Tyre wear - Australia

[tiwi]

Hi everyone

Thought I would share this with fellow Skoda Superb owners.

Having a bit of trouble with the tyres and unsatisfactory chipping/ peeling of the tread. The standard Dunlop Sports 225/45/17 that ship I guess all over the world. Noticed the trouble starting at around 13000 km and at 15k service VW Service center noted it as a problem?

History is all highway miles, but unlike European roads ours are more course with large stone surface. Our driving is mainly highway miles with zero gravel roads.Speeds are 110km on highways and female driver 95% of time with good driving habits.

Played with pressures 32psi in rear ,32 to 36psi in front with the problem is persisting.

I would be interested in opinions on the probable cause from fellow members. The wheel alignment has been checked independently and by Skoda and is in spec.

In the interim Dunlop has given me the option to swap them out for something else, be at a some cost and as you know tyres are not covered by Skoda. They commented that they are a hard tyre compound which may not be suited to our roads.

Is anyone else having any issues.Hope the links work to pics.

Tiwi

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb366/tiwi39/IMG_0791.jpg

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb366/tiwi39/IMG_0793.jpg

[KenONeill]

Probable cause - Dunlop tyres are $h!t! I'd agree that your higher temperatures and different surface texture might not help, but I think the real issue is "Dunlop tyres are $h!t!".

[dec76]

Hi Tiwi,

I have a Combi with Pirelli P7's factory fir and they have none of this issue.

I have driven it to cairns and back from Brisbane a couple of times and have now 22500 on clock and they are still more than a half left on tread.

Is the issue on the outside only?if so,you may have a toe out/in issue which from previous VW products i have owned, had caused problems.

The issue could be as Ken has stated, Dunlop aren't that good!

Heath

[Tankdave]

In the M/C "cruiser" world, Dunflops are renowned for being cr*p, and they wear in very srange ways too.

So, I also suspect your problem is related to the make of tyre and not the car.

[tiwi]

The tyres are factory fitted and have been generally happy with wear rate. The usual response was we are driving it to hard around corners and roundabouts etc. Where I live 3 roundabouts in whole town so I know this is not the cause.Skoda(VW) adjusted toe a little, as they said have seen this before, probably on VW vehicles.It does do a lot of high speed highway miles though.

Being front wheel drive the thing to remember is the car is pulled along and pulled around corners, and if the toe in or out is not right it will cause some damage. It seems to be more prevalent on passenger side and my first though was the geometry is set up for a left hand drive vehicle.

We have opted for the new set of tyres and will discuss type with Beaurepairs.

Regards

Tiwi

[KenONeill]

I've never seen that sort of tearing before, except when the edge blocks are overheating (and hence fundamentally unsuited to car, climate and driving style). I have seen outer edge feathering on cars with driven front wheels when the owners habitually take roundabouts "enthusiastically" (I say driven front wheels because I've seen it on 4WD cars as well as FWD and a few strongly understeering RWD).

[Alfaspider]

Hi, I'm from Slovenia an I'm having my Dunlop tires replaced under warranty this week. Had Superb for 1 month and 5000km now and it's all superb except tire noise at 150km/h sounding like trashed wheel bearings. They tested car with new Dunlop tires from another new Superb and the noise has gone away. I think factory fitted 225/45/R17 Dunlop tires have some issues. But one of the reasons why I decided for a new car was also the benefit of brand new tires (500€+) so I want them working 100% just like any other part of car. Mine were producing noise since first drive from car dealer and I immediately reported issue.

[Ozsko]

Thread revival, P Zeros in Oz @ 28000K with plenty of tread left. Mostly driven on open roads between 100 - 120KPH, very little suburban driving at all. The tread blocks on the front tyres are higher at the front of each block than the back, tapered so to speak and only on the inside of the tyre. Has anyone had camber issues? I was looking for a noisy tyre and when I running my hands over the tyres I noticed it. On asking the so called tyre experts all I got was blank looks for my trouble. They have been always set to the factory pressures with a Longacre digital gauge (verrrryyyy expensive) so the pressures should not be a problem. Has anyone else noticed this issue? I will put a camber gauge on it tomorrow and see what it reads.

Edited 14 October, 2011 by Ozsko

[KenONeill]

Thread revival, P Zeros in Oz @ 28000K with plenty of tread left. Mostly driven on open roads between 100 - 120KPH, very little suburban driving at all. The tread blocks on the front tyres are higher at the front of each block than the back, tapered so to speak and only on the inside of the tyre. Has anyone had camber issues? I was looking for a noisy tyre and when I running my hands over the tyres I noticed it. On asking the so called tyre experts all I got was blank looks for my trouble. They have been always set to the factory pressures with a Longacre digital gauge (verrrryyyy expensive) so the pressures should not be a problem. Has anyone else noticed this issue? I will put a camber gauge on it tomorrow and see what it reads.

G'day mate. That sounds like you might have an excess negative camber issue, possibly combined with regular heavy braking. Don't use the brakes; all they do is slow you down!

[Alfaspider]

Hi again.

My Stealer replaced my tires under warranty last Friday, no charge at all (I have driver 6000km on old ones before replacement). I got the same manufacturer and the same model of tires but there is a huge difference in favor of new tires regarding road noise.

