I have a 04 coupe with original oem tires that has around 23000 miles on it. When I made a sharp turn this wet morning, my rear end slide a little and the VDC flashed. I just want to know, is it time for new tires. By the way, did anyone of you G riders from the Sac and surrounding area was out there in the rain this morning? How well did you tires do? FYI....the two water channels from the tires are bald. I'm not sure that they are call water channel.

 

Get one of those tire tread measuring tools and measure the tread depth. They are like 3 bucks to buy the tool, and it's retardedly easy to use. Nobody here is going to be able to tell you with certainty if your tires are worn out without you posting a picture of them.... although I would venture to guess that if you have 23K miles on the original tires, they are probably pretty close to worn out.

 

the tires should have a tread indicator. michelon tires have the michelon guy with a thumbs up. some have arrows. look on the sidewall and you'll see.

 

Just as a note, my OEM tires, with 5400 miles on them slide in the wet too.

 

Just took another look at the rear tires, it looks like they're wearing from the inside out. too bad i don't know how post pics to the forum.

 

Create an account on a site like Imageshack or photobucket... upload your photos, then each photo will have a little tag beneath it in your account that begins with the words "IMG" and enclosed by brackets like this [enclosed IMG tag]address of your image.jpg[\enclosed IMG tag]. Copy and paste that IMG tag address and paste it into a message here.

 

Thanks

 

Your rear tires are probably toast if they are original with 23K miles on them. I just changed mine out a couple days ago for some toyos at 23K and they were completely bald. The tire guy said that if I would have hit a good size pothole they probably would have popped.

 

Wow... you lasted 23k miles on the original tires?.. That's damn good

 

I actually got 27K out of my stock ones and there was still about 3/32" left on the rears when I replaced them.

The road noise that they made was terrible though. The first thing I noticed when I got my new tires was that my exhaust sounded soo much nicer now that it wasn't being partially masked by the horrendous tire roar.

 

I got 42,000 miles out of the oem tires...though they were racing slicks and actually blew out when I was doing 70mph!!

 

The Penny Test

Bridgestone Firestone North America Tire, LLC (BFNT) has a practical suggestion for commemorating the presidency of Abraham Lincoln. While Lincoln is broadly associated with a multitude of accomplishments and characteristics, from his humble upbringing to the Gettysburg Address, perhaps a lesser-known claim to fame is Honest Abe's contribution to 21st century automotive maintenance.

That's right, Abe Lincoln has made a significant contribution to car care. The Lincoln penny test has become a tried-and-true method of determining when it's time to get new tires. The procedure is as simple as placing a penny in the tread and using Abe Lincoln's likeness as your guide.

Here's the three-step "penny test:"

1. Take a penny and pinch Abe's body between your thumb and forefinger.
2. Put Lincoln's head into one of the grooves on the tread. Select a point on your tire where tread appears the lowest.
3. If any part of Abe Lincoln's head is obscured by the tread, you're driving with the legal and safe amount of tread. If you can see above his head, where it says "In God We Trust," take a hint: you're ready for a new tire.

Why worry about tread depth? If your tread gets below 2/32 of an inch, your car's ability to grip the road in adverse conditions is greatly reduced. Furthermore, insufficient tread is not only dangerous; in many states it is illegal (legal tread depth is 2/32 of an inch - the exact distance from the tip of Abe's head to the rim of a penny).

In addition to tread depth, three other factors will affect your tire's safety and performance, and can best be remembered with three key words - inflate, rotate and evaluate. Inflation pressure should be checked monthly and should always be kept at the automobile manufacturer's recommended pressure. For maximum mileage, tires should be rotated every 5,000 miles. Also, frequent visual checks can alert car owners to obvious signs of wear or damage.