Had to have two new front tyres today, after only 11,000 miles. That doesn't seem very many to me. Even my Octy vRS managed 14,500 miles on a set of fronts.

Went to ATS (only place my lease company will use), and was charged a staggering £204 per tyre!

Okay, so I'm not paying, but bloody hell, that's an expensive tyre.

I now have two Michelin Pilot Sports on the front, and they do seem to be much quieter than the Contis. Whether they last any longer, we will just have to see.

Bagpuss.

£204? What size tyre are they?

Pilot Sports are a great tyre and will hopefully provide better wear than the Contis.

Steve

I know mine was the old superb but my sports lasted 12,000 miles on that....they do handle and grip well though

£204? What size tyre are they?

Pilot Sports are a great tyre and will hopefully provide better wear than the Contis.

Steve

Tyres were 225/40/18 92Y.

I've now got 225/40/18 88Y.

The load rating is a bit lower, which I've only noticed this morning. Any thoughts on whether this might be a problem?

I know that I could have got the tyres for about £150 each on the open market, but ING will only use ATS.

Bagpuss.

It is important that you do not fit tyres to your vehicle with a lower speed rating or load index than recommended by the manufacturer. Fitting lower speed rated tyres or tyres with a lower load index may invalidate your insurance.

I would check with Insurance company to be on the safe side.

Where did they wear ? Was it normal ? or was it inside edge ?

Wear was consistent on both fronts. 3 - 1 - 0 (outer, centre, inner).

So, the inside edge definitely wore down first. Is there a specific problem you are thinking about?

Bagpuss.

I used to get about 12,000 miles on the front of the vRS........ load rating should be ok whatever it is, deffo dont go lower than the speed rating, this is how the tyre handles heat build up, a V tyre on a car that should be Y could overheat and go bang, a higher speed rating is no issue (for example my OE on the fiat were V rating (150mph) and most tyres I buy for it are W (168mph)

Yep. mine had to be replaced at 10,000 miles. Same wear pattern.

Spent a lot of time investigating. Skoda UK totally useless.

After a lot of sodding about - I was advised to use the "Higher tyre pressures". This made some difference.

The opinion I have now heard from Honest John, various tyre fitters, mechanics and a vehicle inspector is that the culprit is "Speed Cushions" - those square speed humps with chamfered sides.

Most people tend to "centre them". Unfortunately, when you do this, you tend to cause serious wear to the front inside edges. How much depends on the car, the spacing of the wheels, the load and various other factors. It looks like Superbs suffer badly.

Several people have mentioned that the edges of the speed pillows were damaged in the frosts during the last winter - which has made the problem far worse.

It is certainly true that we have loads of the damn things where I live, that many of them are in terrible condition - and they are stained and covered with loads of loads of what looks like tyre wear debris.

We've been driving over them much slower, and not "straddling". This does seem to have made a big difference.

A.

Same here,changed after 15.000 km.Almost the same pattern 3-1-0.But only the left tyres had problems,the right ones are like new.I guess it's a big problem with these cars.

What I do find interesting is that I drive a 2.0 TDI CR Elegance.

As does Bagpuss and InfoSchumi.

That's a really interesting observation.

I've got 4 sets of these near to my house, and I drive over them (centred) about 3 times a day. Sounds very plausible to me.

Oh well, time to change my driving habits, I think.

On a related note, I spoke to Skoda UK and my leasing company, and they've told me to go back to the tyre fitters and get the correct load rating fitted.

The tyre fitters are swearing blind that it's irrelevant, but I'm not sure if that's them trying to avoid getting me new tyres in, or if they are actually correct. There seems to be a lot of conflicting information on this. From a few searches, it seems that the Eos was supplied with XL rated tyres, but that it didn't actually need them (according to VW). Who to believe, is the question.

Bagpuss.

Also drive a 170 Elegance, just had mine changed at 12500 miles (wanted them done at 11500 but tread not quite low enough and Lloyds TSB autolease wouldn't authorise), guy at ATS said 12500 was quite normal.

Bagpuss - I would have thought a brief, well-worded note from your insurers should be enough to put the tyre choice issue beyond all dispute.

I'm just wondering if Infoschumi and dan123 also drive over the damn things on a regular basis.

In reply to dan123 - I've now been told that 12k miles is indeed common - but also that you can do a lot better. Given that I have to pay for my tyres, I want to achieve >20k.

I would be interested in hearing about the Michelin Pilots (when you get the right Load Rating). I've been old they are:

Quieter.

