What's the news?
In a stance that is seemingly opposing of every other major tyre manufacturer, Michelin is rejecting the idea that tyres should be changed out when thread depth goes below 4mm. The company is adamant that tyres should be designed and built to perform effectively from new all the way to the legal thread depth of 1.6mm, and has taken numerous factors into consideration during the formation of this belief.
Michelin is of the opinion that current legislation, which dates back to 1989, does not take into account the progress made in tyre technology. It says that no statistics exist that prove an increase in accident rates for vehicles running tyres with less than 4mm thread depth, and that premium brand tyres at their legal wear limit may still be more efficient than brand new rubber of the budget variety.
Changing tyres before their due time also contributes to increased costs for motorists and corporate fleets, affects the cost of contract hire and leasing schemes along with increasing PCP payments for private buyers and is equivalent to using an extra tyre per car every two years, according to the French company.
Ecological concerns have also been raised, with Michelin calculating a potential rise in annual fuel consumption of 900 million litres per year thanks to the increased rolling resistance of tyres at deeper thread depth. This is in addition to an additional three million tonnes of Co2 emissions, which rises to nine million when material loss from still-legal tyres is taken into account. If the legal thread depth limit was raised to 3mm, 1.5 million tonnes of raw material would be wasted annually.
It's an interesting viewpoint, especially since it comes from one of the world's biggest tyre manufacturers.