I replaced my oribinal Michelins with Nitto Invos almost 2 years ago. In just over 10K miles I went through 1.5 sets (still had 50% left on the second set) in the front and one set in the rear.

The Invo is a strange pattern tire that rides very quiet and has good traction. One quirk it had was very flexible sidewalls. The rears were upgraded to 285x30x19 and felt like riding around on rubber bands when inflated to recommended pressures (35 lbs).I thought it was very strange there was so much sidewall flex for a 30 series tire. Bumping the air up to 40 lbs all around improved the handling and got rid of the "rubber band" affect.The tires wore smoothl across the tread so the extra air did not effect the wear. But only 10K miles???

I just put on a set of Hankook's new performance tires the Ventus V12 EVO 225x40x18 front and 285x30x19 rear. Amazing difference in the feel of these tires. Road feel is improved dramatically. They run approximately just as quiet We'll see how long these last (wear is rated a little better than the Invo's they replaced)

Saved about $200 over the Invo's as well.

 

I'm having rear tire issues i have only 8000 miles on a set of generals and the rear are just about to the wear bars on the tires but the front still look new ,,the wear pattern is very even on both rear tires but wearing in the middle i was running 32 psi and now hav dropped them to 28psi looks like at this rate I will have to purchase 2 rear tires by spring ,,, I might add i dont go spinning the tires all the time just pretty much normal driving ....... what is the price range on the hancooks and wear rating ....?

thanks for any ideas you might have

Howard.

 

Wow, I'll see how my new rear generals do. I keep them at the recommended 36 psi for my car and so far I'm liking them, even though it's been 2 weeks. Couldn't pass up the good deal on them.

 

At http://www.discounttiredirect.com The fronts 225x40x18 are $124 rear standard 255x35x19 are $192. I upsized to the 285x30x19 rears for $214. Those prices include free delivery. They have a wear rating of 280 compared to 260 on the Nitto Invos and only 220 on the Michelin Pilot PS2 (the higher the number the better the wear).

These are z rated performance tires. You can do a little less with a lower rated tire.

The Hankook EVOs really make a difference on the front. The feel is better and they even feel more responsive. They also appear to be as quiet as the Nitto Invos.

 

Thanks for the info , my tire guy said he would try to get me a prorated refund if i wanted to go ahead and trade them in now he's baffled by the rate of wear,, the alinement on the car is dead on no problems there , so i'm not sure what i'm going to do at this point but new tires on the rear ,will have to happen before too long...

 

I just installed a set of Barum Bravuris 2 I will keep everyone updated as to how well they wear. Anyone else have anything to say about these tires?

GuyWagon

 

One thing to remember, and I believe this is true, the wear rating range on tires are only for that specific brand. As in the 200 rating for a Firestone brand tire is not the same as a 200 rating on a Goodyear brand tire. It's a place to start as a reference point between brands, but it does make your choice a little harder to figure out if your just looking at that number.

Paul

 

Thanks Paul. Your comments made me look into this further. Here is the info from Wikipedia.

Treadwear rating

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The Treadwear Grade of a tire is the numeric portion of the Uniform Tire Quality Grade Standards (UTQG) that are printed on the sidewall of a tire. These standards were enacted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which is part of the United States Department of Transportation. Higher treadwear numbers indicate that the tread of a tire, and hence the tire itself, should last longer.

Methodology
The wear on tires that are being tested ("candidate tires") is compared to the wear of Course Monitoring Tires (CMT), which are sold by the NHTSA at its UTQG test facility in San Angelo, Texas. Both types of tires are mounted on vehicles that will be driven in a convoy during the test, thus ensuring that the candidate tires and the CMT tires experience the same road conditions. The convoy, typically one of four or fewer vehicles, will drive 7200 miles on public roads in West Texas. Candidate tire wear will be checked during and after the test, and compared to the wear on the CMT tires from the same convoy.
The first CMTs were commercially-available Goodyear Custom Steelguards, and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company produced all CMT tires from 1975 until 1984. From 1984 to 1991, the CMT tires were produced by Uniroyal. CMT tires are now "specially designed and built to American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standard E1136 to have particularly narrow limits of variability." 1.
Treadwear Grade Number

The Treadwear Grade describes how a tire manufacturer views the wear of a given tire. In theory, this means that a tire with a 200 grade will wear twice as long as a tire with a 100 grade. However, tire manufacturers are not under any obligation to grade a tire based on the test results, except to say that they can not overstate the grade. This is enforced by NHTSA requiring documentation to justify any assignment of a grade on a tire.
Please note: As Course Monitoring Tires have changed, their treadwear grades have changed to numbers considerably higher than 100. As a result, it would be incorrect to say that a tire with a treadwear grade of 200 gets twice the life of the Course Monitoring Tire.