Better in the Wet

Not quite as grippy in the dry

Last Longer

More expensive

A.

Just got a definitive statement from Michelin on the load rating issue.

The Skoda factory mandate 91Y for all tyre and wheel combinations on the new Superb.

However, none of the mainstream tyre manufacturers make a 225/40/18 91Y. Therefore, Michelin say I should have 225/40/18 92Y, which is their closest equivalent.

I've gone back to my leasing company, given them the e-mail from Michelin, and told them to sort it out.

I have to say that the 88Y Michelins are much quieter then the Contis. However, this could be down to the fact that the sidewall is less stiff. Will let you know how they are once I've got the correct load rating fitted.

Bagpuss.

I've just noticed that Michelin "Pilot Sports" are sold as "Summer tyres" and are "not intended to be driven in near-freezing temperatures, through snow or on ice." Does this matter in the UK ? A.

AJB1 i do drive on bad roads if that's what you wanted to ask me,but I don't understand why both left tyres are so damaged and the right ones are in perfect condition,and I guess I could make at least another 10.000 km with them.Right now I put the good ones on the front wheels.But I think in a max 5.000 km I have to change them all.On my Octavia I got 4 Michelin and after 30.000km they were about 50% used.

I think that in the future,instead of getting new tyres(Conti SportContact2=300euro/piece) that I will use 15.000 km I'll buy some second-hand(about 10-20%used at 50euros/piece) ones to keep me at least 10.000km.

Tyre wear is dependant on a lot of factors, do you live in a roundabout infested location, the compound in the tyre, softs will hold the road better than hards but will wear quicker, and the most likely factor that like the MK1 version the MK2 is a heavy car and weight transfer is to blame, my MK1 had a set of Bridgestones on it and the fronts went after 8k and the rears only lasted 21k, I've now got some cheap hard compound Wanli's on it and they seem to be resisting the rapid wear syndrome, but at a cost of extra noise and roadholding in wet.

If the wear was caused by speed pillows, wouldn't you get a similar pattern on the rear tyres? Certainly my first thought was of excess negative camber.

Also, I'd agree that you should not use a lower load rating tyre than the manufacturer's recommendation. I'm a touch less convinced about speed ratings, because I can see no reason for fitting W-rated tyres to a car that can only do 120mph (manufacturer's figures).

I asked that question - and was told

A) Less weight

And

The Wheel is not driven

Which reduces the effect.

Looking at my rear tyres - they are suffering a bit, just not as badly as the front.

ATS have reluctantly swapped the tyres.

The 92Y rated tyres seem just about the same as the 88s.

Will let you know once I've done a few more miles if they are an improvement over the Contis. It's very wet here at the moment, so I'll be able to test the wet weather handling.....

Bagpuss.

Mine are nearly due to be changed on my Octy vRS and I have done 18000 MILES. I have Conti Sport Contact 2's but am looking for the 'best' tyre to replace them with?

I am currently looking at Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas or Falken 452's any thoughts on these or others?

Thanks

Tyres were 225/40/18 92Y.

I've now got 225/40/18 88Y.

The load rating is a bit lower, which I've only noticed this morning. Any thoughts on whether this might be a problem?

Yes, that is a problem. The front axle has a load rating of 1200 kg, so you need at least a load index of 90 for that one.

The rear axle has a load rating of 1250 kg, so you would need a load rating of at least 92 for the rear tyres. But you really do not want your tyre to blow out when you are heavily loaded and driving at high speeds, that's why the standard tyres for the Superb are 205/55 R16 94V...

Furthermore, 88 is a very low load index. Even my present 1999 Renault Laguna (weighing only 1285 kg when empty) has tyres with a load index of 91.

Just got a definitive statement from Michelin on the load rating issue.

The Skoda factory mandate 91Y for all tyre and wheel combinations on the new Superb.

I find that very strange: Y rated tyres are rated for speeds up to 300 km/h (187 mph). This must be a mistake, as only one Superb (the 3.6) can get anywhere near 240, so V rated tyres should be fine.

And, as I said before, the rear axle has a load capacity of 1250 kg, so you need at least a load index of 92 (630 kg per tyre)

My fronts needed replacing after 16,500 miles (I've posted before about wear problem on fronts)and I replaced with Conti 3's, but my driving is mainly motorway. However my previous car was an Audi A6 with Michelins and they were really good on wear and mileage, 30K on fronts & 54K on rears, next time I will replace with Michelins and hopefully get the required result.I've now got 24K on the clock, so am anticipating replacing all 4 at 33-34K.