Tyres

[JohnDoe2023]

Hi everyone,

Any advice with this would be greatly appreciated.

Just a disclaimer my knowledge on this is pretty much zero as this is the first car I’ve owned!

I’ve got a 67 plate fiesta and on my latest MOT they put an advisory comment. The garage didn’t mention this when I picked the car up and I only noticed when I got home.

It says “tyre slightly damaged/cracking or Pershing Nearside front (outdoor sidewalk perished) 

My question is how much of a problem is this? Should I replace the tyre straight away? Before the next MOT? Or just leave it / keep an eye on it?

Thanks for any help 

[TomsFocus]

If it was dangerous & needed urgent replacement it would have failed MOT. 

Just keep an eye on it for now.  

[deandeandean]

If you've got less than 3-4mm of tread left then you're aswell to replace it.

[Bobr]

18 minutes ago, JohnDoe2023 said:

 

It says “tyre slightly damaged/cracking or Pershing Nearside front (outdoor sidewalk perished) 

Depends on how you drive and if you need to trust your tyres.   There are two things I will not stint on on a car and they are tyres and brakes.   Your life depends on them.   A few days ago my tyres were 6 years old.   They had only done 22,000 miles but I don't like having tyres over 5 years old.   (Comes of being an ex copper and some of the sights I've seen.) I bought a new set of Uniroyal Rainsport 5s and feel a lot more comfortable driving now.   How comfortable do you feel driving on a tyre with that description?

[mickywrx]

How old are the tyres?  They'll be date stamped.

https://www.uniroyal-tyres.com/car/tyre-guide/tyre-knowledge/the-importance-of-tyre-age-as-well-as-tread-depth#:~:text=Their 'date of birth' is,and 3rd April 2016.

[JohnDoe2023]

Thanks for the replies.

The date says 5217 so end of 2017 I think. The car has done about 20k miles btw.

[bertj]

Any damage to a tyre is too much damage! Also this tyre (and presumably all the others) is almost 6 years old. This tyre's date matches the car's age so it's probably original equipment. The fact that this tyre is perishing also indicates it's age. Are all the tyres the same make and date? I would seriously consider replacing all the tyres especially if the tread depth is less than 3mm. After all it's your and other road users lives that could be at risk. Sorry about the lecture!

[Jim H]

Are they Bridgestones by any chance? We have had OE Bridgestones start to crack on our 2016 Skoda Fabia after a few years. Eventually we replaced them with Cross Climates.

[alanfp]

I'm afraid, Daniel, that if you ask 100 forum members for advice on tyres, you will tend to get 100 different answers (or if you include indecisive members like myself, 150 different answers!).

So I'm not disagreeing with any other answers, but would absolutely say "keep a close eye on them". Personally I think 4mm tread is unnecessarily soon to replace tyres and think that 3mm is absolutely fine - or if they are evenly worn across the width of the tyre, 2.5mm.

Remember that on a front wheel drive car, the rears will last around twice as long as the front, so when you do replace them, I would only replace the two that are worn (which will be the front two) and continue to keep an eye on the rear ones.

[Jim H]

8 minutes ago, alanfp said:

I'm afraid, Daniel, that if you ask 100 forum members for advice on tyres, you will tend to get 100 different answers (or if you include indecisive members like myself, 150 different answers!).

Remember that on a front wheel drive car, the rears will last around twice as long as the front, so when you do replace them, I would only replace the two that are worn (which will be the front two) and continue to keep an eye on the rear ones.

Of course if you read any car forum there will always be augments on where new tyres should be fitted, front or rear.  I always put my new or best on the front, as they do most of the braking (weight transfer) steer, and on fwd pull the car forward.  Other people insist they go on the rear to stop the tendency to oversteer when cornering. It's always a can of worms, as they say!

[alanfp]

1 minute ago, Jim H said:

if you read any car forum there will always be augments on where new tyres should be fitted, front or rear. 

I was desperately trying to avoid going there so I deliberately didn't mention that! But the genie's out of the bottle now. 🙂

Light blue-paper and retire to a safe distance.

FWIW I a fully agree with you about having the best tyres on the front. For all the reasons you describe. And also, if push comes to shove, I'd rather have my rear quarter flick sideways into a brick wall rather than the front of my car hit it head-on.

 

[JohnDoe2023]

Thanks for the advice people. 

fyi they are Bridgestones yeah

i think I’ll take the plunge and get the front 2 changed, even to my untrained eye the front two look a lot more worn than the back two. 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

2 hours ago, JohnDoe2023 said:

i think I’ll take the plunge and get the front 2 changed, even to my untrained eye the front two look a lot more worn than the back two. 

Sounds like a wise move. If you haven't got one already, a tyre tread depth gauge is a useful thing to have to help keep an eye on things.

 

 

[Jim H]

I bet your next question will be. What tyres do I buy to replace these cracking ones? I'm sure it's been asked many times on here, so do search before you post. Also look at tyre tests on "Tyrereviews .com" which may help you choose.

[orangecurry]

On 4/18/2023 at 8:17 AM, JohnDoe2023 said:

Thanks for the advice people. 

fyi they are Bridgestones yeah

i think I’ll take the plunge and get the front 2 changed, even to my untrained eye the front two look a lot more worn than the back two. 

