Abnormal Wear on Back Tires

[Mike Corbett]

I have 2018 GT2 with AWD.

I replaced the stock/factory tires at 13.5k miles (I had rotated tires at 6k). The back tires at 13.5k were very bald while the front tires were not nearly so worn.

I replaced all four tires with Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+. I now have ~6k miles on the new tires and the Michelin back tires again are getting very thin. The front tires still have a lot of thread. The back tires ONLY are hydro planning on the highway even at speeds 10+ mph under speed limit.

First off, I never, ever try and peel out from a stop. I do go from say 30mph to 60mph very quickly on occasion (it's a fun car to drive, I enjoy driving it).

I took the car into Kia and they checked it all out and they could find no issues with alignment, suspension, power going to back tires etc.

Anyone else see this on a GT2 awd car? Guess I can buy harder tires and not have to buy new ones every 6k miles.

 

[CKeeler]

My OE rear tires lasted 20k miles. My current set of rear tires have only lasted 16k.

I drive a lot of highway speeds and keep the tires at 36psi cold. Not a whole lot of twists and turns. I imagine if your daily drive includes a lot turns and stop and go that will wear the tires down faster.

Edit: I have a RWD car. I noticed that you have an AWD car. Does yours have the staggered setup or square setup?

 

[MerlintheMad]

Yeah, same question, staggered or square? Treadlife warranty is halved on staggered setups. Nevertheless, I got over 18K miles from my rear Michelins and 22K from the fronts.

Your experience does sound extreme, especially for a square setup and rotating.

 

[Mike Corbett]

Yeah, same question, staggered or square? Treadlife warranty is halved on staggered setups. Nevertheless, I got over 18K miles from my rear Michelins and 22K from the fronts.

Your experience does sound extreme, especially for a square setup and rotating.

I have 18 inch front and back.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I have 18 inch front and back.

And twice now your rotated rear tires have worn out, leaving you with plenty in front? It makes no sense, because the usual excuse is "you hoon too much"; but that would be even, if you are exchanging tread front to rear. I can't think of anything, including an alignment issue in the rear, that would wear out the rears twice as fast the fronts when you are rotating.

 

[Ozstung]

I have 2018 GT2 with AWD.

I replaced the stock/factory tires at 13.5k miles (I had rotated tires at 6k). The back tires at 13.5k were very bald while the front tires were not nearly so worn.

I replaced all four tires with Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+. I now have ~6k miles on the new tires and the Michelin back tires again are getting very thin. The front tires still have a lot of thread. The back tires ONLY are hydro planning on the highway even at speeds 10+ mph under speed limit.

First off, I never, ever try and peel out from a stop. I do go from say 30mph to 60mph very quickly on occasion (it's a fun car to drive, I enjoy driving it).

I took the car into Kia and they checked it all out and they could find no issues with alignment, suspension, power going to back tires etc.

Anyone else see this on a GT2 awd car? Guess I can buy harder tires and not have to buy new ones every 6k miles.

I got 61,000km from Yokohamas on my i30 and i drive that like i stole it. Very hard wearing tyres but the road noise is noticeable. The contis on the Stinger are almost shot at 22,000km and i drive that conservatively.

 

[Justin B]

Tread wear can be due to the surfaces you drive on as well. Particularly coarse surfaces will not help with our already fast wearing rubber.

Are the roads in your area noticeably bad OP?

Could be contributing. If so, the fronts should still also wear (though not as much) so I may be way off the mark

 

[Mike Corbett]

Tread wear can be due to the surfaces you drive on as well. Particularly coarse surfaces will not help with our already fast wearing rubber.

Are the roads in your area noticeably bad OP?

Could be contributing. If so, the fronts should still also wear (though not as much) so I may be way off the mark

Just normal highway is most of my daily commute. Even so, why is back bald and fronts okay on an awd car?

 

[Justin B]

I'm going to have a guess here...

I took the car into Kia and they checked it all out and they could find no issues

Try taking it to an independent & reputable shop get a full 4 wheel alignment done.

There's this niggling feeling I have that Kia are doing the dodge on this one.

 

[moinmoin]

I have 18 inch front and back

"Staggered" refers to width of thread in the case of the Stinger, in my case 225/40/19 & 255/35/19.

When I bought my Stinger I had ordered Michelin A/S 3+ at Costco and drove the car from the dealer to the shop for an exchange. I just completed 30,320 km on the A/S tires and my rears have very little profile left. Funny thing though: Michelin guarantees only 30,000km on a "staggered" setup with this tire.

In fact, I just ordered another set of the A/S tires, this time for a "square" setup @ 255/40/19. (I have corresponding 8.5" rims for the front) and Michelin guarantees 70,000 km (43K miles) on this combination.

You have not said so, but should you have 225/40/18 all around, the tires would rotate more often to cover any distance than compared to a 19" rim, plus the reduced contact patch would take a higher strain than say a 255mm wide thread. You may have a reduced top speed, but the power of the engine would still be the same as mine.

In line with recommendations (don't remember whether it was the manual or Michelin's), tire rotation - in my case only side-to-side - should be @ every 5k km!, that's about every 3,200 miles.

Since the drive line is biased towards the rear, there is probably nothing wrong with your setup, it's just a combination of a number of factors that caused this outcome.

For my setup, since the tire is about 1/2"(10mm to be exact) taller than standard, there is a little more than 2% advantage rotation wise and I hope that I will be a bit better than 70,000 km. Well, one can dream...

Good luck!

 

[eflyguy]

why is back bald and fronts okay on an awd car

Because the car will put the majority of the power to the rear, unless traction becomes an issue and more needs to go to the front. It can put "up to 50%" to the front.