Tyre wear

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Forum

Help Support Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Uptodat

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 18, 2014
Messages
96
Location
Northants
A new set of four 18 months ago and the two fronts are badly worn on the outer edges, especially the left one. I had full alignment after the last replacements. After discussion with the tyre fitters, I will run for another 1000 miles or so & have a complete set of Toyos. He read over a safety bulletin applicable to the PHEV to the effect that it was crucial to have all tyres of the same make, tread pattern & wear or risk severe transmission problems.
Q Any other reports of outer edge front tyre wear?
Q Does this mean that one irreparable puncture would need 4 new tyres after a certain amount of wear?
 
Uptodat said:
A new set of four 18 months ago and the two fronts are badly worn on the outer edges, especially the left one. I had full alignment after the last replacements. After discussion with the tyre fitters, I will run for another 1000 miles or so & have a complete set of Toyos. He read over a safety bulletin applicable to the PHEV to the effect that it was crucial to have all tyres of the same make, tread pattern & wear or risk severe transmission problems.
Q Any other reports of outer edge front tyre wear?
Q Does this mean that one irreparable puncture would need 4 new tyres after a certain amount of wear?
I would not advise getting Toyo's. Try an A-brand. Conti, Michelin, Vredenstein, Goodyear, they all make much nicer tyres.
Outer-edge tyre wear may indeed indicate bad alignment, but can also be caused by driving style or running the tyres at too low pressure.
 
Thanks for response and advice. Under inflation is not an issue. The car is driven gently for economy and the steering wheel is only turned when moving. That the same wear pattern has happened twice made me wonder if the issue is confined to my vehicle or is more prevalent.
I initially asked about Michelin Cross Climate, even though Michelin say they won't be available in PHEV size until the new year. The tyre man's opinion was that I would pay a 50% premium and only get max 15% improved wear for cross climates which wear faster than the similarly expensive but perhaps more suitable Primacy tyres for most UK conditions. I know you get what you pay for and it's all a compromise etc, but aren't Toyos the original fit for a reason, or just for cost? Whatever I have fitted, I will have re-alignment then. The question about what to do when one worn tyre is written off remains.
 
Original fit tyres are the best (AKA cheapest within specification) contract that a car manufacturer can get away with.

I also wanted Cross-Climates, but finally settled for Vredenstein Quatrac, and couldn't be happier.
I know one should not compare worn tyres with new ones, but they are more comfortable and silent than the Conti Crossmax UHP that I had the car delivered on, and the road-holding and braking are at least as good.

In general, I think all-season tyres have come off age. Quite useful for 4WD SUVs too, as they will not only substitute for winter tyres, but the will offer a bit of off-road performance as well
 
I join the opinion that car manufacturers simply hunt for the cheapest tyres within a certain range.
I had to replace such tyres already more than once due to really bad perfomance when braking on slippery ground.
 
Uptodat said:
A new set of four 18 months ago and the two fronts are badly worn on the outer edges, especially the left one. I had full alignment after the last replacements. After discussion with the tyre fitters, I will run for another 1000 miles or so & have a complete set of Toyos. He read over a safety bulletin applicable to the PHEV to the effect that it was crucial to have all tyres of the same make, tread pattern & wear or risk severe transmission problems.
Q Any other reports of outer edge front tyre wear?
Q Does this mean that one irreparable puncture would need 4 new tyres after a certain amount of wear?

I find it hard to believe that having different tyres back and front would effect the transmission on the PHEV as there is no physical connection unlike a "normal" 4WD car. I suspect he was reading a non-PHEV specific safety bulletin. However, you should have the same tyres on the same axle, so an unrepairable puncture will mean 2 new tyres, which should go on the rear. However, you do get a "spare" this way so it would make sense to buy matching tyres so you can use the "spare" on any corner.
 
So I've got wear on the out edges of my fronts too. The dealer said they see a lot of this with the toyos so I expect when the time comes to replace mine I'll be trying something different.
 
Tyre wear seems to be more asymmetric on the PHEV than is has been on any other car we've owned. At 40,000 miles, our front tyres are pretty much bald while the rears seem to be about 50% worn. The edges on the fronts went long before the middle of the tread. We are about to sell the car to ourselves - will get a full new set of tyres while it is a company asset and all maintenance tax deductible.
 
jaapv said:
That basically means they were run on too low pressure. I use 2.4 Bar. (35 PSI)

So do I. Fast edge wear does seem to be a feature of the PHEV - I've seen it remarked on several times. I'm looking around for replacements now - range seems limited and I'm horrified by the reports of short life expectancy of many of the so-called premium brands. I think I'll go for Toyos again - they have been ok to drive and managed close to 40,000 miles before they have gone bald.
 
Conti Cross Contact UHP 50.000 km 3 mm left at replacement. Hankook EVO winter tyres 4 mm left @ 40.000. It is a heavy car. If you are driving it like the average Audi knight it will smear a lot of rubber over the tarmac.
 
jaapv said:
Conti Cross Contact UHP 50.000 km 3 mm left at replacement. Hankook EVO winter tyres 4 mm left @ 40.000. It is a heavy car. If you are driving it like the average Audi knight it will smear a lot of rubber over the tarmac.

Hmmm, interesting... I did look at the Contis but ruled them out because the reviews all seem to agree that life expectancy is poor. Several reviewers describing them as almost dead after 12,000 miles.
 
So for what it is worth

Yes it is a heavy car. I run at 2.6 bar on summer tyres and 2.7 bar on wintertyres. As I switch tyres twice every year (summer to winter and back) I also monitor tyrewear across the wear surface and it is very even with this tyre preassure. Running at 2.4 I felt the car was to "loose" so I increased preassure. After 46000 km at this tyrepreassure wear is very even and no wear whatsoever on the sides.
 
Steepndeep said:
So for what it is worth

Yes it is a heavy car. I run at 2.6 bar on summer tyres and 2.7 bar on wintertyres. As I switch tyres twice every year (summer to winter and back) I also monitor tyrewear across the wear surface and it is very even with this tyre preassure. Running at 2.4 I felt the car was to "loose" so I increased preassure. After 46000 km at this tyrepreassure wear is very even and no wear whatsoever on the sides.

What tyres is that on? Is that a total of 46,000 km spread across two sets of tyres?
 
Yes. I guess around 35 000 km on original Toyos (18 inch) and 11 000 km on Nokian (16 inch). The Toyos "may" go another summer with a stretch. The Nokians have many more winters ahead of them.
 
maby said:
jaapv said:
Conti Cross Contact UHP 50.000 km 3 mm left at replacement. Hankook EVO winter tyres 4 mm left @ 40.000. It is a heavy car. If you are driving it like the average Audi knight it will smear a lot of rubber over the tarmac.

Hmmm, interesting... I did look at the Contis but ruled them out because the reviews all seem to agree that life expectancy is poor. Several reviewers describing them as almost dead after 12,000 miles.
Was that the UHP series? They were the winner of several German reviews for specific SUV tyres
 
jaapv said:
maby said:
.....

Hmmm, interesting... I did look at the Contis but ruled them out because the reviews all seem to agree that life expectancy is poor. Several reviewers describing them as almost dead after 12,000 miles.
Was that the UHP series? They were the winner of several German reviews for specific SUV tyres

Yes - see http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Continental/Cross-Contact-UHP.htm - they only score 52% for wear and several reviewers report very poor life expectancy.
 
Typical for reviews - they could not even agree on the year we live in..... :roll: I speak only for myself - and they lasted for a long time. I could probably have gotten another 5000-10.000 in before they turned illegal.
 
Back
Top