[JHL]

I'm driving '04 CTS, base. My tires are gone @ 21K . I rotated them twice previously @ 6,135 and 13,602.
At 16,242 for a service, the technican noted the tread was 5/32 and needed future attention.
I took it in yesterday for a rotation and alignment and 3 of the 4 are in need of replacement. This is driven by my Wife to work and back. 20 mile rtrip, city driving. She's not a lead foot.
When I get to drive usually hwy, no more than 75 mph, couple of hours.
I may not have been as diligent with the pressure checks as I should have.
Are the
Goodyears that bad,
lack of 'frequent' pressure checks
or was the alignment out way before 21K
I am more diligent about pressure checks in the winter because of the temp changes.

 

[dkozloski]

One thing to keep in mind is that speed rated tires such as those on the CTS do not have as much tread as regular tires when they are new. The wear should be judged with the wear bars in the pattern rather than by use of older methods.

 

[JHL]

I'll keep that in mine, dkozloski. I forgot to mention the wear pattern on the bad tires is indicative of align and/or pressure problems.

Other hitting a potholes or curb, is their a 'rule' on getting an alignment? Like after x miles?

 

[Budster]

There have been a lot of posts regarding the poor tread life of the oem Goodyears.

I put mine away - they'll go back on the car at the end of my 4 year lease. After I finish the season with my snow tires, I'm putting on a set of Toyo Proxes 4. They've had some excellent reviews.

There are some excellent performance tires that don't wear as quickly as the RS-A. I had BF Goodrich GForce T/As on my last car and they were quite good.

:burn:

 

[dkozloski]

I made some earlier posts about stringing the car to make a quick alignment check.

 

[Parrothead]

Found this comment on the lexus website regarding 18" wheels and tires....

***Please ask your local Lexus dealer for pricing information.
[3] Tires fitted with 17- or 18-in wheels are expected to experience greater tire wear than conventional tires. Tire life may be substantially less than 20,000 miles (17-in) or 15,000 miles (18-in), depending on driving conditions.

for what it's worth

 

[AsAkAs]

Found this comment on the lexus website regarding 18" wheels and tires....

***Please ask your local Lexus dealer for pricing information.
[3] Tires fitted with 17- or 18-in wheels are expected to experience greater tire wear than conventional tires. Tire life may be substantially less than 20,000 miles (17-in) or 15,000 miles (18-in), depending on driving conditions.

for what it's worth

Funny enough, on the new IS there is actually a sticker on the window that states this same thing, but honestly people who drive a car like a sports car with sports tires shouldn't expect anything less

 

[-1-]

[3] Tires fitted with 17- or 18-in wheels are expected to experience greater tire wear than conventional tires. Tire life may be substantially less than 20,000 miles (17-in) or 15,000 miles (18-in), depending on driving conditions.

I've never heard that. I believe the key to good tire wear is moderate driving, proper tire pressure, and to correct improper wear patterns (proper alignment and balance). I've always gotten excellent mileage out of all my vehicles. One problem, new performance tires have softer compounds that wear out quicker. The Goodyear F1s are a good example. I don't understand the logic that 17" & 18" tires wear out quicker, unless those sizes use more high performance tires.

 

[BishopRuger]

Well I've noticed some wear in my tires as well but its on the inside portion, near the fender wall. It's almost bald but the other 75% of the tire is ok.

 

[jstowe]

I'm a new "listener" here but feel that I need to comment on the tire wear issue.
I have recently purchased a used '03 (Plat, AT, Lux, sunroof, Bose, 16" polished rims, split/folding rear seats + heated pass seat) 16K miles (now 18.5K miles). Lv the car and everything about it! Except the RSA's! They are going to need to be replaced in < 5-8K miles. I don't drive the car hard and I know the previous owner(He bought an STS) (he's not a "hard" driver). Tire pressure is checked weekly and allignment was check by a very reputable shop after I bought the car. It was "perfect"

Dealer has indicated that their experience has been all of their customers need to replace the tires well before 30K miles.

So, what's the recomended replacement that would possibly improve handling or at least be the same but last longer than 25K??
Thanks

 

[odysseus]

I recently upgraded my 17" wheels to 18's, at ~35,000 miles. My original RSAs still have over half tread left. Granted I do 80% highway driving, but it's all at 75+ mph. I'm not sure why some folks aren't getting more than 25K miles out of them. I got a great deal on some Bridgestones Potenza's when I upgraded wheels, but my next set will be Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 or A/S's.

The softer the tread, the stickier the tire (more performance), but the downside is that treadlife typically suffers. The original Goodyear Runflats on the CTS-V are VERY soft, and many get less than 10K miles out of a set. Chris (CVP33) took me for a spin last weekend in his. He said he only got 4k miles out of his first set! But for a guy who's on his second V in two years, what's an extra $1200 for tires every few months! LOL I'm sure it has a little to do with driving 'habits', and with 400 HP on tap, the 'habits' are not good for tires!

 

[BishopRuger]

I'm actually looking at the Avon Tech M550 A/S tire as a replacement for the OEM RSA's... I'm gonna need a good set of tires for the upcoming winter.

 

[haute_heir]

Funny enough, on the new IS there is actually a sticker on the window that states this same thing, but honestly people who drive a car like a sports car with sports tires shouldn't expect anything less

I actually was told the same thing by a dealer/friend over at Mercedes. He said his 18" tires on his S430 last about 30,000kms (less than 20,000 miles). He bought a set of Continentals last spring, he has put on about 35,000kms since then, and said these tires will make it through this winter no problem. He now swears by Continental. I bought a 05' C320 last summer and it came with 17" Continental Z rated tires as factory equipment, I must say that even though I take them off for winter, they have seen over 20,000kms (12,000miles), and appear to have minimal wear. I was also surprised with how quick the wear was on my CTS after driving it a mere 5,000kms on the factory rubber/wheels.

 

[eib19]

I've now got over 15,000 miles on a set of Pzero Neros 245/45-20's -- the tires look like new. I think a lot has to do with alignment and driving style.

My last car had Eagle RSA's 225/60-16 that had over 60,000 before I upgraded to 18's (and still had about 25% left).

Most of my driving is fairly moderate in terms of cornering, fast in terms of speed (80-85 on interstates) -- what I would consider a "normal" driver.

 

[viking2]

I was able to get 30k on my goodyears RSA. 90% highway miles. I replaced them with Bridgestones Taranzas. great set of tires. I like the looks of the RSA's, but the ride after a few thousands miles are horrible.

 

[1500cc]

My rear RS-As are almost completely bald down the middle but the shoulders are in good shape (35 Mm on the clock). They have never been overinflated. I do drive the car fairly hard, but I rarely do burnouts anymore. I've read a lot of complaints about poor tire life on the RS-As and I'd have to agree. Funny thing is, the fronts are almost like new. I can't say for sure if they've been rotated since the dealership does all the maintenance (my bad for not checking this, I guess). I won't be buying Goodyears again.