[prhim]

After 11.5k miles, the front tyres on my A5 30 TDi are close to shot.

At the moment, I have the much-maligned Dunlop Sport Maxx 19". I haven't been a big fan of these myself. Has anyone swapped their Sport Maxxes for something else and felt the change was a good one?

Also, need to bear in mind that the rear tyres are still in good shape, so I won't be changing them yet. So I want to avoid creating an imbalance front to rear...

..and finally, how bad is 12k miles for front 19" tyres? Anyone else done better / worse?

 

[SAJ_1982]

Just a recommendation for the future, swap front with back after 6000 miles and you will get more even ware thus when you change tyres you can change and have all four the same....they will last longer too.

 

[Rab88]

After 11.5k miles, the front tyres on my A5 30 TDi are close to shot.

At the moment, I have the much-maligned Dunlop Sport Maxx 19". I haven't been a big fan of these myself. Has anyone swapped their Sport Maxxes for something else and felt the change was a good one?

Also, need to bear in mind that the rear tyres are still in good shape, so I won't be changing them yet. So I want to avoid creating an imbalance front to rear...

..and finally, how bad is 12k miles for front 19" tyres? Anyone else done better / worse?

Thats very strange. The rears should be wearing more than the front, due to the 60/40 split.

The only difference you should see is the shoulder of the tyre wearing more at the front, due to heavy cornering.

I've had to order a new tyre today from audi due to my tracking being out. My front o/s tyre it wearing unevenly.

Oh, and guess what, Audi are wanting £180 to do my tracking . Even if it's NOT the tracking and it's a warranty issue, they still want me to pay for the tracking first.

I'll have my tracking checked for free at kwik-fit tomorrow, and if the tracking is fine then audi will recieve a lovely tyre bill in the post.

 

[Rab88]

Just to add, i've did around 11k miles and the rest of my tyres are fine with plenty tread left. I'm using Bridgestone Potenza RE050A's though. They must be a harder tyre than the Sport Maxx.

 

[Ianhp1]

... The front WILL wear faster than the rear as they have to do all the turning, not just pushing - and under braking they take the biggest load (much bigger than the rear under acceleration by a factor of 3) 12k is not unreasonable but it depends on where you drive... 12k with mostly motorway driving is poor... around all the roundabouts in Milton Keynes it's good!

...Also (and this will spark debate) the weight distribution of a diesel is usually further forward than a petrol because the engine in normally heavier than a comparative petrol and has extra cooling for fluids located in front of the engine... this will increase front tyre wear.

 

[I8TQB4IP]

I've just measured the tread depth on mine. Car has done 7K miles. Fronts are 5mm and rears are 6mm. Assuming new tread depth of 8mm (is that right?) and replacement at 2mm, I will get 14K from the fronts and 21K from the rears. I don't like these Dunlops either - seem to lose traction too easily on greasy surfaces. My previous A6 had Michelin Pilot Sports on same size 19" wheels. I liked them and got around 22K-24K all round. Surprisingly longer life from a heavier car.

 

[doubledoom]

seem to lose traction too easily on greasy surfaces.

+1

I have noticed that it only has to be slightly greasy and at slow speed and sometimes you get movement.

 

[scratch113]

I'm planning to swap my tyres after around 6-8000 miles as Saj suggests - I used to do this on my S4 and got around 19k miles out of each set (and I didn't always drive it like a Nun!). The fronts will always wear faster than the rears on everything other than full rwd where all the torque goes to the road through only 2 little patches of rubber. The fronts doing the steering, most of the braking and applying 40% power will wear them much quicker than just 60% power application.

I'm planning to change the whole set to probably Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetrics or Michelin Pilot Sports (whichever works out cheapest) as they're both great tyres (and came top in both Evo and Autocar's tyre tests last year). At 2000 miles/month at the moment, this may come sooner than I would normally expect

 

[prhim]

Well, I opted to replace the Dunlops a little early with a pair of Asymetic Goodyear Eagle F1s.

That's the tyre that won Evo Magazine's giant tyre test last year, so they seemed as good a buy as anything (and cheaper than the Michelins at £330 all fitted).

Initial impressions are largely good. It does seem like there is a little more 'feel' through the steering wheel (very subjective, I know) and I think I prefer the way they seem to turn in.

