4x4

That eternal question, when do you need to change your tyres...?

I've done just over 15,000 miles on the original P6000's on my 4x4 and they're starting to show some signs of wear. Interestingly the front & backs have worn fairly evenly (a sign of the 4wd I guess) but the outside edge of all them seem to be a lot more worn than the rest of the tyre.

1) Do I wait until the rest of the tyre wears out
2) Do I try & rotate them from front OS to rear NS etc. (not sure what good this'll do)
3) Rotate front to back

Does anyone know how far from the edge of the tyre the minimum tread depth of 2.5mm (I think) can be ?[color=darkred:564595b6e0][/color:564595b6e0]

Tavia4x4

I find the fronts wear the outer edge slightly quicker than the rear, so swap mine front to back to eek out more life. (directional toyo's so have to stay on same side)

The P6000's are pretty poor, mine came underinflated and the edges were shafted before they went to correct pressure. I alwasys leave it too late so am usually to the wear marker before replacing (oops).

I got about 20k out of the original 6000's, then 10k (inc airfield day) out of the fronts, around 15k from the rears (will probably be replaced next month)

Personal opinion, but I found turn-in sharper running the fronts the same as the rear, 34psi.

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Ian
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Nice to be important, but more important to be nice...

TaviaRS

IIRC the minimum tread depth must be on at least 75% of the tyre ergo you can be down to the canvas on the remaining 25%. However, I wouldn't recommend doing so :mrgreen:

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DGW

C'mon, chaps, the answer is in a couple of places in our web links! This is what the Highway Code has to say:

"Tyres MUST be correctly inflated and be free from certain cuts and other defects.
Cars, light vans and light trailers MUST have a tread depth of at least 1.6mm across the central three-quarters of the breadth of the tread and around the entire circumference. Motorcycles, large vehicles and passenger carrying vehicles MUST have a tread depth of at least 1mm across three-quarters of the breadth of the tread and in a continuous band around the entire circumference. Mopeds should have visible tread.
Laws CUR reg 27"

I have just had the Continental CT22s on my Felicia replaced today with Bridgestone B330s. The Contis had done 33K, still had more than the legal minimum tread, but were suffering from tyrewall cracking (for which there was a recall a couple of years ago - but I didn't get to hear about it). The Bridgestones are noticeably quieter, give a more comfortable ride, and the inherent heavy steering is now lighter - particularly when parking. I am very impressed. My only regret is that I didn't replace the Contis ages ago.

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Denis

2002 Octavia 1.8T 4X4 turbo Estate - rebreathed on by Jabba ... 31.93mpg
2007 Fabia vRS - CC, ESP and full leather trim by Seat Surgeons ...48.57 mpg...

Drpepper

Would recommend Continentals, I have had them on the Alfa from new and the first set on the front did just over 20k, the current set are on 22k though a lot of it is motorway hacking. The rears are the originals on 42k and still have half the tread on ! The 51 reg RS I test drove had contisports fitted so I am hoping these are the standard tyre that will be on my 03 reg when it arrives ?

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Err, Umm, Err, has anyone seen the plot ??

Dmac1969vRS

I have the Contis on my RS , in 205 50 17 size. My car has only done 10500 miles and ive noticed the outside edges of the fronts are showing signs of wear. I have also done what Tavia 4x4 has done and increased the fronts to the reccomended pressure of the rears , 2.2 bar or 220 KPa all round now. I had always thought the fronts looked a little soft when run at the correct pressure , maybe thats the reason for the wear?

DGW

The Wheel and Tyre Bible in our links deals with uneven tyre wear. If you increase the pressure of the fronts above the recommended pressure, the centre of the tyre tread will wear faster than the rest of the tread; the converse is also true. If its just the outer edge on each front tyre which is wearing, could that be due to enthusiastic cornering?

Sorry, should have seen that it is all 4 tyres. Definitely enthusiastic driving, in that case!

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Denis

2002 Octavia 1.8T 4X4 turbo Estate - rebreathed on by Jabba ... 31.93mpg
2007 Fabia vRS - CC, ESP and full leather trim by Seat Surgeons ...48.57 mpg...

Dmac1969vRS

Ermm..Possibly!! Maybe i should have them rotated front to back ?, although the car is not due its first service till july (@ 2 yrs old , will be nowhere near 20K miles by then.)

jawsnpaws

Interesting topic for 4*4 drivers - like the idea of raised front pressures - this should wear the centre more and the rim less .

