Tyre wear - opinions please

[Kemper-van]

My tyres are about 6years old now, they are still the original factory fitted 215/60/17 commercial van summer tyres (continental vancontact eco). I estimate these tyres have now done approx 80.000 km of spring/summer/autumn driving. The van is a California Beach 150PS 4motion.

Note: I switch to winter tyres every year, which allows me to rotate front and back summer tyres every year.

The lateral grooves still have plenty of depth, but the smaller sipes on the sides really start to show some wear. On the middle part the tyres still have plenty of sipes.
What are your opinions on the tyre wear you see on the pictures?
Time to change, or would you run them for another summer season?

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[WelshGas]

My tyres are about 6years old now, they are still the original factory fitted 215/60/17 commercial van summer tyres (continental vancontact eco). I estimate these tyres have now done approx 80.000 km of spring/summer/autumn driving. The van is a California Beach 150PS 4motion.

Note: I switch to winter tyres every year, which allows me to rotate front and back summer tyres every year.

The lateral grooves still have plenty of depth, but the smaller sipes on the sides really start to show some wear. On the middle part the tyres still have plenty of sipes.
What are your opinions on the tyre wear you see on the pictures?
Time to change, or would you run them for another summer season?

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Car tyres have a maximum lifespan of 10 yrs regardless of wear.
It is good practice to change between 6 to 8 yrs if tyres have no other age related problems such as cracking of side wall etc.
How old are your tyres, since manufacturer?

How to Check the Age
Look for the DOT code stamped on the tyre sidewall. It ends in four numbers: the first two digits show the week of manufacture (01–52) and the last two show the year (e.g., 2421 means the 24th week of 2021).

 

[Kemper-van]

DOT code is 4320, so somewhere mid- / end of October of 2020, so will reach 6y by the time I change to winter tyres later this year.

Key question for me: would you consider these tyres still have sufficient tread (especially the smaller sipes) for another summer season, or not?
I don't see any cracks in side walls or other age related issues...

 

[Mansfieldman750]

DOT code is 4320, so somewhere mid- / end of October of 2020, so will reach 6y by the time I change to winter tyres later this year.

Key question for me: would you consider these tyres still have sufficient tread (especially the smaller sipes) for another summer season, or not?
I don't see any cracks in side walls or other age related issues...

I changed my VanContact Ecos at 42,000 miles and they were nowhere near as worn as yours. They are incredibly hard wearing tyres but I’ve never found them lacking in grip.
Replacement cost was £667.20 or less than 1.6p per mile.
I could have got a few thousand more miles out of them and got that down to something like 1.3p per mile. For me the saving is not worth the peace of mind of having a good set of tyres.
I think you are ready for a new set.

 

[Kemper-van]

I will indeed install a new set, the new General Grabber Cross A/S in 235/55R17 are currently the tyres I’m watching. They are all-season, with 3PMSF-symbol and will hopefully give a bit extra certainty to get of grass/muddy campsites like at Le Mans (when it rains) or Silverstone. I don’t need full on All-terrains, with majority of km on tarmac.

However, I do need some more advice: best to purchase 5 tyres and also put a Cross A/S on the spare wheel? Or can I keep my (unused) summer spare that came with the van?

Thanks in advance!

 

[WelshGas]

I will indeed install a new set, the new General Grabber Cross A/S in 235/55R17 are currently the tyres I’m watching. They are all-season, with 3PMSF-symbol and will hopefully give a bit extra certainty to get of grass/muddy campsites like at Le Mans (when it rains) or Silverstone. I don’t need full on All-terrains, with majority of km on tarmac.

However, I do need some more advice: best to purchase 5 tyres and also put a Cross A/S on the spare wheel? Or can I keep my (unused) summer spare that came with the van?

Thanks in advance!

The choice is yours but if you keep the Summer Tyre as the spare I would treat as a get you out of trouble tyre, so limited speed, limited distance as there would be a difference in grip and I wouldn't fit it on the front axle so you would have to swop wheels if it was a front tyre puncture.

 

[Betsycalifornia]

DOT code is 4320, so somewhere mid- / end of October of 2020, so will reach 6y by the time I change to winter tyres later this year.

Key question for me: would you consider these tyres still have sufficient tread (especially the smaller sipes) for another summer season, or not?
I don't see any cracks in side walls or other age related issues...

What’s the current tread depth across the tyre. In MM. that’ll tell you whether they have life left.

 

[Kemper-van]

Indeed…
It’s in fact the same as what I did until now when the winter tyres where mounted: the spare was never changed to winter and remained a summer tyre.
Since i’ve never had to use them until kow, I will indeed treat it as a “get out of trouble”-solution until the 4-season tyre can be repaired/changed. At least it will keep me mobile…

 

[Kemper-van]

What’s the current tread depth across the tyre. In MM. that’ll tell you whether they have life left.

I‘ll measure later this week to know exactly, but it is definitely still way above the tyre wear indicator of 1.6mm in the center section.
These continental van tyres are incredibly hard wearing, but the sides are now really starting to worn.

 

[Beaker]

I only get 15k out of my tyres as they wear on the insides and outside. I even have to run them at higher pressure to last. VW have said the tracking is all good. My tyres have more wear on inside and outside than your pictures. I still have 3/4 coverage though.
VW will not investigate further unless I buy a set of tyres from them.