Increasing min tread depth from 2/32" to 4/32"

[asawadude]

Valuable information for the X5world community:

Here are links to a newly posted technical article and a related press release on the Tire Rack website:

What Honest Abe doesn't tell you about Minimum Tread Depths
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...ay.jsp?ttid=85&

New Tire Tests Show The Quarter Is The New Penny
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...pth_press.html

Summary: 2/32" is the legal minimum threshold before a tire is deemed by federal regulations to be unsafe. The Tire Rack tests demonstrate that in a wet conditions, 2/32" tread depth tires requires double the stopping distance compared to 4/32" tread depth tires. They propose that the legal limit be raised to 4/32". The new depth gauge would now become the quarter which has a 4/32" distance from Washington's head to the coin edge.