My daughter has just replaced all four tyres on her 1.1 Active after they've given 36,500 miles of service and were still legal.
I do swap the tyres round every 6,000 miles, hence the need for 4 new tyres.
Is this a record?
In addition, the original front pads look as if they could still give another 36,500 miles service.
As she lives in Manchester, I ordered her Uniroyal Rainexpert tyres and got them for £35.50 each, fitted, through Tyreshopper. That, by the way, works out at 0.39 pence per mile in tyre costs. I never fail to be impressed at how economical to run this basic Panda is.

Probably even more economical if you monitor the tyre pressures properly/frequently - we went through front tyres in less than 11,000 miles! With new tyres and the correct pressures the handling is so much better and has even cured the pull to the nearside
So well done to your daughter and a warning to others from myself...

Thats good tyre wear, my Panda is only 6 weeks old so I've no idea what tyre wear is!
Very good price for Uniroyals too.
What are the corrct pressures? I suppose I could look in the hand book
What I'm impressed with is the brake wear she's getting, (I take it as you look after the car she's quite young?) Drivers today are taught to brake & block shift rather than dropping down through the gears. :bang:
Do I sound VERY old?

I was expecting a lot more than that. On my Seicento I did a lot more than that, but they were cracking because they were so old, and then I got a pucture so I replaced them. I must have done about 50,000 IIRC, and there was still lots of tread on the rears.

gareth111278 said:

......Drivers today are taught to brake & block shift rather than dropping down through the gears......

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Que? What's block shifting when it's at home? (No idea which model you have but the 1.2 Dynamic pressures are 29/26)

Block shifting -

When most of us were taught to drive you were told to keep the car under the most control by down gearing as you slowed down. So if you were doing 30mph in 4/5th gear and starting to approach a junction where you would need to stop or indeed for safety might want to brush some speed off, you would apply the brakes and move from 4th to 3rd gear. As you slowed down further you would go into 2nd, and then 1st gear. It meant the engine was helping to slow you down and should the brakes fail you have more torque fighting against the motion of the car to help it stop...

More modern progressive driving techniques for some bizzare reason changed all that and said you leave it in the gear you are in and only shift to the gear you need. So if slowing right down from 30mph in 4th gear you would leave it in 4th until the car is almost stalling and then select 1st or (2nd if you are going to roll and keep going) - This is block shifting... its also done going up the gears where you might go up through 1st, 2nd and then select 4th or 5th as you don't need to accelerate anymore..

Steve

I got 25,000 out of my fronts, so far I have got 40,000 out of the rears

I tend to use the gears and engine braking before use of the brake pedal, and have been known to miss the odd gear both going up and down - ie changing from 3rd to 5th

Trev

AskCy said:

Block shifting -

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Almost too weird for words, I was partially failed on my first test for, and I remember it perfectly, "inappropiate use of gears when approaching a junction". In other words, I didn't work my way down the box.
"Block shifting" though, never heard that phrase or "down gearing" and my youngest is now on her last round of lessons, odd. I do probably as most drivers will, switch direct from 3rd to 5th and variations on the theme as Trev has said, if the engine speed is right, but I also use the gears to slow the car when it suits long before I touch the brakes, if at all, and will drop from 5th to 3rd as the fancy takes me. There you go, obviously not too old yet to learn something new (wanders off muttering new words, block shifting, must remember that, block shifting and down gearing....).

We average 12k on fronts and 20k on rears !

Block changing/shifting is a very good way of changing gears. It's taught by driving instructors, and advanced drivers use it (including the police). There are a few benefits. You can keep both hands on the steering wheel while braking. There is less where on the clutch/gearbox. Brakes are also much cheaper/easier to replace than the clutch/gearbox. I really can't understand why anybody would not block change in normal driving.

I agree that brakes are cheeper & easier to replace, but I'd argue that, properly done, changing down the 'box will increase wear on the clutch or gearbox.
Keeping both hands on the wheel whilst braking hard must be safer, but if you're braking hard, I'd say, its because you've been forced into it. I that case forget the gearbox, just get the speed off!
I don't think one can compare how the Police are trained to drive at high speeds to everday driving too much, they are very different things.
I think that engine braking through the 'box was taught in the days when brakes were poor & could easily over heat causing 'brake fade'. I was taught to drive coaches on old Bedfords. Coming down some of the hils here in North Wales you had to engine brake or you'd never stop at the bottom!

