Tyre wear question? X5/X5M

[webber]

I'm thinking about changing my Porsche Cayenne S 4.8 petrol for a similar spec X5. The Cayenne has been a great family car, both on road and off road. The only downside is fuel consumption and tyre wear.

Fuel consumption I can live with, as I have 2 V8 motors, but it goes through tyres so quickly and it's getting a bit annoying now. The car only does about 10k miles a year and I seem to be changing 2 tyres every 5/6 months. The car has had the alignment done on all 4 wheels and it's all good. Porsche have said it's normal for this car, given the weight and power.

The tyres on my BMW 650 cab have lasted 2 years and I drive that a lot harder. So what I'm wondering, is the tyre life any better on a similar engined X5?

[Don Coffey]

That does seem excessive to say the least!  Were you limited to very soft compound tyres?  My car had 15k on the clock when I put the winters on, and the tyres still have 4 mm on them so good for another 5k I would say.

Are you aware of tread wear that is displayed on most tyres. (Not a legal requirement in the UK). It comes from the USA where they run tyres around a set route.  They have a figure of 7200 miles.  The tread wear is marked in percentage so 100 tyres are good for around 7200 miles.  My winters are 460 so in theory good for around 33k

Don

[X5Sport]

Sounds like the experience we had with a SEAT Leon Cupra R (210bhp Audi TT engine).  It came with Pirelli P Zero tyres, and went through a full set in less than 12,000 miles - swapped front to back at 6,000!!  Changed to an equivalent Michelin Pilot Sport tyre and the longevity more than doubled, with no loss of performance.

As Don suggests, might be soft tyres on the Porker?  My E53 first set lasted about 24k I think, and that included going in and out of Milton Keynes - full of roundabouts that destroy tyres!!  It was shod with Michelin Diamaris.

[Don Coffey]

Now, probably not related, but I had specked the larger 19" wheels on my Honda CR-V.  Tyres illegal after only 10k on the clock.  When I took them to the local tyre shop they said that you can't get ST (4x4 tyres) for the combination I needed. 

So after taking the matter up with Honda, replaced wheels with original 18"ers and had tyres that would easily see 30k.  Like I say, maybe well of the mark here but is it possible that your wheels size width didn't match ST tyres?

Anyway not a problem on the X5 as loads of ST tyres to choose from.

Don

[535dboy]

I went through spells of driving mine hard and would get no more than 15k from them all though that sounds better than yours!