Yokohamas rock!

[erick]

....................if you want long life!

Had my tyres serviced this morning (Thanks Mr Jane). Over 60,000 km and there is at least another 10,000, maybe 20,000 on them! This is my second set of Yokohamas - the first had great life, these even more - I am impressed! Little 1.8l car.


Mind you, this 60,000 km has been clocked up in 15 months :scared:

[TheDecepticon]

We used to call them "Smokeyurmamas" cause they smoked well and smelled sweet doing a burnout!:rofl::rofl:
Unfortunately, life span was reduced to around 60 minutes, not 60000 km!:lol:
Not a bad tyre though.

[astroron]

My tyres have done 70.000 and are definitely in need of replacing, which will be done in the near future:D
mind you, this 60,000 km has been clocked up in 15 months :eyepop:
Eric,Thats 4000kms a month how do you have time to do anything else but drive:D

[Octane]

The Bridgestone's on my little Echo did just over 100,000 km before having to be replaced by a new set.

H

[DavidU]

A set of Pirelli PZero's on the 911 last 15,000km:help:

[multiweb]

:eyepop: You guys get some serious milage out of your tyres. I change mine approx. every year and I don't get any near to the milage you're talking about. :shrug:

[erick]

Got nothing like that on the Ford Futura - and the front brakes were a regular service item - new pads, new roters.

150km return to work, Ron - if I don't go anywhere else during the day - eg. to City office and back.

[Benno85]

Bridgstone Potenza's on our car have lasted 26000km over twelve months, starting to show some wear though. At $550 per tyre I'm hoping they will hold out a bit longer :sadeyes:

[erick]

The four Yokies cost me $436 fitted (plus $8 to dispose of the old tyres) :D

[Paul Haese]

Compound hardness determines normal tyre wear. Generally harder compounds wear the longest but have the least amount of road grip in the wet and slippery conditions. Soft compounds stick like poo to a blanket and give excellent grip in all conditions but wear rapidly.

If you want longer wear distances ask for harder compound tyres, not simply the ones you have now. If you are getting less wear then you most likely have very softer tyres. Its all really trade off and as in astronomy there is no one great tyre, each has it positives and of course negatives. Also some cars require softer compounds to track properly.

How do I know this? I spent a great deal of time and money on tyres in my youth which were attached to a LJ GTR XU1. ;)

Erick you need to tell people the exact model tyre as Yokohama make both hard and soft compound tyres.

I am sure there are some people here that work in the tyre industry that would have far more knowledge on this subject.

[erick]

OK Paul, I'll read the details off a tyre and report back.

A GTR XU1 ! :eyepop: I am very envious - I remember pining for at least a GTR when I was a high school student - but the new price of about $2,800 was beyond me. (The XU1 was $3,200+ - well out of reach :( ) I think the closest I got was a big GTR poster on my wall. :thumbsup:

[Spanrz]

Same tyre on Falcon BA Wagon, still going at 30,000 and only half worn. Best tyre for performance I've had yet.
What are you doing to them, haha, I know, you drifter you.

I like the 60 minute tyre life, good for thrills. Hahahaha.

Best tyre life so far, cannot be beaten, is Bob Jane Allrounders.. 2 sets, got 100,000 out of them. Not as grippy as I've currently got, but for distance, it wins hands down.

[DavidU]

No, not flogging it at all. It's the way they setup the geometary of the suspension. It's also 4 wheel drive so it chews them. Same with the BMW the rear tyres chew out quick too.The front tyres on the BMW have lasted 50,000km so far.

[stephenb]

I don't know what brand my tyres are, but I'm hitting 100,000 on my ute with the original tyres, a 5 1/2 year old Hilux. Should be due for some new ones in the next couple of months.

[DavidU]

:eyepop:100K !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[erick]

Ooops! I just checked my records - I got 125,000 km out of the previous set of Yokahamas - I have a long way to go yet to match that. We shall see.


BTW, the current set are covered in words and numbers. They are Yokohama A.drive, size 185/65R14 86H, Treadwear 300, 4U06 YYY 3008. Well that's some of the info on the tyre :confused2:

[Omaroo]

I saw the thread and was going to agree. I lived there for a couple of years - great place! Would move back tomorrow.

On reflection - the title might have been... "Yokohamas rock....."

:P

[AdrianF]

I got 48000 on my last set of Yokohamas and have gone back to Goodrich tyres for my 4x4. The last set of Goodrich gave me 80000 and I didnyreally have to replace at that time but we were about to go on a driving holiday and thought a bit of prevention would be good.

Adrian

[Jeffkop]

GTS gets about 30,000 MAX out of a set of Bridgestones ... seemed the back wore quicker than the front ... dont know why.

[erick]

Done! :lol:

[erick]

This is all brought about because I remember in the "good old days" - 20-30,000 miles on a set of tyres was considered exceptional!

