Originally Posted by Tirerack

U.S. coins can be substituted for a tire tread depth gauge as tires wear to the critical final few 32nds of an inch of their remaining tread depth.
Place a penny into several tread grooves across the tire. If part of Lincoln's head is always covered by the tread, you have more than 2/32" of tread depth remaining.

Place a quarter into several tread grooves across the tire. If part of Washington's head is always covered by the tread, you have more than 4/32" of tread depth remaining.

Place a penny into several tread grooves across the tire. If the top of the Lincoln Memorial is always covered by the tread, you have more than 6/32" of tread depth remaining.

The Law
According to most states' laws, tires are legally worn out when they have worn down to 2/32" of remaining tread depth. To help warn drivers that their tires have reached that point, tires sold in North America are required to have indicators molded into their tread design called "wear bars" which run across their tread pattern from their outside shoulder to inside shoulder. Wear bars are designed to visually connect the elements of the tire's tread pattern and warn drivers when their tires no longer meet minimum tread depth requirements.

Common Sense
However, as a tire wears it's important to realize that the tire's ability to perform in rain and snow will be reduced. With 2/32" of remaining tread depth, resistance to hydroplaning in the rain at highway speeds has been significantly reduced, and traction in snow has been virtually eliminated.

If rain and wet roads are a concern, you should consider replacing your tires when they reach approximately 4/32" of remaining tread depth. Since water can't be compressed, you need enough tread depth to allow rain to escape through the tire's grooves. If the water can't escape fast enough, your vehicle's tires will be forced to hydroplane (float) on top of the water, losing traction.

If snow covered roads are a concern, you should consider replacing your tires when they reach approximately 6/32" of remaining tread depth to maintain good mobility. You need more tread depth in snow because your tires need to compress the snow in their grooves and release it as the they roll. If there isn't sufficient tread depth, the "bites" of snow your tires can take on each revolution will be reduced to "nibbles," and your vehicle's traction and mobility will be sacrificed. Because tread depth is such an important element for snow traction, winter tires usually start with noticeably deeper tread depths than typical All-Season or summer tires. Some winter tires even have a second series of "wear bars" molded in their tread pattern indicating approximately 6/32" remaining tread depth to warn you when your tires no longer meet the desired tread depth.

Originally Posted by Viking

1010tires

They are also a seller and provide ratings and you can read through their customer reviews just like tirerack.

Originally Posted by STL

So has anyone figured out why the TSX comes with tires with such a high load rating?

Originally Posted by VeniceBeachTSX

The Turanza claims to be an all-season tire, but it isn't great in the snow. IMO, very few "all season" tires are any good in any significant amount of snow. At least I've never found any that are. Maybe the Continental Extreme Contact http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes, but it does have a lower load rating and will not perform as well as tires with less snow capability.

Another possibility is the Yokohama V4s which is competitively priced and also claims to be an all-season tire, though my warning about all-season tires in the snow applies here has well.

I'll probably be going for the Turanzas before long. Really don't like the OEM tires.

Originally Posted by briny319

I take that back. I found I should have been on nokiantires.com which does show them as all seasons.

How much are the nokian's???