I don't get the "designed for low rolling resistance but wear out quickly" part. For low rolling resistance you'd need a hard compound tire, which would, or should, wear longer. Running at somewhat high freeway speeds (I've been to Michigan, minimum speed is about 80) tires might wear out quicker due to amplified suspension deflection, but under 20K? That's hard driven performance car territory. I'd be highly suspicious of the alignment, and take it to a specialist who really KNOWS how to use an alignment rack. That's usually not a tire store. Seeing how they are in the business of selling tires, their incentive to do it right isn't there.
I will get about 50,000 miles out of the wider rear Continental tires (175 front, 195 rear) on my smart - it's at 44,000 miles so far with lots of treadwear left on the rear. The fronts will probably be good to 80,000. No cupping, no weird noises.
Some other Canadian smart owners lose a set every 25,000 miles, with the rears worn down to the cords. Some of the suspension setups seem to be not quite as sweet as others, to say the least!
I rank Original Equipment tires as roughly equivalent to a sample size of something like shampoo - enough to get you started, but nothing long term. I've been shocked with other cars when I see the low mileage I get from the OE tires. But when I've made my own tire selection on the second set, seems like I get at least 3X the miles. Same driver, same vehicle, same location. The principal variable being the tires.
Thought the idea behind tire rotation was to spread uneven wear around. at 13K no sign of cupping in front, the rears are worn evenly across. Most of my driving is on secondary roads. The factory tires like the car they are fitted to are a compromise. Sounds to me that the alignment spec from the factory may not be the best for Highway touring perhaps. Mine sees highway use on occasion such as each trip to the dealer still no untoward wear.
karl
I rank Original Equipment tires as roughly equivalent to a sample size of something like shampoo - enough to get you started, but nothing long term. I've been shocked with other cars when I see the low mileage I get from the OE tires.
Agreed. I had this conversation about the life difference between OEM and retail tires with a local Bridgestone/Firestone manager. He gave me an example of a higher end Bridgestone tire used by Mazda on their trucks. This tire as an OE was lucky to get 25-30K of life, while the same model sold at their store was warrantied for a much longer life and usually made it. His comment was when an OEM specs out a tire (compound, etc.) and they are buying 5 million tires at a time while Bridgestone sells 400-500K of the same tires at retail per year, you build what the manufacturer wants. They should always have the OEM designation on the tire. My comment was that it could give a poor impression of the tire maker and he agreed, but the bottom line is the bottom line.
My pre-smart ride was a Honda Civic. The OEM tires on it lasted to 20K with conservative driving and regular maintenance before I had to replace them for horrendous noise and very poor rain performance. There was still some tread, but it wasn't worth keeping them at that point.
I've got 5K on my Yokohamas so far and am very pleased.
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