On a car like a Focus a careful driver might get 30k miles where as boy racer will get 10k. Yes weight is bound to be a factor but we cannot do without tyres so have to accept things.
Back in the day when many cars weighed under a ton, tyres were narrower with a higher profile. On our 205s they usually did over 50K, even on a diesel with most of the weight on the front wheels - if one rotated the tyres diligently.
Indeed - I managed to eke out 55,000 miles on my old Micra's OEM tyres (175/60 R13) over about 6-7 years (2 years and 20k ish being by the previous owner). Even on my 2005 built Mazda3 (then OEM 205/55 R16) i managed to get 40k out of the original set.
Due to lower than average mileage, I've often changed them due to age and feel, especially the OEM sets, both of which were still legal tread-wise but weren't giving good traction / stopping power in wet conditions.
As my latest (3rd) set on my Mazda were 'downsized to 195/65 R15, I'm hoping to get a decent amount of use out of them, especially as newer tyres, and especially Michelins (I have CC+s fitted), now indicate that with a fair wind, tyres shuld now last nearer to 10 years rather than 5-7 as they 'used to' about a decade or so ago.
5 years (only 6,000 miles) and counting, they still work very well and have only worn from 7mm down to about a shae under 6mm.
On the other side of the coin, many neighbour, some of whom who own either bigger / heavier and/or more powerful cars (with big wheel and wide, low profile tyres) are seemingly regularly changing tyres, sometimes due to wear, but just as often due to damage. Even those who don't do that much mileage either.
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