New Winter tire tread depths decreasing?

Great finding; perhaps manufacturers are cutting cost and wanting people to replace their tires sooner...

Could be wrong but believe for the most part the less depth tires have the latest multi cell compound whereas the more depth tires are somewhat older design/compound and in most cases can be studded... basically most non studdable ice tires will have less tread then studdable snow tires. The latter will tend to be more blocky in treads as well.

IMHO the design of the tire tread has less to do with effectiveness vs the compound technology. Look at the top rated ice tires and they have different tread design but are not that far apart in ratings.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyre ... ype=W&VT=C

You can't have it all ways. A winter tire can't excel at cutting through deep, fresh snow AND excel at maintaining traction on packed ice AND perform well at high speed on bare wet or dry pavement.

Tire makers may aim their product at regional markets or try to come up with a design that performs well for the broadest possible market.

The car owner has to make their own judgement call on what's best for them - and not just believe marketing hype.

Tread block design and original depth certainly comes into the equation and the industry trend has been away from the traditional chunky snow tire concept.

An optimal tire for the East coast is probably not the best choice for the Prairies nor the West coast.

Maybe the GTA presents a big challenge for a tire that meets varying winter conditions.

Ouch Michelin

I had the original X-Ice's and from what I remember reading they were always 10 or 11/32.

xi_32 wrote: ↑ I'm shopping for new winter tires and I have noticed that many tires now come with a tread depth of only 10/32 or 11/32 inches (8mm or 8.75mm). In the past, all the winter tires usually came with 12/32 or 13/32 (9.5mm to 10.3mm) tread depth. Can anyone explain why winter tire tread depths have come down?

Here are some examples.
Michelin X-Ice Xi3 : 10.5/32
Cooper Discoverer True North : 11/32
CONTINENTAL VIKING CONTACT 7 : 10/32
CONTINENTAL WINTERCONTACT SI : 10/32
Hankook Winter i*Cept iZ2 : 11/32
Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3 : 11/32
Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 : 11/32 or 12/32 depends on tire size.
Nexen Winguard Ice Plus : 11/32.

Contrast with
General Altimax Arctic 12 : 12/32
Nokian Nordman 7 : 13/32
NOKIAN HAKKAPELIITTA 9 : 12/32 or 13/32 depends on tire size.

Yup. Guess what I bought.

I'm still running winters with 5-6 depth.

Tread depth is not the only thing to consider when buying tires. Technology has evolved and tires that wear down perform just as well as brand new tires due to the compounds and materials used.

carmaster wrote: ↑Tread depth is not the only thing to consider when buying tires. Technology has evolved and tires that wear down perform just as well as brand new tires due to the compounds and materials used.

Do you work for Michelin?

I've they've improved, keep tread depth the same and pass on add technology to consumer.

Because I guarantee when wear bar gets down faster now, garages will be telling the average consumer to replace their tire. Not its ok your tire is worn, new tech will still give you traction. Not to mention if you crash your adjustor will wonder why your running on bald tires.

I would imagine that tall, soft tread blocks squirm around and offer poor performance in dry conditions. So there was to be some balance between tread depth (and life) vs dry performance.

I don't drive enough to kill off my tread before replacement. I'm sure the rubber will be old and rock hard & need replacement way before my tread is down to the minimum.

Just got new Michelin X-Ice Xi3's yesterday and I measured just 10/32 on them

Like everything else (groceries, fast food, etc.), looks like Tire Manufacturers are shrinking their products (tread depth).

vkizzle wrote: ↑ My Hankook IPikes RW11 has a tread depth of 14/32.

I have the same tires and just looked and you were correct.

I just put mine back on and they had 10/32 after 3 years use...i was surprised at the time and thought "wow, hardly any wear!" (thinking they were 11/32 new).

lol !

My X-Ice Xi2 tires purchased in 2011 were 10/32" when new.