Wheels/Tyres: Vredstien Wintrac 4 Exteme Tyre Wear Rate

[RoyMacDonald]

I have made some early measurements of the wear on my Vredstien Wintrac 4 Extreme's and bearing in mind I've only done a small mileage on them the readings I'm getting are 0.25 mm per 4,000 miles on the front and no measurable wear on the back. From this I can deduce that if I let them wear to the legal limit of 2 mm they would give 96,000 miles, or 198,000 miles if I swapped them round every service, as I usually do. However I would change them when they worn down to 5 mm as I like to have plenty of grip off road, which would give me 96,000 miles.

Because I only use the XC90 for long leisure journeys I expect I'll to have to change them due to age after 10 years though, if they continue to wear at the present rate.

Please bear in mind these are estimated figures from limited actual mileage so if the all wheel alignment went out of adjustment or the wear rate changes the final wear rate may be different.

Roy

[AB-UK]

Roy,
What is the road noise like with these tyres?
When I switched to Nokians from the Contis I noticed a definite increase in noise - had to turn up the radio volume a couple of notches.
Andrew

[GSMGuy]

Originally Posted by AB-UK

Roy,
What is the road noise like with these tyres?
When I switched to Nokians from the Contis I noticed a definite increase in noise - had to turn up the radio volume a couple of notches.
Andrew

Interesting, as I am considering Nokians at the mo - anyone else care to comment?

Mike

[tem]

Originally Posted by GSMGuy

Interesting, as I am considering Nokians at the mo - anyone else care to comment?

Mike

Never noticed much differance in noise level when switching over to the Nokian WR's.

tem.

[RoyMacDonald]

Originally Posted by AB-UK

Roy,
What is the road noise like with these tyres?
When I switched to Nokians from the Contis I noticed a definite increase in noise - had to turn up the radio volume a couple of notches.
Andrew

No difference to the Conti's on the road, except after I've been in a muddy field they have self cleaning properties which means the mud flies out of the tread easily and passengers have commented on hearing it hitting the wheel arches. I rarely listen to the radio, I like the sound the D5 makes.

Roy

[AB-UK]

I am prepared to put up with the increased noise of the Nokians in view of the increase in longevity and cheaper price - the contis didn't last very long and are more expensive.
I put the longer life down to the harder compound in the Nokians, so they wear slower.
I just wondered whether the Vredsteins, which presumably must be harder still to last so much longer, were even noisier.

One of the better aspects of the XC90 is the premium sound system - and the Minidisk which keeps us all amused on long journeys, so the more road/tyre noise the less enjoyable the musical entertainment.

How much depth of tread is on these Vredsteins?

[RoyMacDonald]

Originally Posted by AB-UK

I am prepared to put up with the increased noise of the Nokians in view of the increase in longevity and cheaper price - the contis didn't last very long and are more expensive.
I put the longer life down to the harder compound in the Nokians, so they wear slower.
I just wondered whether the Vredsteins, which presumably must be harder still to last so much longer, were even noisier.

One of the better aspects of the XC90 is the premium sound system - and the Minidisk which keeps us all amused on long journeys, so the more road/tyre noise the less enjoyable the musical entertainment.

How much depth of tread is on these Vredsteins?

I read that all winter tyres have a softer compound than summmer tyres because they have to be able to grip in very cold conditions when rubber becomes harder. That's why Volvo say don't use them in the summer as they consume more fuel. In practice I haven't noticed any difference though. I assume it's for some other reason these winter tyres wear longer.

The tread depth is 8 mm compard to the Nokinan's 11 mm.

The entertainment system is to keep the passengers amused.

Roy