Tire Wear Estimator

Tire wear estimation helps you predict when your tires will need replacement, allowing you to budget and plan ahead for safety.

How tire wear is measured: New tires typically have 8 to 9 mm (10/32 to 11/32 inches) of tread depth. The minimum legal tread depth in most regions is 1.6 mm (2/32 inches). Most experts recommend replacing tires at 3 mm (4/32 inches) for adequate wet-weather grip.

Wear rate formula: Remaining life (km) = (Current tread - Minimum tread) / Wear rate per km Wear rate = (New tread - Current tread) / Distance driven so far

Or estimated by usage type. These are the midpoints of the published ranges, matched to the bands on our tire life estimate page so the two give the same answer:

Sanity check on those figures: a mixed-driving tire starting at 8 mm reaches the 1.6 mm limit after 6.4 / 0.125 = 51,200 km, which is about 32,000 miles. That is roughly what a mid-range all-season actually delivers, so the table lines up with what tires do rather than what the sidewall promises.

Factors that increase tire wear:

• Under- or over-inflation (check monthly)
• Aggressive acceleration and braking
• Poor wheel alignment
• Heavy vehicle loads
• Hot road surfaces
• Performance/soft compound tires

When to use this calculator:

• Checking if tires will last until your next service
• Budgeting for tire replacement
• Comparing wear rates between tire brands
• Planning for seasonal tire swaps

Practical example: A tire with 5 mm of tread remaining, driven mostly in the city (about 0.16 mm of wear per 1,000 km), has roughly 21,000 km (13,000 mi) left before it hits the 1.6 mm legal limit.
Aiming for the safer 3 mm replacement point instead, that drops to about 12,500 km (7,800 mi).

That gap between the two numbers is the part worth sitting with. The last 1.4 mm of tread is a third of the distance you have left, and it is the third where wet braking falls off a cliff. Plenty of people run tires to the wear bars because the tires are still legal. They are also the tires that aquaplane.

Tips:

• Use the “coin test”: insert a coin into the tread groove to check depth visually.
• Rotate tires every 8,000 to 12,000 km (5,000 to 7,500 mi) for even wear.
• Check tire pressure monthly. Under-inflation is the leading cause of premature wear.
• Uneven wear patterns indicate alignment or suspension problems.