bcfry

Took my car to get the oil changed the other day and when I got done they showed me there report. In the area that showed the tire depth, they showed only 5/32 and 6/32 tread depth. The car only has 21,000 miles. Has anyone else seen poor tire milage with the 16" Firestone Avivia?

solman98

To be honest, I don't know what the original tread depth is on the Affinity's. But it seems to me that factory tires are usually not the highest in the industy (even buying the same from say Firestone). I've never ran stock tires much past 30K unless you do a lot of highway driving. I just replaced the OEM Dunlops on my wifes Mazda, 30,600 miles. Still had tread, but one blew out and I no longer trusted them.

RUDEINC

The Firestone Affinity's that come from the factory are only rated as 50,000 mile tires. When brand new they come with 12/32nd tread. Providing that the "technician" and I use the word loosely, was correctly reading the tread depth gauge, this would actually be pretty close, but still just a little on the low side. You are supposed to take 3 individual readings of the tire tread, and average them out, which most 18yr. old oil change guys don't know. With a reading of 6/32nd (half worn) should put your mileage around 25,000. Now there are a ton of factors that could reduce tread wear that I won't even go into.

I was in the Tire business for over 15 years and could go on forever about tires that manufactures put on cars, but the bottom line is.....When they are buying THOUSANDS of tires, they (the vehicle manufacture) are looking for the best price, not the best tire for the vehicle, and the tire manufacture that gives them the best price is hoping to make up the difference when you go to purchase new ones. When most people replace tires they put exactly what was on there from the factory, even if they suck....Because let's face it, most people don't know anything about tires except...they are round and black....

So in my (somewhat...lol) professional opinion....I would say, that you are unfortunatley on pace with Firestone's replacement schedule.....Just don't give them the satisfaction of earning your business if unhappy with their products. Check around with sites like Consumer Reports for unbiased tire reviews before purchasing your next set or goto TIRERACK.com where they have 100's of tire reviews for nearly every tire made from average guys like us....Just a thought.....Regards

Links to tire specs......

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Spec.j...um%3D155SR6AFT

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Warran...omCompare1=yes


Look at the Average Performance ratings from over 300 people....only 2.9% claimed they would purchase these tires again...

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....finity+Touring

tireman1554

Those reports are not that acurate, simply because the tires are rated in several categories. Usually by UTQG ratings and customer experience. First; UTQG ratings are ONLY consistent within brands, comparing a Michelins ratings to a Goodyears ratings mean nothing. Second; when a customer rates his tires on tirerack.com or discounttiredirect.com, they are rating their own personal experience on their car. A Goodyear Comfortred is certainly not going to perform the same on a BMW is it would on a Chevy Cavalier.

courthousedeb

Great post RUDEINC...lots of helpful information and links from a somewhat professional opinion.

Black Rose

The Firestone Affinity's on the HHR are definitely different than the Affinity's that came on my 2003 Malibu. Looks like they have been redesigned, and I was hoping for the better.

Even though I am leasing my HHR right now, we have already decided to buy it out at the end, so I am not concerned about spending money to put new tires on it.

The Malibu really ticked me off. Needed to replace all 4 Affinity's and have a brake job 6 months before I got rid of it. At least someone else got a nice set of practically new tires

SoCalHHR

The 16" Affinity's on the HHR are actually 60k rated tires, with a treadwear rating of 500 (wow!), and Traction and Temperature ratings of A and B respectively. Having worked in the tire industry for the better part of 20 years, I can say these are some good tires. Mine (although only driven on for 4k miles), were exceptionally quiet and smooth riding - as a true "touring" tire should be. My HHR when new, was siginficantly quieter AND better riding than my wife's new 06 Accord.

The original poster mentioned "Aviva's" - not Affinity's - was that a misprint?

RUDEINC

I agree that the UTQG ratings are mostly full of crap. But for the "average joe", you have to have someplace to start. The "ratings" are derived by the manufacture that made the tire (which of course is in their favor), and there is very little scruitny by NHTSA who are the only people that can take action (fine them) if their claims are insufficent. I also agree 100% about tires performing different on different vehicles. But you have to somewhat compare apples to apples, and not BMW's to Cavaliers. When you narrow the tires down to a "specific" group of tires such as a "touring" tire for a "touring" style automobile, and look at the ratings that the consumers gave, you can get a pretty good idea what that tire is about......Regards

tireman1554

True. The point I am making is that a 195/60r-15 Goodyear will not only fit a Cavalier but also a BMW wich in turn causes the consumer to be misinformed when searching for tires, or even information about tires on the internet. The manufacturers have their own criteria as to what meets their standards for UTQG ratings. UTQG has a minimum number for what tires MUST perform and once they pass that minimum standard the manufacturer can print anything they want on the tire sidewall. Mileage warranties ARE NOT set by the tire manufacturer they are put on the tires by the DEALERS as a selling feature.

RUDEINC

The Affinity tires for the HHR are only rated at 50,000 from Firestone....

Check out this chart straight from Bridgestone, 2nd row from bottom specifically lists HHR specs......Regards

http://www.bridgestonetire.com/tires...ssproductid=42