[tiwi]

Tiwi here

Update

I have had my tyres replaced under warranty. The tyre dealer could not fault the alignment of the car at all. Skoda made a small adjustment to the toe and said everything was fine.The tyres should not have done what they did he assured me,the car is not the problem.

I have noted the comments above about road noise and I must say they where noisy compared to the new tyres I now have fitted. Different brand, same stable of course(Dunlop).

Goodyear Fuel Max Assurance 225/17/45. Hell of a lot quieter and supposedly more fuel efficient.

Dealer has told me to run them at 36 PSI all round.

Early days but they seem very comfortable on road and quieter.

Cheers

Tiwi

[Sprightlybob]

Tiwi here

Update

I have had my tyres replaced under warranty. The tyre dealer could not fault the alignment of the car at all. Skoda made a small adjustment to the toe and said everything was fine.The tyres should not have done what they did he assured me,the car is not the problem.

I have noted the comments above about road noise and I must say they where noisy compared to the new tyres I now have fitted. Different brand, same stable of course(Dunlop).

Goodyear Fuel Max Assurance 225/17/45. Hell of a lot quieter and supposedly more fuel efficient.

Dealer has told me to run them at 36 PSI all round.

Early days but they seem very comfortable on road and quieter.

Cheers

Tiwi

Did the dealer re-check the geometry front & back? Various other threads here discuss saw toothing with Dunlop SportsCrap tyres and Skoda geometry being off.

[tiwi]

The tyre dealer wants the car back at 5000km to check everything is as it should be. He is confident and I trust them as they certainly went out of there way to assist me when the problem was happening with the previous tyres.

Skoda( VW) will see the car at the next service at 30000km. Skoda eventually said that they had seen similar issues with some VW models.

Beaurepairs also indicated Ford had issues with the Territory doing similar things to there tyres, not sure which brand though.

Very happy thus far with ride, road noise and handling of the Goodyear Fuel Max Assurance tyres.

Cheers

Tiwi

[davekmoore]

My Superb Wagon (Estate) Elegance 2.0Tdi170CR DSG was owned by Skoda Australia for the first 5,000kms since when its use by me is 95% at 100kmph in a straight line with just me in it and a light load. Always driven carefully as I value my licence and have a track day car for when I want to be a hooligan. Fuel computer shows 5.6L per 100kms (50mpg) which I reckon suggests I drive carefully.

Just had the first service done. Can't have variable servicing in Oz which is annoying as I used to get 18-20,000mls between services in the UK on variable. The fixed intervals here are only 15,000kms despite the car having an easier life.

The front tyres (Continental Sport Contact 2 225/40R18 92Y extra load treadwear 280 traction AA temperature A) are down to the wear marks in the centre two grooves at 17,322kms (10,800mls). Extra 1-2mm left in the outside grooves. Rears at 6mm. My cheepo pressure guage sees all 4 tyres at 30psi cold after the service and there's never been a peep from the TPM suggesting uneven pressures. The dealer doesn't think there's anything wrong with the steering geometry.

The dealer won't assist with any kind of warranty claim. They say the tyres are just a soft compound so they wear more quickly.

Are there grounds for a warranty claim and if so, should I go to Skoda Australia or to Continental, or both?

If there are no grounds for a warranty claim, which tyres should I go for as replacements with the priorities being, in this order, safety, value for money (including longevity), quietness, comfort, handling?

[Sprightlybob]

There is extensive discussion in the Octavia arena of Biskoda concerning tyre problems. I have just settled on Continental Contact 5s on my Superb after only 28000kms. My former tyres (as delivered on new car) were Dunlop Sport Maxx which you will see on numerous threads are considered first class crap. My tyres had severe sawtoothing on the inside edge on all tyres which was reverberating thru the car making driving a noisy chore.

I tried complaining to Dunlop and Skoda without success. Bit like relieving yourself into a westerly gale!!

The State Dunlop rep decided it was an alignment problem whilst noting should Dunlop ever agree to a warranty claim, they would replace with a Dunlop product. Skoda (thru my dealer) claimed it was a tyre problem. A wheel alignment at my dealer's expense revealed (at least on the printout they gave me) that all four wheel were centred within stated tolerances.

I decided that my life was too short and too busy to argue with little prospect of a positive result so I took advantage of a promotion by Continental for the month of October where they offered a cashback of $40 per tyre when four were bought. The new tyres are quiet which allowed me to hear the diesel purring for the first time in months.

Davekmoore's comments on the Contis makes me nervous!! Good luck with what you settle upon!!

[davekmoore]

I checked with the servicing dealer if they'd needed to drop the tyre pressures at the service but they said they were already at the correct 32 psi all round. As I've not had a peep out of the TPM over the last 12,000kms that suggests they've always been at the correct pressure during my ownership.

So 4mm left on both outside grooves on both fronts but 1mm on both centre grooves both sides might suggest either:

they were way over-inflated for the first 5,000kms (maybe never dropped from transportation levels?)

or

the tyres are rubbish

or

the tyres are under-specified?

But still, how come 6mm left across both the rear tyres (and no, I don't do wheel spinning starts to wear out the fronts)?

[gwundu]

I have a V6 4WD Combi. The 18" tyres fitted are Continental Contact 2 and although they are good handling tyres, the wear rate is truly astonishing - I have done 20,000km and they need replacing. They are also very noisy so I am looking at Yokohama next time - they have a similarly rated tyre that is much quieter than the Contis.

Edited 11 November, 2011 by gwundu