Interesting Tire Mathematics...

[7milesout]

I was playing around today wondering how many miles I have left on my tires. Temper this with the fact that we are pretty much on 100% clear roads year around down here in the southeast. Sometimes we get some nasty, but because it hovers just below and just above freezing temps, it's usually always ice-based, so best give it a day or 2 and let it melt away.

So neglect the proposition of driving in bad conditions on mostly worn out tires. Here is what I calculated.

My tires are currently:

• 3/32nds on the front. And,
• 4/32nds on the rears.

I'm going to rotate (again) and run the 4/32nds on the front. And probably just leave them on there until they're ... dead. Due to that, the 4/32nds tires are going to be my "mileage gauge." I'm neglecting the 3/32nds because they'll get put on the back soon and coast their way along until they're dead.

Other fixed info:

• Enasaves are 9/32nds when new, and
• Tires are "supposed" to be finished at 2/32nds.
• The Blueberry has 39,000 miles on it now.

The math:

• 9 - 2 = 7/32nds of allowable wear.
• Current wear is 9 - 4 = 5/32nds worn.
• Wear % = 5 ÷ 7 = 71% worn
• Remaining = 29%

71% of (MaxMiles) = 39,000 miles.

39,000 ÷ 71% = 54,600 mile life.

And my useage is 33.0 miles per day. At that pace, that gives me 484 days remaining. Basically a year and 4 months. Puts me out to mid to late May, 2025.

Probably not interesting to anyone else. But I thought it sounded like a reasonable predictor. And I thought I'd be painting my wheels sooner. I might just say F'it and paint them this spring and run around for a year looking like a dumbass with black paint on my tires.

[Fummins]

This is another reason to go with blue. Black painted tires would look kinda stupid.

[Mark]

7,800 miles per 1/32" of tire wear!

If I was tire shopping today, this would be my 165/65r14 ranking -

Kumho Solus TA51a (640AA/75,000 mile warranty) - pretty much $92/tire since they appeared everywhere
Nexen N'Priz AH5 (460AA/50,000 mile warranty)

If I needed tires & I saw the Kumho Solus TA51a tires on sale at some point, I would jump on them.

If someone likes the Dunlop Enasave (340AB/no warranty), you can find them under $120/tire. It's been years since I have seen them priced that low. For whatever reason, the Bridgestone Pontenza RE92 (260AB/40,000 mile warranty) has become the higher priced tire now.

Good place to compare good choices below -

https://www.tires-easy.com/tires/165-65-14

If I lived near a Discount Tire, I would buy my Kumho Solus TA51a tires from them (unless you mount & balance your own tires). Plan B for me is Walmart, because I don't live near a Discount Tire.

https://www.discounttiredirect.com/f...size/165-65-14

My 165/65r14 Vredestein Quatrac 5 tires (from Tire Rack) have been on back order for over a year (ordered 12/21/22) now! A $100 off a purchase of 4 made them about $68/tire. The delivery date keeps getting pushed back.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireS...erformance=ALL

[OrganicFoxes]

7,800 miles per 1/32" of tire wear!

If I was tire shopping today, this would be my 165/65r14 ranking -

Kumho Solus TA51a (640AA/75,000 mile warranty) - pretty much $92/tire since they appeared everywhere
Nexen N'Priz AH5 (460AA/50,000 mile warranty)

If I needed tires & I saw the Kumho Solus TA51a tires on sale at some point, I would jump on them.

If someone likes the Dunlop Enasave (340AB/no warranty), you can find them under $120/tire. It's been years since I have seen them priced that low. For whatever reason, the Bridgestone Pontenza RE92 (260AB/40,000 mile warranty) has become the higher priced tire now.

Good place to compare good choices below -

https://www.tires-easy.com/tires/165-65-14

If I lived near a Discount Tire, I would buy my Kumho Solus TA51a tires from them (unless you mount & balance your own tires). Plan B for me is Walmart, because I don't live near a Discount Tire.

https://www.discounttiredirect.com/f...size/165-65-14

My 165/65r14 Vredestein Quatrac 5 tires (from Tire Rack) have been on back order for over a year (ordered 12/21/22) now! A $100 off a purchase of 4 made them about $68/tire. The delivery date keeps getting pushed back.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireS...erformance=ALL

Where I live the Dunlops are 20 more per tire at Discount Tire then the RE92s. I went ahead and just got the RE92s, for whatever reason it made the road noise a lot quieter so I am not complaining.

[Mark]

Where I live the Dunlops are 20 more per tire at Discount Tire then the RE92s. I went ahead and just got the RE92s, for whatever reason it made the road noise a lot quieter so I am not complaining.

I think Discount Tire Direct prices are honored everywhere. It's a bit different than Discount Tire.

Discount Tire Direct prices -

https://www.discounttiredirect.com/f...size/165-65-14


Discount Tire prices for a Wisconsin store -

https://www.discounttire.com/fitment...size/165-65-14


Walmart is selling the Dunlop for less than the Bridgestone, too. Value-wise I don't think either one compares to the new Kumho TA51a for $92/tire. That's just my opinion. I haven't purchased them yet!

[Dark Magenta]

Quatrac 5s are still backordered with no expected date for additional inventory. Samaritan Tire says "Tire Rack is for the most par the exclusive supplier of Vredestein tires." Les Schwab says "We would have to wait for the manufacturer inventory to become available as well." https://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compa...tireIndex=null I wish Tire Rack would fill out this comparison for the Kumho TA51a.

[Mark]

Quatrac 5s are still backordered with no expected date for additional inventory. Samaritan Tire says "Tire Rack is for the most par the exclusive supplier of Vredestein tires." Les Schwab says "We would have to wait for the manufacturer inventory to become available as well." https://www.tirerack.com/tires/Compa...tireIndex=null I wish Tire Rack would fill out this comparison for the Kumho TA51a.

4 Vredestein Quatrac 5 tires were in stock @ Tire Rack about 2-weeks ago. They were up front about it, & said they were a 2020 production (4 years old already). They were gone within a day or two. Someone must be cleaning closets in the warehouses or something?

That happened last summer, too. A handful of $77 Quatrac 5 tires appeared out of nowhere. I inquired about them, but they wouldn't honor my sale price for those tires. I found that a bit odd, but I didn't lose sleep over it.

I ordered a set of the Quatrac 5 tires back in December of 2022 (not 2023), because they were offering $100 off a set. I found that quite odd for a tire they didn't have in stock. I get an email about every other month informing me the delivery date is pushed back another 60 days. They keep asking if I want to change my order, but I am holding out for the $68/tire price I bought them at. They list for $103.77/tire today.

My backorder is going on 15 months now. I don't even understand why they offer the tire on their website? It's not been in stock since late 2022. I see a delivery date of early May, but I've seen the delivery date change over 10 different times now. I will actually chuckle if I get them some day now.

Personally, I don't have high expectations for the Quatrac 5. I plan to use them as a winter tire, but I have a plan B (my Subaru Forester with real snow tires) for nasty winter days.

If you're not looking for a 3-peak mountain snowflake tire, I honestly believe the Kumho Solus TA51a is the best 165/65r14 tire choice. It's a new tire designed specifically for the American market ("a" means that), but that probably means nothing. It replaced the Kumho Solus TA31 tires I have on my Mirage. I would be curious about how the all-season TA51a does in snow, but being new there aren't many consumer reviews on it yet.