Definitely an improvement on the Dunlops in the wet - both in terms of cornering and general confidence (I used to experience bad aquaplaning on the Dunlops, which was plain scary).

However, in the dry I wouldn't say the ultimate level of grip is any higher than the Dunlops. Maybe even lower. Today on a deserted roundabout, I booted it just to see what happened and was a little disheartened to see the nose run just as wide as it would have on the Dunlops.

One other negative is that I have noticed more 'skip' (or judder, or whatever you want to call it) when moving at slow speeds on full steering lock (i.e. parking). I don't remember the Dunlops doing that at all - but the Goodyears do it every morning.

Hopefully that won't translate into excessive or premature wear.

So probably too early to tell definitively, but so far looking good for the Goodyears.

 

[hilly10]

I had the F1s on my TT great all weather tyre

 

[ChrisD]

I'm not affiliated in any way to these people, but I've used Blackcircles.com in the past and they have proved pretty reasonable and hassle free.

PM me if you want to get a quote or buy from them because we both get a discount (5% I think) if I refer you as a friend.

(No hard sell or advertising intended, just an honest recommendation )

 

[zemljotres]

has anybody got any update on continentals, i fancy them and av heard from past that they are realy good tyres with lots of grip on dry and wet and smothe ride!

 

[SAJ_1982]

has anybody got any update on continentals, i fancy them and av heard from past that they are realy good tyres with lots of grip on dry and wet and smothe ride!

Yeh but they do screech alot at the limit.

 

[normane]

After 11.5k miles, the front tyres on my A5 30 TDi are close to shot.

At the moment, I have the much-maligned Dunlop Sport Maxx 19". I haven't been a big fan of these myself. Has anyone swapped their Sport Maxxes for something else and felt the change was a good one?

Also, need to bear in mind that the rear tyres are still in good shape, so I won't be changing them yet. So I want to avoid creating an imbalance front to rear...

..and finally, how bad is 12k miles for front 19" tyres? Anyone else done better / worse?

interesting THEORYS by all contributers but really you should be looking at how even your tyre wear is and if its even then your driving habits for the real answer.

 

[Andy T]

10K on mine.... and loads of thread left on the front and back .... edges look a bit more worn...

I reckon maybe close to 18K before I change them

Dunlop Sport Maxx on mine

 

[GlennSmith]

10K on mine.... and loads of thread left on the front and back .... edges look a bit more worn...

I reckon maybe close to 18K before I change them

Dunlop Sport Maxx on mine

Andy,
What did you eventually get from this set of tyres?

Glenn

 

[al_hughes]

So what has everyone gone for after the Dunlops? How does anything else compare? I'm coming up to 15,500 miles now and getting close to that time.

Thanks, Al.

 

[prhim]

I had a manufacturing defect with my F1s - believe it or not, the tyre was wearing inconsistently around the diameter - as opposed to across the width of the tyre. Very strange.

Anyway, the tyre dealer happened to have Continentals in - the M3 OEM tyre - so I opted for those, and they seem fine so far. One thing I did notice, though, was that even on brand new 19" rims (see separate post on 'the project'), when I had the tyres road-force balanced, they were right at the upper edge of what the tyre fitter would consider 'acceptable' - much more 'bouncy' (or whatever the right technical term is!) than the older Dunlops still fitted to the rear of the car.

Manufacturing defect aside, I'd say the F1s and Continentals were on a par with each other.

 

[Potemkin]

Vredesteins

I have four 255/35R19 (96Y) Vredestein Sessanta XLs in the garage. I'm going to get them fitted in a couple of weeks.

They are asymmetric, and were rated very highly in the Evo tyre tests. I also got them for a bargain price: £639 for the four, delivered. Fitting will be a further 30 quid in total (not each).

http://www.tyremen.co.uk/ was the site I used. A little cheaper than BlackCircle this time around.

Too good to be true? Not sure. I'll post my findings once they're fitted. Has anyone else tried these tyres?

 

[Andy T]

Glennsmith - only just caught up with this thread..... done 18K on mine now and still have thread left..... so looking like maybe just over 20K...

I do a mixture of driving motorway and London... with a few "spirited" roundabouts thrown in for good measure.