In all of my previous cars, I have gotten rid of the car before wearing through all the tread on the tire, so I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to tires.
I bought my S2K in December and it came with Yokohama dB S2 tires all around, so I don't know how they looked new compared to now. My question is, is there some trick to knowing when your tire needs replacing? Obviously when it's completely bald and wire is showing, but I'm pretty sure I'd like to replace the tires on my daily driver before that point .
Thanks.

 

I usually replace tires when they get down to the wear bars. If you drive in the rain much, you may want to replace them earlier.

 

In the tire tread grooves you'll see a little notch running between. Looks almost like a speed bump in between the tread. That's called the "wear marker". When the tread reaches that marker its time for new tires.

 

That simple huh?
Thanks again.

 

I think you'll beging to hear your tire "wump wump wump" down the road when the wear bars begin to make contact - can anyone else collaborate this?

 

My rear RE050 OEM tires are showing the wear bars more than a month now, I did not hear anything unusual from the rear tires.

We have some good rainning days the last few weeks in So Cal, my near bald rear tires still handle wet roads very well, as long as I kept RPM below 3000-3500.

 

I think the word you're looking for is "corroborate." And I've never heard any extra noise from my tires when they get down to the wear bars. Could be different for different brands though I suppose.

And as a side note, be aware that the wear bars are just a guide. Some tires will begin noticably losing grip before they get down to the bars.

 

The location of the wear bar is indicated by small triangles or arrows molded into the sidewall of the tire near the transition to tread.

Also note that tires wear unevenly. Please be sure to check the inside shoulder of your tires as they often wear more rapidly than the outer shoulder and center of the tread.

 

From 1010tires.com :

Tread Wear Indicator

As your tires wear down, their ability to grip the road decreases. Each tire has what are known as wear bars. These appear at various points around the tire as bars running through the tread design from one side of the tire to the other. When your tires are legally worn out (2/32") the tread will be at the same level as the tread wear indicators and they will be easily visible. Usually before the tire gets to this point, they will begin to feel unsafe. If that is the case, do not wait for them to get to the wear bars. Just because the tread depth is not as low as the tread wear bar, does not mean it is safe.

 

The wear indicators to me are the "oh s***" warning sign if I didn't notice it previously.