normal or abnormal OEM tire wear?

[chromal]

I've got about 12600 miles on the odometer now, although about 4000 of those miles were with the 16" winter wheels and tires. The stock wheels and tires (Yokohama Avid S34 205/55R17) were rotated around 4500 miles, and then taken off around 6500 and rotated (best tread pair on front) when they were put back on in early April.

They're now to a point where the gauge is just above the top of President Lincoln's head on a penny on the outsides and just below on the insides of the tires. The tires have those bands inside the tread that indicate full wear; these are very nearly but not quite flush with the remaining tread, so maybe I could drive a few weeks, but it's marginal at best and I figure I'd be pushing it to ask another 1000 miles from them.

Would you say that the 8000-9000 miles or so I've gotten from them is within reason, given that I've been dive bombing corners up and downhill with glee and often take the twisties instead of the freeway in the morning? (And then, also frequently set out a bit before dusk to cruise fun twisties just to go driving when the weather is nice?)

Semi-related note: are mostly worn all-seasons any good for autocross? (or should I dispose of these when I get new tires?)

Short list of replacement tires I'm pondering: Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S, Firestone Firehawk GTv, Dunlop Signature, Sumitomo HTR A/S PO1, Pirelli P Zero Nero, Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus, Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymmetric, Hankook Ventus V12 evo, Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT, Michelan Pilot Sport PS2, Continental Extreme Contact DW. At the present moment, I'm probably going to go with whichever of the above is cheapest...

[erod550]

If the tread is still below the top of lincoln's head, you should have plenty of treadlife left. The first wear bars do not mean you have to replace them right away. Can you take a pic of the tread?

[chromal]

Hmm, maybe I jumped the gun. When I place the coin in the tread, if I push the coin back it seems just above the head, and when I pull it toward the outside of the tire (still within that tread groove) it seems just below. (see attachments). I'm a little concerned still, however, as the outside edge cross tread is pretty much history, I assume from all that cornering.

It's a little hard to see, but there are four central grooves. From outside to inside, the second groove is the shallowest, but still deeper than the top of abe's head.. barely. The fourth (innermost) is the deepest, but they're all very close, so I guess you could say it's pretty symmetric wear, save those outside edges.

FWIW, I don't chirp or squeal the tires habitually, usually try to keep it a notch below that and consider tire noise, or even a hint of washboarding an indication I really need to back down a bit, or at least run a better line... Generally has only come up on some switchbacks.

[coloskydiver]

Could be an alignment issue or inflation .

[chromal]

Here's what I've got for tire pressure. Unfortunately, I didn't keep any records on tire pressures until I had owned the car for about 11 weeks, as I didn't have a gauge worth trusting. Possible alignment-affecting issue on 2011-02-09...

2010-08-06, odo 14
[INDENT]purchase vehicle[/INDENT]
2010-09-27, odo 3810
[INDENT]Groove Mazda full circle inspection (theoretically resets PSIs to spec)[/INDENT]
2010-10-09, odo 4498
[INDENT]rotate rears to fronts[/INDENT]
2010-10-23, odo 4995
[INDENT]45'F ambient, FL: 30 PSI, FR: 31 PSI, RL: 30.75 PSI, RR: 30.5 PSI (buy tire pressure gauge with intent of monthly monitoring after TPMS trips on cold morning)[/INDENT]
2010-11-xx, odo xxx
[INDENT]Buy tire fill bit for air compressor. I'd like to think I reset to OEM spec, 32 PSI then, but if I did, I neglected to annotate it in car log[/INDENT]
2010-11-26, odo 6326
[INDENT]swap to winter wheels+tires (will omit winter wheel details)[/INDENT]
2011-02-08(ish), odo 9400(ish)[INDENT]Still on winters. Slow too much while entering driveway slight uphill grade from road, lose traction, slide backwards across narrow road into car-eating ditch around 10pm. Starts with just a corner on ditch lip, but all attempts to pull out just make things worse. Bottom out in snow. Temp drops below -8'F, heavy snow. Give up trying to free car with shovel. 18" fall on car overnight. [/INDENT]
2011-02-09
[INDENT]Pulled out by county plow with chain on rear right corner structural or suspension element. After pulled out, I slow and stop. They do not, there's a pretty hard impulse as chain jerks vehicle. Thanks, I guess. :/[/INDENT]
2011-04-01, odo 11008
[INDENT]replace winter wheels with OEM wheels + tires. Inflate all to 34 PSI (2 PSI over) @ 50'F figuring it's still basically winter/cold.[/INDENT]
2011-05-07, odo 12680
[INDENT]55'F ambient, FL 33.5 PSI, FR 34 PSI, RL 34.0 PSI, RR: 34.5 PSI. Reset all to 32.0 PSI.[/INDENT]

Sorry for somewhat spotty notes, definitely am making effort to be more diligent, here. So, I dunno. Given the above, I'm not sure if the tire pressures are cause for concern here or not. It was hard to keep tires consistantly at 32'F cold temp when we were seeing swings from 18'F-50'F, though at no point did they get so low that TPMS stayed lit after tire warmup. I overinflated by 2 PSI in April to forestall TPMS cold start trips, but was that a mistake? No clue on alignment, but I assume there's not much point in even getting a check on these tires, give they are not new.

I absolutely intend to get an alignment check at the very least when acquiring next set of tires. Any recommendations on where that gets done? Big box tire retailer? Groove mazda? ______?

[erod550]

Heh, never mind. They are done. A lot of OEM tires just suck and wear out fast. I'd just make sure I bought a different brand/model for the next set.

[iani1.1]

measure the tread from the outside to the inside and compare. usually if a tread is off 4/32nds or more its usually an alignment issue or over/underinflation, anything less than that i wouldnt worry about. if you afraid of over or under inflation i recommend using nitrogen on the new set of tires.

[chromal]

Okay, some clarity here. Thanks for this noob-help, as usual. I wouldn't be surprised if the alignment is tweaked, but it feels reasonable nominal behind the wheel. But I basically burn through stuff with my driving "style". Those tires were going fast, even last year, was originally going to wait for 5K to rotate, but did it early because the fronts were noticeably less.

Gonna get some better measurements in the daylight, possibly less even springtime wear speaks to winter alignment tweak, and what Erod said: Was looking up Avid S34D tires, they are not even sold with treadwear warranty. Personally, for the kind of driving I got out of them, I'm okay with the pay to play. Looking forward to trying a set rated to outhandle/outbrake those Yokohamas. If consumer reports is to believed, there are cheaper tires that are also better in more conditions. I was pretty satisfied with their guidance on winter tire selection.

I've read a bit about nitrogen gas fill, sounds optimal for the temperature (and elevation?) spread I drive through.