My C230 got these High Performance Michelin tires, the tire marking said 51 PSI Max, the door sticker said 28 PSI front, and 30 PSI Rear. I know these are recommanded and performance settings. Usually Performance Tires don't last more than 20K miles at most so I got two questions.

1) I don't mind a harsher ride if i can get a bit more mileage wear from these tires. So I inflated these tires to about 38 PSI, on delivery day dealer had all of them on about 30 PSI. So how do you inflate your tires? PSI? Do you think my setting of 38 PSI is TOO HIGH? Ride is a bit more bouncy but still real nice.

2) What kind of mileage has everyone gotten from these Michelins before changing them to new set of tires?

 

i say thats too high.. i got the primacys on my car too.. i say they will last anywhere from 15-25k..i got 35 in mine all the way around.. i say thats the absolute highest u should go but thats just my opinion

 

I run 28F and 30R, and the tires are just fine.

I got 25K out of the last set of tires, but I expected that number.

 

I do mostly highway miles so I ran mine at 38 in the rear and about 35 up front. They lasted me a little over 40k miles

 

I've got an 07 and have the same Michelin Pilot Primacy's. They are not really a high performance tire, but are actually categorized as a Grand Touring Summer tire. They are designed to give decent performance with good ride and low noise.

With that said, 38 psi is way to high for these tires on your car. I am really **** about tire wear and alignment on all my vehicles. I am very good about maximizing tire life, and check my air pressure and tread depth weekly. I have been monitoring my tires since day one, and have found that the factory recommended pressures for these tires are just a hair low. Using my tire depth gauge, I found that the inside and outside edges were wearing quicker then the center (Indication low air pressure). I bumped the pressure 2psi to 30psi front and 34psi rear, and the tires are wearing perfectly even now. I have 9K on the car, and the tires have 8/32 tread in front and 7/32 tread rear. Since the tires have 10/32 when new, and are considered dead at 2/32, that leaves 8/32 usable tread life. Which means I am at 75% tread front and 62.5% rear. If tires wore in a linear fashion (Which they don't), that would equate to 36K miles life for the front and around 25K for the rear. In real life, I suspect I'll get ~15K out of the rear and ~20K out of the fronts.

At 38psi on your tires, you are going to wear out the center tread long before the inside and outside. 51psi max marked on the tires, is exactly that, MAXIMUM pressure. On most vehicles, you won't ever need to run them even close to the max. You will get no benefit from running you tires at 38 psi, other then faster tire wear. Stick with the factory recommendations and tweak as needed for the load and speeds you travel at.

 

I always keep the pressure in my tires on the high side... 35-38 depending on my mood.

 

What, are you guys serious? I've run 50000km on my stock 205/55/16 Michelin Energy MX4 and there's still life in them, probably another 30000km before hitting the wear bars. Do you guys have lead feet or something? (and yes, I do tear up the curves a couple of times a year) My tires are rotated every Service A/B. Dunno if it makes a difference but my car is 95% city driving.

I run 36psi in the front, 32 in the rear. Anything higher and I've noticed the middle starts to wear faster than the edges of the tires. Also having higher pressure in the front gives reduces understeer, the car is almost balanced when combined with C32AMG sways.

 

You are comparing apples with oranges. The MX4 is a mediocre all season tire that is H rated which has 0 performance in it and is a hard rubber. The Pilot is a w rated premium summer grand touring tire that is much softer and lower profile which equals more wear.