I'm just curious when you guys decide it's time to switch tires? Do you do it once they hit the wear bars? Do you wait until they're about at ready to show cord? I'm trying to decide how far to push mine. My inside edges on both tires on the drivers side are almost worn smooth on the inside of the tire.

 

I replace my street tires when the car starts to lose grip in my normal driving (commute). That is in the rain or wet roads, and it seems to be before the wear bars are reached. If I was certain that I wasn't going to be on them in the rain I would drive them until they were corded, but that is impossible with a DD here.

 

I don't wait for the wear bars to flush up. If any of mine have nail repairs, I'll replace the pair prior to going on any long road trip or keep that set for daily driving only. With 33k+ miles on my '09 in one year, I get to try different brands and compare. Currently I'm using OE Bridgestone's on one set of wheels and OE PS2's on another. PS2's are daily drivers.

 

i wait till bars are flat, never wait till metal but its happened accidentally before.

 

For street tires, my understanding is that a general rule of thumb is when the tread is down to 2/32 of an inch. And I think that would be at any one place on the tire.

 

and regardless of mileage or condition, you should replace tires before they are 6 years old (the manufacture date is found on the sidewall)

 

Timely post - so should i change my front tires per the pic?
Bars at about flush with the tread....

 

Those would not have much grip in the wet, even a little wet, so I would go ahead and replace them (it rains a lot, and hard, here). If you don't drive in the wet you can go to the wear bars at which point they will be illegal in most states. In the dry you can drive tires to the cords safely, but not legally.

 

theres more tread there than on brand spankin new pilot sport cups. lol

 

How do you compare the two tires? Performance, comfort, noise?

Which Bridgestones? RE050A? N0 or N1?

 

Mine are the RE050A N1's. Comparison? The Bridgestones have a progressive, predictable break-away. The PS2's are more vague. PS2's are more comfortable and less noisy except for slap and drumming on highway expansion joints. Bridgestones get more noisy as tread wears. The PS2's have better feel in hard braking. The Bridgestone's handle rain very well.
Everything is a compromise. Wouldn't it be great to have some provider produce a tire that does everything well and lasts. For now, I'll keep changing things up in pursuit of this quest. When the PS2's are gone, I'm going with the Nitto Invo or Bridgestone RE-11's. I know both are non N rated, but, the roads I drive don't know that and I won't mention it to the car.

 

I love my Bridgestones RE 050A N