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My aunt bought a new Cadillac in 1965, the original tires wore out at 6000 miles. She asked me which tires were the best for long wear. I told her Michelin X. She replaced the tires 13 years later because she was worried about dry rot. They would still easily pass state inspection for tread wear.
My Civic VX was purchased in March of 2008 with 27,492 miles on the odometer. It was totalled and sat in an Insurance company training center for about 13 years before it was shipped to me with the rear end smashed.
I started driving the VX in April of 2008, still on the original Bridgestone tires that were made in March of 1993 (date coded on the tires). I drove it another 10,000 miles on those 15 year old tires. One trip in June 2008 I averaged 68 MPG in the VX, 300 miles on 4.627 gallons of fuel, same pump, same station, same day, with two passengers weighing just under 500 pounds.
I changed the tires because I was worried about a blowout messing up the bodywork and the fresh paint job. Changed the 15 year old timing belt at 35k miles so I wouldn't have to worry about it breaking an messing up an engine I could never replace. I can virtually guarantee you it was the only VX that was on the road in 2008 with the original tires.
When I replaced the Bridgestone RE92s on my Insight I saw no change in mileage. When I changed the Bridgestones on the VX to Michelins, my average mileage dropped by 7 MPG. I measured the tread depth on the Michelins at 25k miles and it was still 90% of the depth when new. I think the tread depth on the Michelins was almost twice what it was on the RE92s, probably a very significant factor as far as rolling resistance and tread wear. I wish I could have bought the same tires for the VX that were OE but they had long since stopped making them.
regards
Mech
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