MOT tomorrow morning - Page 2

Adrian E · #11 5th September 2013, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Singh

The Michelin Pilot Super Sports are a bit lively in the wet, the dry grip is fantastic.

Yeah, I've read that, but also that they are much superior in the dry and only a little different to the PS2 in the wet, so may appear 'worse' when it's just marginally different to what I'm used to. I've never really liked driving the S8 in snow anyway!

I could be going back to work in the VERY near future - got a meeting with an old line manager on Tuesday and will see what transpires. I won't be crying over a pint quite as badly if there's a salary coming in! For one thing it'll change my usage profile on the car substantially so less short town journeys that cripple the tyre life, only really driving it at weekends, may even take it off the road entirely over the worst of the winter and cash the tax in till they stop gritting the roads.

On the upside I can probably look to replace the remaining PS2s on the car and have a much newer spare tyre (getting rid of the directional 10 yr old Pilot Sport original) once I've bedded the Super Sports in on the back of the car. Won't be able to report on new tyre experience as they're being changed one at a time..........

sloss · #12 6th September 2013, 05:54 AM

Remember I'm watching you lot......

I can't believe you run a car on worn out tyres. The legal limit of 1.6mm is not enough in the wet and cords showing leads to an even larger fine!

It's not smart or clever to skimp on tyres

Adrian E · #13 6th September 2013, 06:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sloss

Remember I'm watching you lot......

I can't believe you run a car on worn out tyres. The legal limit of 1.6mm is not enough in the wet and cords showing leads to an even larger fine!

It's not smart or clever to skimp on tyres

They have at least 3mm over more than 3/4 of the tread width - because I mainly drive in town they have scrubbed badly on the front before being swapped to the rear. I don't believe cords are showing - I wouldn't be driving it if I did - but whether they are legal to drive another 1,000 miles on or not isn't worth the agro of going through the MOT appeals process - there are cuts visible in the very outer edge which weren't there when I cleaned the wheels for AITP a few weeks ago. I have experience of working in tyre safety research and would consider 3mm the point at which I would choose to change tyres if the weather was wetter already.

Dry performance actually improves with reduced tread depth (assuming the tyres haven't aged to the point the rubber is that much harder than when they were new). Wet performance falls off a cliff below 3mm

If money were no object I would've changed them regardless a month or 2 ago but needed to get the maximum life out of them due to not actually having a job that brings in any money.

ETA - pic of the 'worst' tyre attached

sloss · #14 6th September 2013, 07:15 AM

Adrian,

Good reply. If it failed on that tyre then I'd be asking where the cords are exposed as it looks fine to me, the wear band is well under the surface.

Good to hear you may be back working

Adrian E · #15 6th September 2013, 03:11 PM

Well new MOT issued - spare is on and 1 of my new tyres I collected this morning. Car is booked in on 4th Oct for 2x wheel refurb but they have 1 wheel already. They won't paint until they do the other one to make sure colour match is good, but might get a call before 4th if they get space. Gave them the worst wheel to sort first which needs straightening on inside

Dezzy · #16 9th September 2013, 03:19 PM

That tyre is boarderline, if it was fitted to my car and pulled over by the police i'd argue it was still legal, however it's close to not being, on visable tread on the shoulder. 1.6mm over the main 3/4 part of the tread with visable tread to the rest. Close call on that one and right i think to fail MOT.

My A used to scrub tyres on the inside it has too much camber on the fronts, as it is not adjustable (as such) i had them toe in slightly to cancel out the affect of the camber. Might be worth having it played with, i can't see how short journeys will make any difference to tyre wear like that.

Adrian E · #17 9th September 2013, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dezzy

That tyre is boarderline, if it was fitted to my car and pulled over by the police i'd argue it was still legal, however it's close to not being, on visable tread on the shoulder. 1.6mm over the main 3/4 part of the tread with visable tread to the rest. Close call on that one and right i think to fail MOT.

My A used to scrub tyres on the inside it has too much camber on the fronts, as it is not adjustable (as such) i had them toe in slightly to cancel out the affect of the camber. Might be worth having it played with, i can't see how short journeys will make any difference to tyre wear like that.

I'd agree it's borderline - I'd like to see them show me cords exposted without digging them out of the tyre though!

These were fitted on the front before I moved them to the back a year ago - a lot of the short journeys I've done since I bought the car involve a lot of full lock left/rights out of junctions. Add full lock and a bit of power and you will quickly load edges of the tyres, especially with quattro driving the car from the back and trying to pull from the front on lock.

The rear does tend to wear the inner edge more, but I was losing the outer edge as well with them on the fronts so would've needed changing last year if I'd left them there.

ainarssems · #18 9th September 2013, 04:04 PM

Short journeys and low pressure will wear out both sides of tyre not just one.

Dezzy · #19 9th September 2013, 04:05 PM

Ah sorry my mistake i thought they were wearing on the inside edge on the fronts.

And yeah there's a little while yet before cords start to show on that tyre

Adrian E · #20 9th September 2013, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ainarssems

Short journeys and low pressure will wear out both sides of tyre not just one.

tyre pressures are always spot on (subject to punctures, which I've had 1 of) - but lots of full lock work will always scrub inner and outer edges and leave the centre of the tread unworn.

For town work I'd have been better to run higher than standard pressures on the front to try and stop the edge wear, but then every time I went on the motorway I'd be having to drop them back down again and frankly I don't have the time for that!

They've done at least 15k miles so for the type of tyre and use I can't complain