Tyre wear ( non Alpina)

Hodge · Post by **Hodge** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 7:28 pm

Just a cautionary tale about wheel alignment and tyre wear. 3 months back when I purchased my Q7 the Audi dealership fitted 4 new tyres, very impressive, one worn on each axle means all 4 to be changed due to the Quattro set up. Anyway 4 new 295/35/21 Â£1300, at no expense to me is quite acceptable. 3 months down the line and 4k miles, I happened to look at the front tyres on full lock whilst parked, as the below pic shows, I think something is amiss

So a quick nip for 4 wheel alignment revealed, the front passenger wheel out of its tolerance, this was not detectable during driving whatsoever, but I suppose 2.3 tonnes and those wheel also doing some of the driving masked this.

Anyway back to the dealers for them to have a look, and to tell me they will check the now correct new alignment and fit 4 new tyres, this time more expensive Dunlops at Â£1478, marvellous, makes the PX price seem quite acceptable now. The dealer found that the PDI revealed 'uneven tyre wear' hence the 4 original tyres, but the PDI flag was never actioned, leaving the ball firmly in their court. The purpose of this post is to raise the profile of how quickly you end up on the canvas with no symptoms, so as we all should do already, whatever you drive, check those tyres. This is what it should have looked like

HTH

ade and liz flint · Post by **ade and liz flint** » Thu Dec 06, 2012 7:36 pm

Exactly why my fronts get visually inspected on full lock on a weekly basis as it's normally easy to spot the onset of this edge wear. Naughty supplying dealer, though, and good it's been rectified at their cost

PurplePork · Post by **PurplePork** » Sun Jan 13, 2013 9:06 pm

7000 miles.
I'm not overly chuffed at having to spend Â£600 on two rears.
Certainly didn't expect them to go so quick!

Like you, nothing feels amiss in the drive and according to Pirelli Technical its acceptable wear for 7k miles - well the same tyre's on my 911turbo lasted 13k miles.

Hodge · Post by **Hodge** » Sun Jan 13, 2013 9:26 pm

It does seem a bit quick really, and your 911 had the added weight over those rears as well

Cheers

PurplePork · Post by **PurplePork** » Sun Jan 13, 2013 9:40 pm

Exactly my thoughts.

The above tyre wear is from my current Boxster, which is massively lighter than the 911!

jamesa · Post by **jamesa** » Sun Jan 13, 2013 11:47 pm

PurplePork wrote:7000 miles.
I'm not overly chuffed at having to spend Â£600 on two rears.
Certainly didn't expect them to go so quick!

Like you, nothing feels amiss in the drive and according to Pirelli Technical its acceptable wear for 7k miles - well the same tyre's on my 911turbo lasted 13k miles.

3 to 4mm left on that ?

jamesa · Post by **jamesa** » Sun Jan 13, 2013 11:53 pm

PurplePork wrote:Exactly my thoughts.

The above tyre wear is from my current Boxster, which is massively lighter than the 911!

Out of interest which car has the best traction, 911 ?

PurplePork · Post by **PurplePork** » Mon Jan 14, 2013 6:30 pm

3-4mm around the edges.
The centre band used to have a lovely tread on it! ( and its not been over inflated either).
I like to change my tyres at 3mm anyway.

Traction - 911 without a doubt, but being a turbo it has 4wd, so not a fair comparison.
If you asked which is more fun - I'd have to say Boxster ( and the LSD helps)

jamesa · Post by **jamesa** » Mon Jan 14, 2013 7:11 pm

Thank you.

Had some Michelin PS2`s like that and was amazed at how well they gripped, even in the wet ( NOT standing water though

). They had done 30k on the B10`s rear but only 8k with me

PurplePork · Post by **PurplePork** » Mon Jan 14, 2013 7:46 pm

The PS2's on the Alpina are great tyres - as you say, give good grip.

Possibly the best and worst tyres I had were the Yokohama A048's.

Astounding in the dry, but any sniff of a damp road had me creeping about.
The fact that they're semi-slick legal road tyres meant they were worn out within 3k miles!

jamesa · Post by **jamesa** » Mon Jan 14, 2013 8:23 pm

PurplePork wrote:The PS2's on the Alpina are great tyres - as you say, give good grip.

Possibly the best and worst tyres I had were the Yokohama A048's.

Astounding in the dry, but any sniff of a damp road had me creeping about.
The fact that they're semi-slick legal road tyres meant they were worn out within 3k miles!

Yep, I use the A032R on my modified Mk1 Golf GTI, both Soft and Supersoft.

Have also used Dunlop D01J (since superceded) on a Mk2 Golf and found them better in the wet.