess at what I may expect to see with the P85? I think if I could get half that (25k-30k) miles I'd be happy but I really don't want to be tire shopping every 5 months.

 

[yobigd20]

So I ordered the P85 w/ 21". In my limited research I've read wildly different lifespans for tires from different folks. Everything ranging from 6k miles to 30k miles. I drive a new Jeep Grand Cherokee (V8 Hemi) today and I'd say my driving tends to be spirited but not overly intense. I'm at 54k miles on the original tires now. Can anyone venture a guess at what I may expect to see with the P85? I think if I could get half that (25k-30k) miles I'd be happy but I really don't want to be tire shopping every 5 months.

You're going to get a lot of various responses. MANY P85s w\ 21s need replacement every 5-7k miles. Every time I speak to someone at a service center they say the average lifespan of the 21s before they need replacement is 5k. Now that being said, there are people on here that are getting 10-15k miles on them. Of you're lucky maybe a bit more like 20-22k if your alignment is perfect and stays perfect. Much of the premature wear has to do with alignment. The common bad alignment is causing premature inside edge wear which on the 21s will wear out the tire very very quickly. On 19s your less subject to this. My first set of 19s lasted 48k miles and I still had 3-4/32" left. However I do know owners even one with an S60 and 19s that needed replacement somewhere around 16-19k miles. Your mileage may vary here. One thing I don't think anyone here will argue with is the fact that the 21s will need replacement about 2-3x more often than the 19s just due to the lower profile and much lower tread depths and different tire compound itself. The 21s are costly to maintain and we're not even talking about the issues with blowouts and rim damage from potholes which are also common with the 21s. Good luck with them. I don't recommend them. The amount of money you'll spend on them completely wipes out all savings you get from not having to pay for gas.

 

[linkster]

Can anyone venture a guess at what I may expect to see with the P85?

5-15K on 21's unless you experience (highly likely) a tire failure and/or damaged wheel due to less-than-perfect road conditions

 

[Ven Rala]

I've got 31k on my 19" and still good thread depth

 

[Torpedo Ted]

My 21" continentals was worn out after only 2500 miles I never turned off traction control, and did not slide around for fun - but of course I did some straight 0-60 accelerations (I guess 2 times a day).

 

[brianman]

My 21" continentals was worn out after only 2500 miles I never turned off traction control, and did not slide around for fun - but of course I did some straight 0-60 accelerations (I guess 2 times a day).

Impressive.

 

[yobigd20]

Impressive.

lol yeah 2500 miles has got to be a record. I've heard 3500 and 4000 before being worn out.... but 2500? Congrats!! lol

 

[Denarius]

My 21" continentals was worn out after only 2500 miles I never turned off traction control, and did not slide around for fun - but of course I did some straight 0-60 accelerations (I guess 2 times a day).

Yea, I'd get that alignment checked...

 

[Torpedo Ted]

Yea, I'd get that alignment checked...

Wear looked pretty even all over, and Tesla SC said that the it was "normal" to wear out the tires that fast if driving "actively" (they didn't check alignment). I think the Continental tires are just a piece of garbage, at least on the norwegian roads. I replaced the rear tires with the cheapest I could find (Federal), and the grip is better, and they are not wearing down anything near as fast as the Continentals.


I noticed that unlike the Continentals, the Federal tires make a very noticeable squeeling noise whenever they lose grip. The continentals were almost silent when losing grip - they would leave rubber on the road without a sound. I guess the problem is that the Continental tires are WAY too soft.

 

[yobigd20]

Tesla SC said that the it was "normal" to wear out the tires that fast if driving "actively" (they didn't check alignment).

yeah I'm calling BS on the Tesla folk's there. Even if I had an IQ level of 3, I'd still know that is not normal wear.

they didn't check alignment

these guys mustn't have a clue what they're doing. go to a different service center if possible.


OH, by the way, I would really press Tesla to cover 100% of the cost of replacement. Many owners here that had wear < 10k were able to get them replaced for free by Tesla because it's a design fault on their end (negative camber + not holding toe alignment), or delivery fault (delivering with bad alignment + many alignment machines programmed wrong + inexperienced alignment techs). The hardest part is just getting them to admit it's their fault. But many here can vouch for Tesla admitting it in their cases. The fact that they didn't even check your alignment speaks to them being VERY INEXPERIENCED at their jobs.

 

[brianman]

Wear looked pretty even all over, and Tesla SC said that the it was "normal" to wear out the tires that fast if driving "actively" (they didn't check alignment). I think the Continental tires are just a piece of garbage, at least on the norwegian roads.

It's also possible you had a "manufacturing quality issue" set of Continentals.

For comparison, I'm on my 4th set of 21s with the following lifetimes: { 8500mi Continental, 8500mi Continental, 12000mi Michelin }.

 

[yobigd20]

For comparison, I'm on my 4th set of 21s with the following lifetimes: { 8500mi Continental, 8500mi Continental, 12000mi Michelin }.

WOW. Dude that SUUUCCKKSSS. I'd be going through 5 or 6 sets a year at that rate.

 

[linkster]

the Federal tires make a very noticeable squeeling noise whenever they lose grip. The continentals............would leave rubber on the road

Ok......am I the ONLY person here that "sees" this poster driving away from stop lights similarly to John Force? S'up?

 

[trils0n]

Just checked my tires today as I hit 17k miles. Have 5-6/32" inner tread and 7-8/32" outer tread left on all tires. 21 inch Continentals. Guess I'm doing pretty well compared to lots of the posts here. Should get a few thousand more out of this set I assume.

 

[lolachampcar]

Over 17K with even wear and new rears waiting at the shop.

For reference for those that complain about wear, the Pilots on my P+ have now lasted longer than any rears on previous M5s or 535s.

 

[DJ Frustration]

Just found out that I need to replace my two 19" Goodyear Eagle RS-A2 as they have around 2/32" tread left. Already replaced them after 5,200 miles. Is it crazy to have to replace the rear tires after only 15k miles? Could use some advice from the community on what to go with on the rear for 19" P245/45R19.

 

[dsm363]

Just found out that I need to replace my two 19" Goodyear Eagle RS-A2 as they have around 2/32" tread left. Already replaced them after 5,200 miles. Is it crazy to have to replace the rear tires after only 15k miles? Could use some advice from the community on what to go with on the rear for 19" P245/45R19.

Have you been rotating tires? Were they worn more on inside than outside of tread?

 

[yobigd20]

Just found out that I need to replace my two 19" Goodyear Eagle RS-A2 as they have around 2/32" tread left. Already replaced them after 5,200 miles. Is it crazy to have to replace the rear tires after only 15k miles? Could use some advice from the community on what to go with on the rear for 19" P245/45R19.

my original OEM 19" Goodyear Eagle RS-A2 lasted 48k miles and still had 4/32" tread left an all 4 tires. you're alignment must be way out of whack to have to replace them that soon.

 

[DJ Frustration]

my original OEM 19" Goodyear Eagle RS-A2 lasted 48k miles and still had 4/32" tread left an all 4 tires. you're alignment must be way out of whack to have to replace them that soon.

Had the SC do an alignment check but they reported everything was Ok.

Have you been rotating tires? Were they worn more on inside than outside of tread?

Uniform wear patters. My first set of RS-A2's only lasted 5k miles and even though they admitted alignment problem, I still was forced to pay.

 

[yobigd20]

Had the SC do an alignment check but they reported everything was Ok.

That tells me they don't know what they are doing. Either they are incompetent, didn't even do it at all and just told u it was ok, or the machine itself is not calibrated correctly.