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

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.

Thanks for the mention, we don't like "tooting our own horn" but it is an interesting read.

Yeah I don't know about that... I used to race in the rain with slicks and without. For sure the tread helps but mostly it's the tire itself regardless of the depth. Some tires have more grip than others in the wet. If the rain is heavy or you are approching areas prone to flooding (underpasses) then you should slowdown anyway.