[marki]

It's not just hard and soft compounds any more but rather the blends they use to make the rubber. Tyres with a fair whack of silicon or silicon polymers have the best of both worlds in both grip and service life. When I first got my bike the average life for a rear tyre was 3000km (careful riding) but this could be reduced to about 25 spirited laps of the local race track where the tyres ended up being melted into oblivion. Now I use silicon based hoops and get much more grip and about 10 - 13 K from a set of tyres. It was the same when I used to be involved in car racing. We used a bridgestone control tyre (soft and sticky) which would last 1 meeting (About 45 laps, $1400 ouch). The class then switched to a yokohama control tyre (high Si content) and the WRX was 1 sec a lap quicker with the tyres lasting more than half the season. These things are slicks with a few lines cut in them for light rain.

Mark

[TrevorW]

I remember seeing something on TV recently about silica tyres improving your fuel consumption

Quote

"Research has shown that the use of silica can reduce rolling resistance by up to 25 percent. Assuming correct tyre pressures are maintained, and making allowances for varying speeds and different driving characteristics, a 25 percent reduction in rolling resistance equates to around 4 percent fuel saving"

[taminga16]

Hi Eric,
Here is something to guide you through all of the information on the sidewalls of your tyres. Trevor and Mark, Silica and Silicone are poles apart and it is the Silica (sand) that provides better wear and grip qualities in tyres.
Preserving the life of your tyres is as simple as regular monitoring of pressures and even tyre wear, running tyres a few PSI over factory recommended pressures will increase tyre life as the tyres run cooler, rotation every 10000klms is good practice as is checking treads for stones and other stuff.

Greg.

P.S. Ben, If the B/Stone Potenzas on my MX5 (RE 050A's) only return 26000klms, $360.00 per corner I will not be happy!


http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html

[Starkler]

Yep I had a set of yokas once. I got about 28,000km out of them but then they were very soft and grippy. Made the 260z corner like it was on rails :D

[DavidU]

NICE ! I restored a 280zx with a stinking hot 3L L28.Loved it.(until it got stolen last year).

[marki]

Thanks for that Greg, I have always been led to believe that silicon polymers were used to enhance the properties of the tyres (synthetic rubbers). Unfortunatley it is not possible to rotate tyre on a motorbike :).

Mark

[rat156]

Eek, 100,000kms out of a set of tyres.

Seriously folks, you should not have tyres on your car that long. The tyre rubber is soft and pliable when new, but hardens and becomes brittle with age. This is accelerated by heat, UV exposure and other factors. Remember that the only thing between you and the road is a small patch of rubber.

The roadholding of these tyres would not be seriously impared around corners etc. as I doubt they had any in the first place. If you never push your car then that level of grip may suffice. I myself would not be happy and would simply throw them away. The area of concern is your braking distance. This will be probably tens of metres worse than when the tyres were new, that's about two car lengths, it means you not only hit the kid that runs out into the road, you probably kill them. All for the sake of a few hundred dollars, which you are eventually going to have to spend anyway.

Tyre manufacturers should not be able to make this rubbish, the stuff coming from China and Korea is bad, seriously bad. I wouldn't put them on a shopping trolley, let alone a 1.5t car capable of in excess of 110kmh. Wake up and take road safety seriously, yours and others. Buy good tyres and change the bloody things after 60,000kms or two years, MAXIMUM. Do you wife and kids ride in these cars with crap tyres on them? How would they feel to know that you're risking their lives to save a few hundred bucks, whilst spending money on telescopes?

Sorry for the rant, but this oneupmanship over how long your tyres lasts hits a raw nerve, particularly when a lot of the people espousing it (not necessarily here) are the "Speed Kills" nazis with little or no understanding of road safety.

Cheers
Stuart

[marki]

Stuart the big killer of tyres is heat cycles. As they go through hot and cold temp changes the rubber hardens then degrades.

Mark

[rat156]

Hi Marki,

I know quite a bit about heat cycles for tyres. For road tyres it really doesn't matter, UV and normal weathering degrades the actual rubber. For race tyres, yes the extreme heat generated during a race boils the plasticiser from the compound (which is what makes it soft), on my tyres they form a blue tinge on the outside edge of the tread. After a few heat cycles the tread starts to harden and the tyres take longer to warm up, once at operating temperature the work fine, but it is the first sign that they should be changed. I tried to get away with not changing a set of tyres for "one more meeting", combined with a cold day and a green track at Phillip Island...

Cheers
Stuart

[stephenb]

Bugger, found a screw in my back tyre yesterday morning after loading up with a tonne of retaining wall blocks. I decided to just get them changed, so 95,000 on the original back tyres. Have to go commercial grade for the Hilux.

[spearo]

I think some of the numbers mean they were manufactured in the 30th week of 2008.
frank

[erick]

Thanks everyone, for the info.

Given I'm doing 50,000km a year at the moment, my tyres will wear to minimum tread long before they age.

I do remember when I was a poorly paid researcher with a big mortgage and a dependant family of five - the Sigma Wagon had to make do with radial retreads! Not nice times :sadeyes:

[marki]

Hmmm I don't know why but my tyres always melt when I ride my bike :shrug: ;):D.

Mark

[rat156]

Bike tyres are a completely different kettle of fish, more like the r-tyres I use on the race car.

Cheers
Stuart