Kahdmus

How frequently (in terms of mileage or time) do you feel an alignment and tires will/should last?

My Bridgestone potenza so2a's started coming apart between 5,000 - 10,000 miles. The tire shop blamed it on the alignment. I reminded them that THEY had done the alignment. They then pointed out that my last alignment was 2 years ago as I didn't get one done last year.

Newbium

I got about 13K out of my rear SO2a's, but still had plenty of tread on the fronts. And no, I don't do smoking burnouts.

I don't think your alignment would be the problem as long as the alignment was properly performed and everything was tight. This assumption is also based on your not hitting pot holes or curbs.

Heirsh

I always thought an alignment was solid unless something unfortunate happens like what Newbium suggests.

Are you running basic settings or aggresive settings?

I got about 15,000 out of a set of mich pilot sport rears. I was upset at the time, but from reading the board this isn't unusual. I wonder if more toe in and camber will significantly decrease this?

What about tire pressure?

Just a couple thoughts.

dfinnegan

Yeah, toe-in and camber can significantly decrease tire longevity. On the fronts, at least. When I purchased my car it had been setup with some very agressive front end settings. I didn't know this and scrubbed the tires right off in about a thousand miles. The tires were near new when I purchased. I had to replace the fronts and wasn't very happy about it. A simple heads-up would have saved them as I had to adjust the settings either way.

frankvan

I don't know how long the Porsche wheel alignment should "last", but on my Alfa I had a wheel alignment done back in '96 and have had it checked bi-annually (every two years) with only minimal changes needed to the front end. In fact, the changes weren't necessary because it was still "within spec" ranges and the thrust angle was near zero - so my alignment guy was just tweeking it a little to bring it to the middle of the range. Then I re-bushed (with urethane) all four corners about 4 years ago, had it aligned and it's been perfect since then.
As for the P-car I've only had it checked once and it was within spec (I've only owned it for two years). I should check the PO's records and see when he had it last checked...