My experience is those tires that seem to roll the best have a tread depth of 1/4 inch new.
That's 8/32.
The Continental's of the wife's Sorento Started out at 11 or 12/32nds. At 45k miles they are down to 5 & 7/32nds with the deeper tread on front, rotated front to rear once at 28k miles.
Never rebalanced, didn't need it.
Want more tread life, you'll pay for it at the pump.
When I replaced the 15 year old ORIGINAL tires on my VX (totalled fixed 15 years later in 2008 with 28k miles), the mileage dropped instantly by 7mpg! The replacement tires were supposed to wear twice as long as the originals. At 38k total miles on the original tires, I replaced them after the car was painted, figuring the tire would now disintegrate and destroy the new paint.
Lightest tires I think I ever saw in 50 years (the takeoff originals).
regards
mech
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