Tyre Life Calculator 2026: Miles Left From Your Own Wear
Enter tread depth, miles already on the tyres and yearly mileage. Your own wear rate is projected to 3 mm, with every assumption shown under the result.
Enter Your Tyre Details
New tyres: 7-8 mm
Tread Depth Analysis
How this estimate was worked out
The projection uses only the numbers you entered plus the fixed assumptions listed. It is not a manufacturer mileage rating, and real wear changes with alignment, pressure, load and road surface.
Recommendations
Common Wear Patterns
Over-inflation. Reduce pressure to manufacturer specification.
Under-inflation. Increase pressure and check for slow leaks.
Wheel misalignment. Get a professional alignment check.
Measure the tread, then tell the calculator how far you have driven on these tyres, how far you drive in a year, your driving style (gentle, normal or sporty), the tyre type and its age. It takes the tread lost since new, divides it by that distance to get your own wear rate, and runs the rate forward to 3 mm: a tyre down from 8 mm to 5 mm over 15,000 km of normal driving on all-season tyres has roughly 9,100 km left, about 9 months at 12,000 km a year. Every assumption behind the figure is printed under the result. It stops at 3 mm rather than the 1.6 mm legal floor because wet grip falls away well before the legal limit.
Your case: The figure your own roads enforce still decides whether a tyre is legal today — UK tyre laws give the 1.6 mm minimum and how it is measured across the central three-quarters of the tread, while Austria and Czechia want 4 mm and the Nordics 3 mm once winter rules bite.
Tyre Wear Calculator
Estimate how much tyre life you have remaining based on current tread depth, driving habits, and annual mileage. Plan when to replace your tyres and budget for the cost.
What This Tool Does
Enter your current tread depth, the distance already driven on the tyres, your yearly distance and driving style, and the calculator estimates how many months and kilometres (or miles) remain before the tread reaches 3 mm. The 1.6 mm legal minimum is marked on the gauge, but the countdown stops at 3 mm.
How to Use It
- Enter your current tread depth in millimetres (measure in the main grooves).
- Enter the distance driven on these tyres so far, in km or miles, and how far you drive in a year (same unit).
- Choose your driving style from now on (gentle, normal or sporty), the tyre type and its age.
- Read the distance and months left, the replace-by month, and the list of assumptions used.
Worked Example: 5 mm of tread left
A tyre worn to 5 mm — down from 8 mm new over 15,000 km of normal driving on all-season tyres — has roughly 9,100 km (about 9 months at 12,000 km/year) left before it hits the 3 mm safe-replacement point. The legal minimum in most of Europe is 1.6 mm, but grip drops sharply below 3 mm, especially in the wet, which is why the tool counts down to 3 mm, not 1.6 mm.
The calculation:
- Tread used so far = 8 mm (new) − 5 mm (now) = 3 mm over 15,000 km
- Wear rate = 3 mm ÷ 15,000 km = 0.0002 mm/km, adjusted ×1.1 for all-season tyres = 0.00022 mm/km
- Usable tread left = 5 mm − 3 mm (safe minimum) = 2 mm
- Distance left = 2 mm ÷ 0.00022 mm/km ≈ 9,100 km ≈ 9 months at 12,000 km/year
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Current tread | 5 mm |
| Distance on these tyres so far | 15,000 km |
| Distance driven per year | 12,000 km |
| Driving style / tyre type | Normal / all-season |
| Distance to 3 mm | ≈ 9,100 km |
| Time to replace | ≈ 9 months |
The calculator applies ×1.3 for sporty driving and ×1.2 for winter tyres (×0.8 for gentle driving, ×1.4 for performance tyres). These factors are the tool’s own adjustment, not measured values for your tyre; enter your own tread depth and mileage above for your figure.
Factors That Affect Tyre Wear
Hard acceleration, heavy braking and fast cornering scrub rubber off quickly. Under-inflated tyres wear the shoulders, over-inflated ones the centre, and misaligned wheels wear one edge. On a front-wheel-drive car the front tyres steer and drive, so they usually wear faster than the rears, which is why rotating them evens out the set.
Data Sources
The wear rate comes from your own inputs. The 8 mm new-tread figure, the style and tyre-type factors and the 8-year age cap are this calculator’s assumptions, listed with every result; the 1.6 mm figure is the legal minimum in the UK and most of Europe. Actual wear varies with tyre brand, compound, vehicle weight and road surface.
Frequently Asked Questions
In most countries, the legal minimum tread depth is 1.6 mm. However, tyre safety experts recommend replacing tyres when tread reaches 3 mm, as braking distances increase significantly below this level — especially in wet conditions.
There is no single figure. Mileage depends on the tyre's compound, the car's weight, driving style, alignment, pressure and road surface, which is why this calculator works from the tread you have actually lost over the distance you have actually driven rather than a published average. Age is a separate limit; tyre makers give 10 years from manufacture as the outer bound.
A tread depth gauge is the accurate way. As a quick check in the UK, put a 20p coin into the main grooves: if the outer band is visible, the tread may be below the 1.6 mm legal limit and needs a proper measurement. Measure in several grooves around the tyre, since wear is often uneven.
Yes. Rubber compounds degrade over time due to UV exposure, ozone, and temperature changes. Even tyres with plenty of tread should be replaced after 6 years of use (or 10 years from manufacture date). Check the DOT code on the sidewall for the manufacture date.
Key factors include: driving style (aggressive acceleration and braking), road surface quality, correct tyre pressure, wheel alignment, tyre rotation frequency, load carried, and climate conditions. Under-inflated tyres wear edges faster, while over-inflated tyres wear the centre.