I have put roughly 20k miles on these tires so far, had them for a year now exactly. A lot of those miles have come from driving long distances as well, like college and back (1.3k roundtrip). I went out and used a index card like someone had suggested before and measured the tread left on the tire. On the front tires, in the middle tread it was 1/8" and on the outside tread it was about 7/32". About how much life do I have left on my tires? Thanks

And I haven't gone to the track yet, and don't do burnouts etc etc.

 

The number of miles left depends on when you replace your tires, IOW at what tread depth. Legally, you can drive on them until the tread depth is 2/32", at which point there are bands in the tread ("treadwear indicator bars") that appear flat across the tread. However, traction in the rain will be reduced as the tread depth gets close to that level, so some people replace them before they reach 2/32". (I replace mine at 2/32" but I'm extremely careful in rain when the tread depth is reduced.)

I'll assume for the purpose of your question that you've never rotated your tires. More on that in a moment.

The ES100 comes with 10/32" of tread depth when new. If you replace the tires at 2/32" of tread, that means that each 1/32" of tread depth beyond that is good for one eighth of the tire's lifespan. If you have 1/8" (4/32") of tread depth remaining, that means that you have used up 75 percent of the tire's lifespan over those 20K miles, which means that you have 6,667 miles left before they reach 2/32" in the middle of the tread, at which point you will need to replace them. (You should replace them at that point if the center of the tread has the wear bars flat across, even if the sides do not.)

It's a good idea to rotate your tires periodically, which will even out the wear so that they all wear out at the same time. Front wheel drive cars wear out the front tires faster than the rear tires. If you've never rotated your tires, the rears probably have a lot more tread depth than the front tires. So rotate them - switch the front tire with the rear tire on each side (don't move them from one side to the other, since the ES100 is directional and is mounted on the wheel so that it can be used on a specific side of the car). By doing so, your tires will probably last a lot longer than 6,667 miles. (What I do, to make sure that my tires last as long as possible and wear out at the same time, is that I always make sure that the tires with more tread depth are on the front of the car. So if this is the first time you are rotating your tires, leave the ones with more tread on the front until they are worn at least as much as the rears. After that, you can rotate every 3-6K miles. This is easy to do yourself. A lot of our cars have a jacking point that will raise both tires on one side of the car off the ground.)

Also, the tread wearing out in the center of the tread is often a sign that the tires are overinflated. However, this is common on the ES100 even on properly-inflated tires. Regardless, it's a good idea to check your tire pressures every few weeks, and keep them inflated to the pressures recommended by your car's manufacturer (with whatever adjustment from there you may need to make, but that's a good place to start).

 

I actually rotate every 3-4k miles when I get my tires aligned.

So theoretically I should get a new set of tires soon, like after I make the trip back to school (FL-NC, 650miles) which is in a bit. Any suggestions? I know you said Kuhmo Ecsta's before? I do have a manual now and I'm getting turbo'd within the month. I plan on attending the track seldomly. This is my daily driver and I do intend on keeping it that way for another few years. I'm going to be running 6-7psi and seeing somewhere around 260whp. Any ideas? Thanks as always nsxtasy.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by msedacca &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I actually rotate every 3-4k miles when I get my tires aligned.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Then I suppose all your tires are about the same tread depth.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by msedacca &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So theoretically I should get a new set of tires soon, like after I make the trip back to school (FL-NC, 650miles) which is in a bit.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well, you can wait until your tires are actually down to 2/32" before doing anything*. If they've got 7K miles left, that could be a while.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by msedacca &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Any suggestions? I know you said Kuhmo Ecsta's before?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Kumho makes a lot of tires with the Ecsta name. The Kumho Ecsta SPT is a great blend of performance (wet and dry) and value (purchase price and treadlife). They're a lot like the ES100, only a little bit better in just about every way.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by msedacca &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I do have a manual now and I'm getting turbo'd within the month. I plan on attending the track seldomly. This is my daily driver and I do intend on keeping it that way for another few years. I'm going to be running 6-7psi and seeing somewhere around 260whp. Any ideas?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well, you can get tires that offer more traction (for the turbo and the track) but they won't offer as much value as the SPT. To take two examples, the Falken Azenis RT-615 has terrific dry traction, but is so-so in wet and will only give you about a third to a half as many miles as the ES100 or the SPT; the Goodyear F1 GS-D3 is excellent in dry and wet, and treadlife is excellent, but costs twice as much money to buy. So those are the trade-offs.

*It's worth noting that the $40 rebate offer on Kumho tires expires at the end of this month. No word yet on whether a new offer will replace it.

 

What is your take on Dunlop FM901's? My friend runs them on his SHO. I honestly don't know anything about them, but I will look into the Kuhmo's. I think I'm going to be putting on my Michelin Hydroedge's for the winter season anyways.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by msedacca &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What is your take on Dunlop FM901's?</TD></TR></TABLE>

They were a decent tire when they were introduced in the 1990s. Now, they are crap by comparison with today's best tires. They are just not competitive with the best tires in the "budget performance" segment of the market. That's why Dunlop introduced their Direzza DZ101 tire a year ago, so that they could offer something comparable in performance with the ES100 and the SPT.