Limitations

Notice that the treadwear grade is a ratio and not a mileage. This is because there are a lot of factors that determine treadwear rates and most of them are a function of driving conditions and operating environment, and not the tire itself. As a result, actual tire wear will vary considerably within the same tire line. The phrase "Your mileage may vary" applies here.
The assigning of UTQG grades is done solely by the tire manufacturer. In many cases, this has resulted in the UTQG grading system to be more of a marketing tool than was originally intended.
It is legal and permissible for a tire manufacturer to give a particular tire line a lower treadwear grade. For example: If the highest treadwear grade in a manufacturer's line up is 600, then a tire line with a lower treadwear test result might receive a grade of 400, instead of the 480 it could possibly receive.
Also, it is common for tires whose treadwear grade is of little commercial value, such as "DOT" racing tires, to be assigned extremely low values - sometimes even zero.

 

I love my General UHP's and can't say enough about them. I have several thousand miles on them and absolutely no complaints. Zero signs of tire wear in rear.

 

So it still seems to be a grading system within the specfic brand of tire and not necesarily between different brands. Yes?

Paul

 

It appears that the grading system is supposed to cover all but it is merely a guideline. It looks like Paul was correct in that a 200 rated tire from "X" is not necessarily the same as a 200 rated tire from "Y".

 

so we can fit 285/30!!! thought 275 was highest we could get on stock rims.

 

I have been running the 285 rears for almost 2 years with no issues. Even taken it to the California Speedway for trackdays and autocross.

I like them 'cause their Plump and Meaty! LOL

 

Again, you should watch the size within the specific brand of tire and compare the specs with what you have now and what others here have proven proper fitment on our cars.

Not all 275s will be the same size.

Paul

 

I could be wrong, but it is my understanding that the treadwidth (285) the aspect ratio (30) and wheel diameter (19) is relatively constant from brand to brand very unlike the "suggested" treadwear rating. It is possible to measure the treadwidth a little different based on how the tread pattern wraps over the edge of the tire but overall the ratios are fixed.

Another tire comparison calculator can be found here Tire Size Calculator great for converting tire sizes.

Comparing what is our standard 255x35x19 (tire #1) rear tires with a 285x30x19 (tire #2) yields the following in inches.

Sidewall height #1 3.51 vs #2 3.37 for a difference of -.14

Section width #1 10.04 vs #2 11.22 for a difference of +1.18

Tire height (diameter) #1 26.03 vs #2 25.73 for a difference of -.3

Tire circumference #1 81.77 vs #2 80.84 for a difference of -.93

Tire revolutions per mile #1 799.08 vs #2 808.39 for a difference of 9.31

Speedometer reading #1 at 65MPH will equal #2 64.25MPH

Overall close enough for me for a nice gain in surface contact.

 

One thing I don't understand.... why go with all of these brand tires? I hear many people say 10K miles and the tire is shot?

My original Contis lasted 37K miles. Got the new contis and put another 20K+ miles on them and they aren't even halfway worn (came with a 60K mile warranty). The new set cost me 800 for all 4 tires. My car will do 140 MPH and it feels like you are gliding through the air.

So why mess with all these other brands? Why not just pay less and get more mileage out of continentals? Save the money you would have spent on these Japanese/American/Honk Kong (wherever they make them) and buy a whole new set of Contis when they are worn out in 40K miles. Contis are really good tires.

 

I like to try different tires and I prefer summer tires rather than all seasons.
I drive pretty aggressively and I didn't feel the Conti's handled as well as my original Michelin PS2's (which had 35000 miles when I replaced them with the Conti's)
These Hancook's got excellent reviews and are very similar to the PS2's I had and also cost less than the Conti's
__________________________________________________ __________________

The Hankook Tire group is the seventh largest tire company in the world Established in 1941 as the Chosun Tire Company.
It was renamed Hankook Tire Manufacturing in 1968.
Hankook Tire's worldwide reputation has largely grown due to its radial tire and bias-ply tire production. The company now supplies tires as original equipment to the Toyota Motor Corporation, Ford Motor Company trucks, General Motors trucks, International Truck and Engine Corporation, and others. In addition to producing about 50 million tires per annum, the company also sells batteries, alloy wheels, and brake pads.

 

I just put a pair of Hankook Ventus K104's 225-40-18's on the front - so far so good
Unfortunately this change was necessitated by a bulge appearing in the sidewall of one of my Michelin PS2's
I've still got a couple of virtually new PS2's on the rear
The guys at the tyre shop recomended the Hankooks as they say they perform well and were a lower price - it will be interesting to see how they wear.

 

You are correct in stating that the aspect ratio is a bit more consistant through brands than the treadwear ratings are. But you still should do just what you've done by comparing each size/brand side by side.
You can tell if 1/8" or 1/4" will be a show stopper one way or another.

And I fully agree with looking at alternate brands to get the best bang for the buck. These tire aren't cheap! I still have my original PS2s all around with only 13k on them, I'm a very easy on my car and they appear to be about half gone. And yes, one of my fronts seem to be developing a slight bubble....have to keep an eye on that, and I definately CAN'T afford to get PS2s again.

Cheers
Paul

 

Still running on last years model HANKOOK VENTUS S1 EVO XL bought back in may 09. Can't say enough good about these. Great ware and very quiet. Not bad in the rain. Was wondering if the wider rears help any with frontend drift. This dog wants to hunt sometimes on the interstate.