[robinjoe]

Mike,

What causes tires to wear? Isn't it friction with the road? Every time we start or stop, doesn't that friction tear a little of the tire off? Lets say a stop from 60-0 in 10 seconds tears off 1 milligram of tire. A 10" wide tire loses a lower percent of it's total tread mass than a 5" wide tire, and in theory would last twice as long.

I think heat has a bit to do with it too. Braking generates heat which disintegrates the wheel. The heat is a function of the energy needed to stop the car divided by the area of the tire touching the ground. The energy is distributed across a larger tire area which should reduce the heat per square inch.

I'm sure it's not much, but I'm thinking a 215mm wide tire has about 4.8% more tread than a 205mm tire, so it might last maybe 4% longer?

Mostly an academic question, but I'm curious.

Joe