ayap

Assuming you drive the tires at the same speed and driving conditions, which tire will wear faster? The stock 18s or the 19 peelers?

RedMagma2011S4

It really depends on the tire itself. Since the 19's come with stickier higher performance summer tires, they will wear faster.

m444

Tire wear depends on the tire make/model. I have 18" all weather tires, which wear at a different rate than the factory summer tires.

The diameter of the wheel has no measureable affect. The outside tire diameter is nearly identical for the 18" & 19" tires.

zooomart

Are you asking which will wear out faster or which will wear longer?

gk1

The UTQG is the same regardless of size for a specific model of tire. i.e the 255/35/19 Continental ContiSportContact 3 that comes on the 2012 S4 has a treadwear rating of 280. In 245/40/18 size the treadwear rating is the same 280. However if the 18" comes with something like the ExtremeContact DW the treadwear rating is 340 or about 20% longer than the 19" SportContact.
However the treadwear rating itself is somewhat suspect due to how it is derived and that it is assigned by the manufacturer.

In reality I'm sure there is very little if any treadwear difference between the two.

Huey52

"..tires wear out longer." I don't really understand.

But anyway, as cited it more depends on the tire compound and in this context the 19" Summer performance tires will wear out much more quickly.

Now, if you compare the exact same tire brand/composition on 18" and 19" rims, the lower profile 19" tires will in theory wear out more quickly due to greater sidewall stresses.

DrGP

The tire with the smaller diameter will wear out sooner since it will tavel more rpms. The 18" tires will never have exactly the same diameter of the 19" tire on the same car. It will be close though.

FatalBert

They are essentially the same, I believe the 18's are 1% smaller in diameter than the 19's.

The 18's also come with high performance summer tires so I don't think the seasonal factor makes a difference.

The sidewall on the 19's is smaller thus stiffer than the 18's. I would assume this would factor in the life of the tire, especially if you are a spirited driver that takes turns hard and push the grip to its limits often I would think the 19's would wear out before the 18's. Just assumptions though.

HyperS4

Im surprised nobody said this but "it all depends on the driver" too. My dad could make tires that we would probably kill in 15k miles last till 45k.

Now, if you had specifically asked "which tires would last longer for me?" and then stated your driving habits, that would have helped.

But with all that being said, there really wont be any wear difference between 18's and 19's if they are the exact same make and model of tires driven the exact same way.

ayap

Well, I said 'with the same driving conditons'. Let's say I drove 30,000 miles with my own driving style on the 18s. And then, with my same driving style, I drove on the 19s for another 30,000 miles on the same roads and route. Which tire will wear out faster? The question was never about the driver, but all about the tires - same driver (me) and same roads I use daily.