Auris 10 plate front tyre wear horror!

[iangame]

Around mid of Dec 2015 I bought 2 Dunlop SP Sport Maxx RT 215/45 R17.

I know the mileage at that time as I had a major service around 2 weeks later and that was recorded at 62500. I am now as near as damn it at 70k and these tyres have worn considerably such that I would say there is about 1mm left of legal tread left. Overall I very happy with this car as in all other respects it does the job and is easy to drive.

 

Just wondering 2 things here:

1. Is it normal for these cars to chew up tyres like this? I had a Focus before and that did eat tyres but quite at this rate.

2. Secondly, any recommendation please?

 

Thanks

[Anthony Poli]

Hi Ian,

I would suggest looking at tyre reviews.com and see what others had thought about the tyres, if I'm not mistaken some of these sport tyres don't last long. I have a 2010 Auris hybrid, second hand and it still has 2 of the original tyres.

I am still trying to decide on what to replace them with.

What tyre size is on yours?

 

Ant

[iangame]

Hi, interesting that you have the same year as well. I did look around and the one that came up good for wear was the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymetric 2 from tyrereviews.com.

 

I do not drive particularly gentle I admit but even so less than 10k or about a year?!

[FROSTYBALLS]

The tyre size is stated as being 215/45//R17.

You don't say whether the Auris is petrol or diesel, or which engine the car has. If diesel, the extra torque can wear tyres more quickly.

[iangame]

Ok, so I'm posting in the hybrid forum so I assumed it would be apparent that it is of that variety, IE petrol, hybrid, T4 CVT. ZWE150

[kithmo]

Is the treadwear even ?

[Anthony Poli]

These days there is so many tyres to choose from and it can be like wine. The price is no indication of how the tyre will perform or the life span.

215 45 R17 is one of those sizes that doesn't have as much choice as compared to 225 45 R17.

I still stuck for choice.

 

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

58 minutes ago, iangame said:

Ok, so I'm posting in the hybrid forum so I assumed it would be apparent that it is of that variety, IE petrol, hybrid, T4 CVT. ZWE150

Not if one goes by your profile .....

[PeteB]

Do you use PWR mode a lot?  When I managed a large fleet of Prius one of my first drivers to get the Gen 3 came back with barely legal front tyres at 10k.  Turned out he'd used PWR mode all the time, and got a bit of wheelspin much of the time during initial acceleration from rest, until the Traction Control kicked in!

[Ten Ninety]

11 hours ago, iangame said:

Just wondering 2 things here:

1. Is it normal for these cars to chew up tyres like this? I had a Focus before and that did eat tyres but quite at this rate.

2. Secondly, any recommendation please?

Thanks

1. No. Ours had the original Michelins for nearly 60,000 miles. The fronts were still legal and the rears had loads of wear left when they were replaced, which was only done because I wanted to try the F1s as they were supposed to be quieter. 

2. For longevity the OEM Michelins are hard to beat, although they're expensive. I went with the F1s you mentioned above which seem to be fine in terms of handling, but I can't speak for how long they will last. They are slightly quieter than the Michelins, but not a lot.

I'm not sure what 'not driving gentle' looks like in reality, but I suspect the answers might lie there rather than with the car.

[Anthony Poli]

3 minutes ago, Ten Ninety said:

1. No. Ours had the original Michelins for nearly 60,000 miles. The fronts were still legal and the rears had loads of wear left when they were replaced, which was only done because I wanted to try the F1s as they were supposed to be quieter. 

2. For longevity the OEM Michelins are hard to beat, although they're expensive. I went with the F1s you mentioned above which seem to be fine in terms of handling, but I can't speak for how long they will last. They are slightly quieter than the Michelins, but not a lot.

I'm not sure what 'not driving gentle' looks like in reality, but I suspect the answers might lie there rather than with the car.

I did read somewhere, that michelins have a longer life for the compounds used. They suggested that you change the tyres when are close to 10 years, some competitors suggest changing after 3 years.

I don't know if this is still the case.

 

[iangame]

11 hours ago, PeteB said:

Do you use PWR mode a lot?  When I managed a large fleet of Prius one of my first drivers to get the Gen came back with barely legal front tyres at 10k.  Turned out he'd used PWR mode all the time, and got a bit of wheelspin much of the time during initial acceleration from rest, until the Traction Control kicked in!

Hi, thanks for that observation. I think that is the clue as I have been using the PWR button a lot over the past few months.

[iangame]

55 minutes ago, Ten Ninety said:

1. No. Ours had the original Michelins for nearly 60,000 miles. The fronts were still legal and the rears had loads of wear left when they were replaced, which was only done because I wanted to try the F1s as they were supposed to be quieter. 

