While I was at Bell Tire yesterday having my tires balanced and rotated, I was pricing new tires to get a feel of what was available and how much. I was talking to the sales guy about the Michelin Defenders as I like Michelin and fully believe you get what you pay for in a tire. The Defender is a 90,000 mile tire and Michelin have a 30 day try and return if you don't like them, along with a 3 year free flat tire change ( road service ). Anyways, I was chatting about the tread wear numbers and the sales guy explained to me that those numbers are a good reference while researching a same brand tire ( between different Michelin's brands ), but is not as reliable to determine between different brands ( Michelin and Yokohama as an example ). Now I was confused, as I understood the UTQG numbers were a government standard. Well, there are, but what the salesman explained was correct.
Taken from article below:
Here is a good article to read, to help understand the tire ratings:Typically, comparing the Treadwear Grades of tire lines within a single brand is somewhat helpful, while attempting to compare the grades between different brands is not as helpful.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=48