I was taught to go down the box for breaking (off to draw me pension)

Well explained AskCy!!

22,000 miles at the mo, about 3mm left all round. (I do rotate).

To rorate or not...., I don't I just fit a pair of fronts as & when I need them, If i need rears I move the fronts back & have a new pair on the front.
My Chrysler Grand Voyager uses 2 pairs of fronts to a pair of rears, so its 2 tyres then 4 tyres. fronts last me about 20,000, but its a big heavy car.
On a car that does anything more than just dotting about I'd always fit a pair across an axle. If you get a puncture its a big decision what to do then!

gareth111278 said:

I agree that brakes are cheeper & easier to replace, but I'd argue that, properly done, changing down the 'box will increase wear on the clutch or gearbox.
Keeping both hands on the wheel whilst braking hard must be safer, but if you're braking hard, I'd say, its because you've been forced into it. I that case forget the gearbox, just get the speed off!
I don't think one can compare how the Police are trained to drive at high speeds to everday driving too much, they are very different things.
I think that engine braking through the 'box was taught in the days when brakes were poor & could easily over heat causing 'brake fade'. I was taught to drive coaches on old Bedfords. Coming down some of the hils here in North Wales you had to engine brake or you'd never stop at the bottom!

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Well to change down properly you really want to be using the throttle at the same time so that the clutch etc. isn't doing lots of work. To do that you then need to be braking and using the throttle pedal at the same time which gets more complicated and difficult.

If it's good enough for Police driving at high speeds then I'm sure it's good enough for everything else.

That's true, one of the reasons for the change is due to the change in cars. If you got in a 50 year old classic car then using the gears for slowing may be a good idea, but on modern cars I can't really see any benefit.

gareth111278 said:

If i need rears I move the fronts back & have a new pair on the front.

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Should always have new tyres placed on the rear, wether changing front or rear tyres

The recent snowy weather has revealed the down-side of not being taught to slow down with the gears. I passed my test 25 or more years ago, but even then was encouraged to 'miss out' gears when braking, dipping the clutch as the car neared a stop. But, do that in the snow and ice and you find the brakes will send you sliding (even with ABS)... then (and maybe only then), using the gears and engine braking will provide much more control -- but they don't teach that bit now... and over the past couple of months, it's showed!

Most Easterly Pandas said:

Should always have new tyres placed on the rear, wether changing front or rear tyres

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I've heard this said a few times now, IMHO, on a front wheel drive, its just wrong! The fronts do all the driving & steering.
Perhaps having the best grip on the rear will stop the back end coming round during emergency braking but I'd rather that than the front loosing grip & understeering off into the countryside.
I'm also thinking that as a tyre gets older the chances of it failing get higher, a rear end blow out doesn't sound as scary to me as a front. Am i wrong?
Gareth

Personally I'd fit the best tyres on the rear which is what the tyre companies reccomend

http://www.michelin.co.uk/michelinuk/en/car-van-4x4/less-worn-tyres-rear/20070314172074.html

Better to have understeer than oversteer IMHO.

Also rear end blowouts are worse Gareth, car will instantly spin whereas a frontend blowout will mean understeer. I'd look for the fifth gear video where they did a comparison between front/rear end blowout but I'm at work.

Advanced Driver said:

Block changing/shifting is a very good way of changing gears. It's taught by driving instructors, and advanced drivers use it (including the police). There are a few benefits. You can keep both hands on the steering wheel while braking. There is less where on the clutch/gearbox. Brakes are also much cheaper/easier to replace than the clutch/gearbox. I really can't understand why anybody would not block change in normal driving.

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Not sure I always agree with the way the police drive (eg wheel shuffling) but I learned to drive 40-plus years ago with crash gearboxes and drum brakes and (though I'd never heard the term at the time) I've always block shifted, seems the only logical thing to do.