I think the problem with this is that although average speeds might be lower, the capability of cars has increased. They can go faster both in a straight line and round corners, so that the need for a strong tyre is greater.

I'm sure you are a careful driver, John: but retreads would still sell to the minority who aren't careful and who could put others as well as themselves at risk.

I also have to wonder at the environmental costs between re-treading and buying new tyres:

What is the difference between the two in terms of energy used or raw materials consumed? Used tyres can now be recycled, but what percentage of the tyre is reused and how much resources/energy does it take to do so?

I still wouldn't go for retreads due to the large performance penalty. I believe that at least one motoring magazine (not necessarily a UK one) covered this in a test between comparable retreads and ordinary tyres. Needless to say, the retreads came out very poorly.

What would be interesting is to compare today's retreads with standard summer tyres from, say, 10 years ago. I've wondered the same about all season tyres to summer and winter ones from 5 years ago, as my current set of CC+s appear to perform just as well as the previous summer tyres from Dunlop, which were about 5-6 years old in design.

How far back would we have to go to get a comparable performance level for retreads, at least on cars?

With the correct manufacturing process, and checks on the tyre carcass being reused, it must be possible so make safe retreaded tyres. A well done retread on a newish but worn out premium brand tyre is probably better than new no-brand Chinese ditchfinders bought at the moment by people who buy tyres entirely on price.

I suspect the real reason we don't see remanufactuered tyres any more is that the work needed to do a good retread is significantly more expensive than the cost of budget tyres.

Edited by SkodaIan on 06/11/2020 at 10:41

It'd be a lot less environmentally friendly building two new cars to replace them....

Replacing tyres is very wasteful and environmentally unfriendly.

Your Audi and triumph are hardly environmentally friendly either

It'd be a lot less environmentally friendly building two new cars to replace them....

Quite so. Their combined age is 55yrs and they do very few miles now.

I’ve just read that it’s illegal to put tyre in landfill, and that many go off to be burned as fuel for kilns in cement manufacturing facilities.

Can even replace cement in paths and roads like they do in Scotland, plenty of other uses as well thats not been mentioned, so they do get reused one way or another

I would never advise the use of remoulds on the road after that experience.

I had remoulds on an Austin 1100 at the rear as I bought it like it, they caused an accident as one tread came apart on a bend and threw the car into a lamp post, when I looked at it the car was a write off, wet weather didn`t help but never advised remoulds after that

Though I gather they are better made now than in the 70s

I thought the customary use for retread tyres was on trucks, and one still sees cast-offs by the side of the road. But trucks are not usually driven in the same way as cars, and usually have few passengers too.

Fewer passengers yes but far bigger and far more dangerous.