By , Gene Petersen
Published October 10, 2016
Making a decision about buying tires usually comes down to price and tread wear. Most people are looking for the best of both worlds—a bargain priced, long-lasting tire. Finding low prices is mostly the easy part, but gauging tread wear is a black art. User reviews, word of mouth, previous experiences with a tire brand, and manufacturer claims in the form of treadwear warranties all play into the decision. And there’s also the government’s treadwear ratings.
Treadwear mileage warranties are easy to understand and are almost universal in structure. Basically, the manufacturers pay consumers for a tire’s treadwear shortfall. Likewise, manufacturers assign treadwear grades following strict government protocols. The grades are less intuitive, not based on specific mileage, but a comparison of one tire to another. A tire with a grade of 200, say, is said to wear twice as long as one graded 100. Comparing mileage warranties and government grades should be straightforward, but it’s not. Turns out some manufacturers are more conservative in their claims, and marketing strategies tend to blur direct comparisons between tire companies.
To put the models on the same playing field, we came up with our own comparative tread-life test several years ago. Its reflected in our tread life ratings for most tires, excluding winter tire products. We typically run all-season tires on cars to 16,000 miles—more than double the mileage called for by the government.
Here’s why doing such an expensive, time-consuming test is worth it.
So, how do you find a long-wearing tire? Well, neither treadwear warranty nor the government’s treadwear grades are a definite guide, but it’s a start. For sure, if a tire has an impressive warranty, it ought to have an impressive treadwear grade. We find warranty and treadwear grades to be a better tool for comparing models within a single manufacturer’s lineup than across different manufacturers. Also, you might find user reviews helpful, but don’t rely on just a few glowing comments because everything is highly dependent on what people drive and various road and weather conditions. Good vehicle maintenance and properly inflated tires can go a long way in getting the most miles out of a set of tires.
Ultimately, check Consumer Reports’ tread-life ratings as your first stop in the tire-buying trip.
—Gene Petersen
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