So as above, 150 answers later, is where it gets tricky.

You will have bought (hopefully quality and therefore) good grippy deep-tread tyres on the front, and old, worn, hardened-with-age tyres on the rear.

In an emergency, or even just going quickly around a corner, the back will now tend to move around more than the front, especially in the wet.

This is why current advice is to put the new tyres on the rear, as most people's driving skills have lessened over the years as they have become reliant on driver aids - electronics, ABS, etc.

I.E. most drivers can't cope with oversteer.  So you need to decide what works best for you.

This is why rotating tyres is such a good idea - in doing so, you maintain an even response from all of the tyres in all situations.

They last longer as a set, and if your tracking is not always 100% (which it won't be) they will last even longer than just letting the fronts get worn on the edges and needing early replacement ONLY because of that.

Sure you need to replace all 4 at the same time, but that time is more than 2x longer than replacing them in pairs.  So you win.

If you never replace the rears as they don't wear (no weight or steering effects) and they pass the MOT each year, good luck with that.  I'm sure you'll never have that emergency situation where rock-hard rear tyres have an effect on the outcome.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

21 minutes ago, orangecurry said:

current advice is to put the new tyres on the rear

I remember the same advice being given when I first started driving, back in the days when the bulk of cars were rear wheel drive apart from the odd BMC fwd car like the Mini, 1100 etc, and we all got plenty of experience in controlling (or not!) oversteer/rear wheel skids.

Rotating tyres is not always possible (some cars have different sizes front/rear for example) but I have probably had best tyre life overall when able to do so. Downside is you have to take the hit for 4 new ones at once, of course!

 

[orangecurry]

34 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Rotating tyres is not always possible (some cars have different sizes front/rear for example) but I have probably had best tyre life overall when able to do so.

Sure - I have such a car, but the Fiesta ain't one  😄

For the OP, who tells us this is his first car, I would presume he's had limited experience of driving at the limit/emergency situations, so on balance, knowing no more, I would advise him to put the new tyres on the rear.

If money is an issue, I'd swop existing fronts with existing rears now, if the tyre damage is just sidewall cosmetic, and save up for a set to be put on before the weather turns cold/wet in autumn.

ETA be aware OP that if you do this, the car will probably behave only slightly differently, if on the original matching SET of Bridgestones, but if the other tyres do not match, the car may behave very differently.

Obviously if you just replace two tyres with new ones, as you suggest, the car will behave differently.  Drop your' speed' down slightly until you get used to the changes.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

34 minutes ago, orangecurry said:

Sure - I have such a car, but the Fiesta ain't one  😄

Lol, don't think I suggested it was!

As we have got a bit into generalisations rather than specifics, I mentioned it for the benefit of a new driver who may not be aware of that but perhaps I should have emphasised that it did not apply to the Fiesta.

But yes, in this case I'd go with new tyres to the rear, existing rears to the front to use them up.

 

 

[Danny cj]

daniel

if your concerned then you should replace...otherwise you wouldnt ask

BEST TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY MATE

[bertj]

Here's yet another theory about new tyres on front or rear to add to the collection!  BTW, it's not my idea so don't get at me! 

New tyres should be on the back because, when braking heavily. some of the weight of the car will be focussed on the front which will tend to dip making the rear 'lighter' and higher. Therefore there will be less downward pressure (and grip) on the rear tyres. This will be exacerbated if the car is turning at the time - i.e. when trying to steer away from a possible collision. The rear of the car might break away especially if the tyres have little tread left.  

[Bobr]

Recently found that not only are the Rainsport 5 tyres great in the wet they are brilliant in snow too.

[Jim H]

Holy Thread revival Batman!!

I loved the Rainsport 2s on my previous car, I even replace them with the same. No problems in winter, the softer rubber and directional tread probably helped. Lasted quite well too.  I can't tell you how the Rainsport 3 coped in winter as they only lasted the summer! Fitted in March and by September (8 months, 7.5k miles) they were bald!  That high wear rate of the 3s has put me off buying Uniroyals again. 

 

[Bobr]

2 hours ago, Jim H said:

Holy Thread revival Batman!!

I loved the Rainsport 2s on my previous car, I even replace them with the same. No problems in winter, the softer rubber and directional tread probably helped. Lasted quite well too.  I can't tell you how the Rainsport 3 coped in winter as they only lasted the summer! Fitted in March and by September (8 months, 7.5k miles) they were bald!  That high wear rate of the 3s has put me off buying Uniroyals again. 

 

I'll let you know how the wear goes on the 5s Jim.

[Bobr]

Just bought one of those electronic measuring devices Jim.   These tyres start with a tread depth of 8.4mm.   Having done 5000 miles since new the centre of the front tyres shows a measurement of 6mm. The centre of the rear tyres shows 6.99mm.   I don't think that's bad.   Mind you, I don't have a heavy right foot and rarely drive at over 50mph.

[Bobr]

Now done 9000 miles on these tyres and the fronts are down to 2.3mm.

I'll be changing the fronts very soon and they have proved to be very soft.

The backs are down to 6mm but are showing a lot of cracking.

I might change the lot.