2. For longevity the OEM Michelins are hard to beat, although they're expensive. I went with the F1s you mentioned above which seem to be fine in terms of handling, but I can't speak for how long they will last. They are slightly quieter than the Michelins, but not a lot.

I'm not sure what 'not driving gentle' looks like in reality, but I suspect the answers might lie there rather than with the car.

Thanks,I have considered the Michelins for their long life, but as you say a bit more expensive but OTOH going through cheap ones at the rate I am it may be good value!

[Heidfirst]

Grip & wear rate are linked - good gripping/handling/braking tyres often wear faster as they tend to have softer compounds & long-lived tyres usually don't grip/handle/brake brilliantly because they have harder compounds. For the same reason the best gripping/handling/braking tyres also often tend to have not the best fuel economy.

You have to decide which are the more important attributes to you.

Of course driving style also comes into it.

[iangame]

11 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Not if one goes by your profile .....

Fair point Frosty, I will work on it later.

 

Thanks also to all for the tips and insights, some lessons learnt here for me.

[Anthony Poli]

1 hour ago, iangame said:

Hi, thanks for that observation. I think that is the clue as I have been using the PWR button a lot over the past few months.

I don't bother with the pwr button myself, only use ev for first thing in the mornings to avoid waking the neighbors. I find the car accelerates fine in eco, just stomp on the pedal a bit harder and it does what i want.

 

[PeteB]

41 minutes ago, Anthony Poli said:

I don't bother with the pwr button myself...

Me neither - I maybe use it 3 or 4 times a year, when emerging from a rest area on the A11 in Norfolk, where you turn sharply into traffic which, if lucky, is only doing 80 mph!  Even with Traction Control, using too much welly while almost at full lock is a recipe for useless wheelspin, but turning on the power rapidly at the steering is straightened in vital.  Whilst flooring it always works, it just makes the event a little less stressful.

First thing in the morning I use EV mode to keep the peace until near the dual carriageway at the edge of the village.

[PeteB]

I found Dunlop Blueresponse lasted quite well on my last Gen 3 Prius, had good grip and gave no measurable adverse mpg effect.  They were also much quieter than the original Bridgestones.

However, I had heard they are harder to find in 17" sizes - I've had 15" on my previous and current Prius (£60 per corner from my main dealer!)

[johalareewi]

If you want tyres that last for miles and miles, Michelin are the ones that work for me. My most recent tyres (Goodyear) don't have much tread left and have barely done 20000 miles.  They were cheaper than Michelin but I guess I got what I paid for.

You don't get as much choice with 17inch tyres vs 15inch tyres and they are usually a lot more expensive.  Toyota hybrids like low rolling resistance tyres (aka eco / green / fuel saver) to get the mpgs even lower.  I guess this gives you even less choice in a 17inch tyre.

[Anthony Poli]

1 hour ago, johalareewi said:

If you want tyres that last for miles and miles, Michelin are the ones that work for me. My most recent tyres (Goodyear) don't have much tread left and have barely done 20000 miles.  They were cheaper than Michelin but I guess I got what I paid for.

You don't get as much choice with 17inch tyres vs 15inch tyres and they are usually a lot more expensive.  Toyota hybrids like low rolling resistance tyres (aka eco / green / fuel saver) to get the mpgs even lower.  I guess this gives you even less choice in a 17inch tyre.

BeeKeeper has posted today, that the cross climate are now available in 215 45 r17. Just more expensive than the 225's

[johalareewi]

If you have a Costco near you, Michelin tyres could well be cheaper there and I think they have an offer on this week.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Bear in mind that the Dunlop brand is owned in Europe by Goodyear - so Dunlop and Goodyear tyres made for the European market are probably very similar.

[Anthony Poli]

48 minutes ago, johalareewi said:

If you have a Costco near you, Michelin tyres could well be cheaper there and I think they have an offer on this week.

Chears for that, they show they 225 45 R17 but not the 215's

But still comes out cheaper than anywhere else, even after paying as a non member.

[Beekeeper D]

On blackcircles the Crossclimate 215's (fitted prices) are almost 30% more expensive than the 225's. 

 

Far from sure that the Crossclimate is the ideal tyre for the OP's driving requirements! 

Surprised nobody has suggested he get his wheel alignment checked, even if those Dunlops aren't designed primarily for longevity and he, umm, frequently uses all the available performance ... 

[PeteB]

I think the other key question that Kitmo asked is whether the tyre wear is even:

work shoulders would point to underinflation, worn centre to overinflation.

Other signs of uneven wear could point to an alignment problem.