OK so i went to a rolling road to hopefully get some answers on my high MPG problem. They did suggest some possibles but this is to be further investigated.

However, whilst waiting, i had a mooch round the car and looked at tyre tread depths - first time in 5,000 miles of driving i've done this really. Fronts seemed to have plenty of tread left which was a relief since i the abs light did come on quite a bit whilst i 'got used to' driving the car in the rain for the first few weeks . Had a look at the reard and they are down to wear indicators on both sides. Pretty even wear too although slightly worse on the outside of the right one, and i think also the outside of the left one!

Looked at the allignment sticky and looked up my nearest centres but the two closest seem to be, shall we say, small independants (as opposed to dodgy back street garages which might be slightly insulting and possibly inaccurate).

Any thoughts? I will be pretty hacked off if it turns out to have been sold to me badly set up, resulting in mucho increased fuel costs and now two rear tyres to replace!

Also, the back end has always felt 'twitchy' (particularly when going over less than perfect roads). Almost like it is too stiff at the rear and if my main reason for being unhappy with the handling - not because it's actually kicked out or anything, but more because i dont have 100% faith that it wont!

PS I did try searching, on 'rear tyre wear' and 'rear tyres worn' but didnt really find much. Then again i'm not great at searching and cant beleive that this is not covered since i seem to remember seeing issues about rear tyres on Octy 2 but there you go

If its any help, within a few months of getting my Octavia, it had begun a "whir, owl-like" noise from the rear, I soon discovered this was the rear Tyres, it had basically wore them bald in the insides, took it and got it alligned with the revised settings and it seems to be fine ever since

settings were in Octavia-vrs.com

Looking at your sig if the car is a '56 I take it you bought 2nd hand?? What where the tyres like when you bought it, sounds like the fronts had already been swapped to the rear and vice versa, as the rear really shouldn't be wearing anywhere near as quick as the fronts, also don't think there is much to change on the rear ( alignment wise, could be wrong EDIT: and post above proves it :P:O). If they have been swapped over I would also check that they are on the correct side if using directional tyres. IF the tyres where new when you purchased the car then I would be worried about the suspension.

Mine is the same. Very twitchy at the back end, seems to scuttle side to side on high speed motorway expansion joints and the like. Doesn't like camber changes much either.

My rear Conti SP3s were mullered in record time as well, down to canvas on the inside shoulder.

Now i've got 4 new tyres on the car i will get everything aligned on a hunter laser rig somewhere.

My rear tyres have done more than 40K miles, will need to replace them soon though.

Looking at your sig if the car is a '56 I take it you bought 2nd hand?? What where the tyres like when you bought it, sounds like the fronts had already been swapped to the rear and vice versa, as the rear really shouldn't be wearing anywhere near as quick as the fronts, also don't think there is much to change on the rear ( alignment wise, could be wrong EDIT: and post above proves it :P:O). If they have been swapped over I would also check that they are on the correct side if using directional tyres. IF the tyres where new when you purchased the car then I would be worried about the suspension.

Tyres were new all round - i probably should have mentioned that

My rear tyres have done more than 40K miles, will need to replace them soon though.

Are the roads made of marshmallow round your way? I normally expect to get about 20,000 miles from a tyre, in most previous cars.

I have had a proper look now and ca update that the car is on bridgestone tyres, and that the wear is actually extensive on both rear outer edges, and less severe (although still not good) on the inside if i reach my hand in. Therefore surely an allignment issue.

I reckon my chances of getting the dealer to stump up for this are slim TBH - am pretty p***ed off though. Kwik fit want £159 per tyre or £289 for two if i go pirelli. I knwo i can get cheaper BTW i just havent shopped around yet as i want to see what the dealer says first. I honestly think they should pay for allignment and at least half the cost of the two new tyres but i can imagine what the response will be

I have had a proper look now and ca update that the car is on bridgestone tyres, and that the wear is actually extensive on both rear outer edges, and less severe (although still not good) on the inside if i reach my hand in. Therefore surely an allignment issue.

If it is an allignment/ geo issue then surely either one edge or the other would wear :confused::confused::confused:

Dunlop Tyres UK

Looking here then the explanation would appear to be under inflation?

I would go with the under inflation too. This means the central section of the tyre is not applying as much pressure to the road as the shoulders.

If the inner shoulder wear is more severe then there could still be an underlying geometry issue.

The inner wear could also develop with a loaded boot thanks to the independant rear suspension.

outside edge being the bit nearest the road, inside edge being the one nearest the wheel arch. The middle of the tyre is somewhere between the two, so the wear is progressively worse from the inner edge to the outer edge.

Tyres had the 29psi skoda reckon when i first checked them (about 1,000 miles in) at which point i felt that was too little so i stuck them at about 33.

Hi all,

I have a '06' Octavia eleg TDi and I suffered with exactly the same problem.

The back end felt very twitcy especially whilst taking a roundabaout and finding a bump in the road!!

Very exciting to drive :-)

My rear tyres were also scrubbed badly enevenly so I promptly reported back to my local retailer.

I was informed that the good old people at skoda had issued a 'Revision' to the four wheel alignment settings to the car but the changes were mainly to the rear.

This is not covered under warranty either!!!! but I think that was sour grapes cos I bought an import and not from them (saving £4000 on list price )

I have the alignment carried out and it transformed the vehicle. It has driven great ever since....

Barring the 2 Dual mass flywheels that have failed of course :mad:

Kev

Hi All,

My VRS TDI wore the inside edge of both rear tyres within 20,000 miles. Reading taken where 4,4,0! My previous 2.0TDI 140 lasted 40K on a the rear. The noise from rear was really bad as well so got it checked at the dealer. The rear camber was adjusted and car is transformed, quieter and smoother riding. Had to replace the tyres as well though.

Chris

I've a strong suspicion that this is one or both of rear geometry and rear tyres underinflated (but if the tyres are soft I'd expect both shoulders of both tyres to wear and the centre tread to not).

Camber, etc was checked today and i think they said it wasnt too bad (find out properly tomorrow).

They did mention that the rear toe was quite a way out though - and been changed from 40 to 8 (what that means i have no idea, but it sounds like a lot! I take it this will have been costing me serious mpg as well as rubber wear*

* That's worn tyres, not unusual items of clothing

They did mention that the rear toe was quite a way out though - and been changed from 40 to 8 (what that means i have no idea, but it sounds like a lot! I take it this will have been costing me serious mpg as well as rubber wear*

* That's worn tyres, not unusual items of clothing

You've hit it spot on.

That sort of toe misalignment will cause both you poor fuel consumption and excess tyre wear, plus will have a detrimental effect on the handling.

Yeah, bad toe angle means you're basically dragging the tyres along, which would cause the excessive wear.