FL vRS Rear Tyre Noise, Camber & Settings

[bandit1]

Sorry for the long text,

So, like a fair few people on the site, my car came equipped with Dunlop Maxx GT tyres from new (December 09).

Like many, I experienced the uneven wear (combination of saw tooth & high/low spot wear) on the inner edges of the rear tyres. This, I thought was due to the incorrect camber settings, so had the car checked on a Hunter geometry alignment rig at my local tyre depot, unfortunately the slightly post pubescent operator was only looking for green bars on the readout rather than actually understanding what was going on, my dealer confirmed that all was within the Skoda (revised) spec of -1.2'min -2.7'max camber. (mine was -1.5 nearside & -1.7' offside) the only help the tech at the dealer said could give was reduce the camber to the lowest factory setting of 1.2' & rotate the tyres front to rear regularly, this is the Skoda UK position & that was all they were authorised to do.

So after reading many positive post about Tony at Wheels in Motion/Blackboots, I booked the car in during my next trip down the M1. I had the Geometry checked adjusted today & thought I would share my experiences.

The setup at WIM is seriously impressive, clean, welcoming & you get a general feeling of a high degree of professionalism. The geometry alignment jig looked like it had just been unwrapped (a clean tyre centre - theres a novelty) & before each check the machine connects to the manufacturer database, just to ensure that the info it has is the most up to date.

My car needed 2 new tyres for the front as they had just reached the wear indicators, Tony managed to find 2 Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas (even though Vred UK do not have any until the end of May), the Dunlops have been poor lasting only 9,000 miles of mainly Motorway driving.

The current rear tyres hum so bad at 40mph+ it sounds like I have a worn wheelbearing, Skoda say "put them on the front & the rear noise goes away", Of course it does, it just goes to the front, anyway, I digress. Now i have proved my point I will be re-visiting the dealer to discuss further.

The WIM Tech (didnt get his name) checked the car & although the majority was within Skoda Spec, the rear toe was pointing out, effectively dragging the inner edge of the tyres. After consulting with Tony (Bones - Partner of WIM) on the best course of action, it was decided to go as close to the manufacturers camber settings as possible (-1.20'), but to correct the toe also to Skoda's settings as it was felt these were the majority contributor to the tyre wear.

So I now have a car that is set to the optimum settings within the Skoda recommendations, however, Tony did say to keep an eye on the wear & if there is any evidence of similar problems to come straight back & we will tweak things to try to work out an ideal geometry setup for a standard car to minimise uneven tyre wear & noise. I am going to be covering 4-6,000 miles in the next 6-8 weeks so it wont be long before anything shows up.

As a final note, I would like to thank Tony & the team, I would not hesitate to recommend them, the geometry check was more than I have paid in the past, but like anything in life, You get what you pay for !

I for one will be using them again.

[blueR36]

I had to order My replacement Sessantas, they took a month, they said Vredestein themselves were out of stock ! Hope your sawtooth is sorted

[GriffoVRS]

It is disappointing to hear that people are still experiencing problems with new cars with the new settings :no:

[bandit1]

It is disappointing to hear that people are still experiencing problems with new cars with the new settings :no:

Yep, but it seems that SUK have just lowered the minimum setting (effectively widening the tolerance) rather than moving the whole range down.

That is only if you complain & they dig out the tech bulletin from 2005.................................... :wonder:

[Alex1980]

Yep, but it seems that SUK have just lowered the minimum setting (effectively widening the tolerance) rather than moving the whole range down.

That is only if you complain & they dig out the tech bulletin from 2005.................................... :wonder:

Ive just got a copy of the alignment setup Audi did on my new FL VRs. Do these figures look correct???

Edited 6 May, 2010 by Alex1980

[bandit1]

Just a quick update.

After nearly 6,000 miles, I am happy to report that the rear wear is completely even & without any issue whatsoever.

This I beleive is due to a combination of the correct alignment (albeit to Skoda's minimum Camber & toe settings) & a tyre that has a solid band on the inner edge that is less resistant to Saw Toothing.

I am happy, just still discussing with SUK who is paying for the premature wear on the other tyres.

G

[Skoda's conscience]

Just a quick update.

After nearly 6,000 miles, I am happy to report that the rear wear is completely even & without any issue whatsoever.

This I beleive is due to a combination of the correct alignment (albeit to Skoda's minimum Camber & toe settings) & a tyre that has a solid band on the inner edge that is less resistant to Saw Toothing.

I am happy, just still discussing with SUK who is paying for the premature wear on the other tyres.

G

It is a pity that Skoda are letting this issue drag on and on, when it is such a well known problem.

On taking delivery of our Octavia, it went back under warranty for 'suspected rear wheel bearing' hum, amongst numerous other problems.

The dealer (Vindis, Woolpit) claimed 'no fault found', so the car still has a dreadful hum from the rear.

On speaking with Will Fisher (Executive Office) about other warranty problems, he admitted there is this specific well known tracking problem on the rear of Octavias, and my car would have to go in again to get this adjusted under warranty.

But this simply does not fit with his claim that "I can assure you that as a manufacturer, SKODA does go to great lengths to apply bulletins and updates to its vehicles on a chassis specific basis, in an effort to ensure any outstanding issues can be dealt with effectively". That certainly didn't happen in my case.

When will Skoda UK communicate such important information to their dealer network, to save giving their patient customers the run around?

By the way, Will Fisher wrongly gave customer services address as [email protected] in their signature. This doesn't work.

The correct address is [email protected] or [email protected]

Alternatively writing to the CEO Robert Hazelwood at [email protected] works.

Edited 15 October, 2011 by Skoda's conscience