My tyres wear about evenly - 25000 on P6000s changed them over at about 18000 diagonally because the rears were wearing more - only other car to do this was the RWD Jag - so it must mean that I like powering out of corners causing the Haldex to kick in . I got the feeling that the left tyres were worn on the rim more than the right - physics would tell me that a LHD car turns on a tighter radius to the left than to the right in the UK .

I have changed to Conti Premium Contacts because of the reports gleaned from Just Tyres which show their grip in both wet and dry to be almost unbeatable , which is also born out by my wife's 206 GTi which has done 20,000 and there is as yet little sign of wear - although the Sports Contact appears to offer better wear resistance .

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steve w

SkodiRS

My 52(Sept) reg RS has Dunlop SP3000s fitted and I non too impressed with them.

They're noisy and don't really inspire confidence when pushing on. Wear seems to be ok though; Basingstoke has alot of round-abouts and the tyres edges are bearing up well (or maybe I'm not driving fast enough :wink: )

I've heard alot of good things about the Conti SPC2s; I'm not sure but I think these (or the SPCs) where fitted to 01 Reg cars.

I read a review by somone who was selling his RS and he said that the Contis suited the car and it would be a mistake to change to anything else (I assumed that he had and reverted).

So I think it'll be a set of Conti SPC2s for me when the time comes.
Then I only have to decided what size to get and if I get 225/45s whether to get a whole set or just 2, blah blah blah.................

Cheers.
Adrian.

Tavia4x4

Denis, do you not find that at quoted figures the fronts look "soft"? They always wore the edges more and looked like I had a flat, one of the reasons I increased the pressure.

That said, a lower pressure would give you better traction on soft surfaces, may thats why they recommend those presures?

I find 34 all round to give even wear, with possibly slighty more on the outer still. (both inner and outer shoulder)

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Ian
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Nice to be important, but more important to be nice...

4x4

Blimey, thanks for all your responses. I think I'll inflate the fronts a couple of more PSI, (they're currently at 30-31) I agree with Tavia4x4, the fronts always look a little soft even when they've just been topped up with air.

Thanks,

Carl.


(Now why did I need to log in again to Briskoda this morning...)

DGW

Jon

The sticker for my tyre size (and I guess yours) specifies 2.2 (32) front - 2.3 (33) rear for half load, and 2.3 (33) front - 2.8 (41) rear for full load. That is higher than the pressures quoted in the handbook for the Estate, but the hanndbook does say that the sticker may differ depending on the vehicle version (logical given the extra kerbside weight of the 4x4).

I normally add 2 psi to the half load figures for everyday use - ie 34F/35R - to allow for some loss of air pressure between tyre pressure checks, and try never to let tyres run below the recommended half load figures. When travelling laden on holiday, when the car load varies between moderately heavy and just the 2 of us, I use 35F/38R - the latter a compromise of some sort!

But to answer your question, my front tyres (SP 2000s) look OK even with 32 psi, although I would expect lower profile tyres to look a bit flatter in comparison.

A final point. My son with the 205 1.9GTi and oversize low profile tyres is always asking my advice as to whether his tyres look flat. They do, but when checked with a pressure gauge (which he is too lazy to use) they are usually at the correct pressure. Looks can deceive.

PS Any news of the .... YKW?

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Denis

2002 Octavia 1.8T 4X4 turbo Estate - rebreathed on by Jabba ... 31.93mpg
2007 Fabia vRS - CC, ESP and full leather trim by Seat Surgeons ...48.57 mpg...

RallyMarshal

I have now done 9500 miles on mine (Dunlop SP3000s in 205/50/17) and swapped them front to rear around 500 miles ago as the fronts were wearing a fair bit more than the rears. I reckon theyll be looking at being replaced at 15k or so - in the summer. My last car - Mondeo used to wear Uniroyals out every 6k and my rallycar gets <100 miles per tyre (OK just an example!) so 15K is fine with me!

Paul..

Drpepper

Another article in AutoExpress this week was foccussing on the growing trend of "yoofs" over inflating there tyres by dramatic amounts, apparently one crashed Nova had 80 PSI in the tyres !!! Apparently they are doing this to make it easier to induce wheel spin and hand brake turns at cruises but are seemingly unaware of the impact this has to the setup of the vehicle for normal driving and makes it very easy to loose control.

Never heard of this until now but they claim it's a growing problem ? As said previously it's difficult to tell from looking what a tyre is inflated to, including even massively over pressured ones, hence the police are struggling to clamp down on this, very strange !

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Err, Umm, Err, has anyone seen the plot ??