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I have a '96 9000 Aero (manual) with a few power mods (probably around 250hp/270lbft) and an Abbott suspension kit and SuperFlex bushes that I *love* to use. I hate long straight roads and do most of my driving on UK suburban and country roads with lots of bends and roundabouts. Roundabouts are a device designed to save on tyre wear by giving the economy-conscious driver the opportunity to drive on only two wheels at a time :)
I would describe my driving as "spirited" (I resent the term "maniac" and believe it is a term used only by small-minded individuals and nervous passengers). I imagine I get around half to a quarter of the mileage other people get on comparable tyres. I believe that treadwear figures are based on driving in a straight line. I'm sure that, in theory, I could easily get well over 20K miles from a set of S-03s on nice straight roads. However, I would have died of boredom long before. What's the point in having ultimately grippy tyres and not using the grip? Unfortunately, as treadwear rating goes down and grip goes up, the temptation (for me, at least) is to corner harder or accelerate faster, thus increasing tyre wear even more.
6000 miles is about 4 months for me too. Bear in mind that the rear tyres last at least twice as long, even with my driving style. That means six tyres (£650 or $950 at local prices) every eight months, or about £80 ($120) per month, so your estimate is about right.
Drive in straight lines most of the time, and S-03s should give you reasonably economical motoring, while giving the grip you need on the odd occasion you want to go around corners or accelerate at the limits of your powertrain's ability. In the dry, I cannot spin the wheels in any gear above 1st (unless I'm on quite a sharp bend). It's only because I need more wheelspin and am not wearing the tyres out fast enough that I am planning to buy a Maptun ECU upgrade ... :)
The reason I quote the mileages I achieve with other tyres is to give people relative figures to compare, largely independent of my driving style (but see the comment above about driving harder with softer, grippier tyres).
One question, though: how can you compare different tyres when each set lasts 30,000 miles?
posted by 80.2.252...
, Fri, 31 May 2002 22:47:03
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