The Great Tyre Debate

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monkeyhanger
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Re: The Great Tyre Debate

Post by monkeyhanger »

The Quattro system is fron't wheel biased, but the rears kick in strongly when traction demands it.

My R had very even tyre wear, my Michelin PSS were 3.5mm front and 4.0mm rear after 24k miles on them.

I'd say the A4 has pretty even tyre wear too as the fronts got replaced at 10k miles and the rears were just on the criteria of Audi used tyre change (3.0mm). On Conti 6.

So with that I've demonstrated that even with 300ps on tap, the front wheel drive bias of Haldex did not burn up the front tyres. Same seemingly true of the A4, except the Contis are down past 3mm at 10k miles, the PSS would've got to 30k miles on the R' fronts.

The A4 has a slightly heavier engine but the overall car weight is only 42kg more than the Golf R for the A4 (attributed to a lot of the bodywork being aluminium and A4's Quattro system rear diff being a little lighter than the Golf R's Haldex box).

Conti6 are crap for wear.
Last edited by monkeyhanger on Wed Aug 12, 2020 3:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
mjsaville
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Re: The Great Tyre Debate

Post by mjsaville »

I had the Pilot Sport 4s fitted today by SS AUTOVALET in Aberdeen (ordered from Black Circles), its mobile fitting and they come to your house. Brilliant job!! The fitter was excellent, would recommend !! I've used them before, always good.

I've taken the car for a short run no signs of rubbing, will drop the pressures tomorrow as per thread recommendations to: Front 36 and Rear 33.

Hopefully the steering feedback improves, already got the steering set to Sport but still it feels a bit vague.

Cheers

MJ
mjsaville
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Re: The Great Tyre Debate

Post by mjsaville »

Totally impressed with these tyres the sidewall protection for the alloys is huge. The wife will have to reach new levels of ham fistedness to kerb the alloys now... :?

Here's a couple of pics but its difficult to pick out just how good the sidewall protection is, well impressed.
Image
Image

Cheers

MJ
Ima
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Re: The Great Tyre Debate

Post by Ima »

Looking good. How did steering feel get on with the reduced tyre pressures?
mjsaville
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Re: The Great Tyre Debate

Post by mjsaville »

Steering is fine, a much better ride - less harsh than the Bridgestone's. still running in so not able to test the limits of the traction yet. 8)
BootsOnBallast
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Re: The Great Tyre Debate

Post by BootsOnBallast »

4 new tyres fitted yesterday.
Immediate difference is a big reduction in road noise and a softer ride.
PhilArnold
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Re: The Great Tyre Debate

Post by PhilArnold »

What load & speed ratings are you guys buying these tyres at?
Simonz
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Re: The Great Tyre Debate

Post by Simonz »

BootsOnBallast wrote: Thu Aug 20, 2020 9:50 am 4 new tyres fitted yesterday.
Immediate difference is a big reduction in road noise and a softer ride.
That justifies the swap in itself. Enjoy the improvement :D
mjsaville
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Re: The Great Tyre Debate

Post by mjsaville »

PhilArnold wrote: Thu Aug 20, 2020 10:17 am What load & speed ratings are you guys buying these tyres at?
Black circles - 225/40 ZR 18 Y (92) £104.50 - fitted but have discounts on at the moment, also bigger discount for NHS workers 8). Honestly, they are awesome tyres. Like I said the side wall protection is huge, worth it for that alone!!
PhilArnold
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Re: The Great Tyre Debate

Post by PhilArnold »

mjsaville wrote: Thu Aug 20, 2020 8:26 pm
PhilArnold wrote: Thu Aug 20, 2020 10:17 am What load & speed ratings are you guys buying these tyres at?
Black circles - 225/40 ZR 18 Y (92) £104.50 - fitted but have discounts on at the moment, also bigger discount for NHS workers 8). Honestly, they are awesome tyres. Like I said the side wall protection is huge, worth it for that alone!!
Awesome, yeah they have them for £87 + delivery atm so will probably get them and change them over as soon as I collect the car. £40 discount, shame I don't know anyone who works for the NHS and yeah that's an even better discount

Going to get my local powder coaters swap the tyres over as I don't want the risk of anyone marking the brand new wheels
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OomStu_ZA
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Re: The Great Tyre Debate

Post by OomStu_ZA »

Today I had 4x 225/40/18 Michelin PS4 tyres fitted and can tell the difference IMMEDIATLEY. Road noise is seriously a thing of the past and seems to wheel spin (tramp) much less than before, especially while cornering. Thankfully, the tyres fitted perfectly with no rubbing or scuffing of any sort. The only downside I guess is the price but can happily recommend them. Here is SA 4 of the above fitted, balanced, and aligned set me back R3095.00 per tyre, or 140 BP.
PhilArnold
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Re: The Great Tyre Debate

Post by PhilArnold »

Tyres ordered from black circles, £323 delivered for all 4, bargain!

Just getting booked in with the local powder coaters and should be good to go for next week
Nodster
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Re: The Great Tyre Debate

Post by Nodster »

I had similar issues on the rear when I went to 225/40/17R with the Vredestein Quatrac Pro's. The liners as mentioned do touch. For the drivers side rear, I put a small black zip tie into the liner and put it around the fuel filler pipe and that pulled the liner in nicely. Passenger side I think I just manipulated but may check it again. I did try some of that gorilla double sided tape but it didn't adhere to the back of the liner sadly. But yeah, the price difference / saving by going to the more standard 225 size compared to 215 is quite substantial.

I don't think I'd run 36psi at the front personally, but everyone is different. :) I check where the wear is and for me it is nicely to the edge of the front tyre before it drops away to sidewall and that is at 40psi. 36psi seems soft for what is a canny lump of weight up front. Can't imagine turn in being very responsive at that pressure. But everyone has their own preference. I suppose it helps if they have a stiff sidewall. The Vredestein's do not, they are soft. Makes for a comfortable ride though. Rears, I do run lower, I can't quite remember what now...
green justin
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Re: The Great Tyre Debate

Post by green justin »

OomStu_ZA wrote: Tue Aug 25, 2020 3:27 pm Today I had 4x 225/40/18 Michelin PS4 tyres fitted and can tell the difference IMMEDIATLEY. Road noise is seriously a thing of the past and seems to wheel spin (tramp) much less than before, especially while cornering. Thankfully, the tyres fitted perfectly with no rubbing or scuffing of any sort. The only downside I guess is the price but can happily recommend them. Here is SA 4 of the above fitted, balanced, and aligned set me back R3095.00 per tyre, or 140 BP.
In SA, they are just too expensive!
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OomStu_ZA
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Re: The Great Tyre Debate

Post by OomStu_ZA »

green justin wrote: Mon Aug 31, 2020 9:22 pm
OomStu_ZA wrote: Tue Aug 25, 2020 3:27 pm Today I had 4x 225/40/18 Michelin PS4 tyres fitted and can tell the difference IMMEDIATLEY. Road noise is seriously a thing of the past and seems to wheel spin (tramp) much less than before, especially while cornering. Thankfully, the tyres fitted perfectly with no rubbing or scuffing of any sort. The only downside I guess is the price but can happily recommend them. Here is SA 4 of the above fitted, balanced, and aligned set me back R3095.00 per tyre, or 140 BP.
In SA, they are just too expensive!
But well worth it mate. Had the new PS4s on for a week or so and can say it has truly transformed the overall driving experience while road noise is a thing of the past. The car used to tramp heavily when pulling away from the traffic lights but cant say its happened since fitting the PS 4s.

The only part I am dreading however will be fitting replacements every year to 18 months :P
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