Tyre wear on my VRS

[Mike999vRS]

It might be worth contacting the tyre manufacturer directly. They do have engineers floating about to inspect stuff.

After all, if it is a faulty batch it's in their interests to check.

[LewJo]

I got in touch with Continental yesterday and fair play they were fantastic to deal with over the phone. They agreed that the wear is very strange and asked me loads of questions about the car and the roads it's been on. They've also asked me for some details on the tyres themselves and are going to get someone to give me a ring next week.

Lewjo (Joseph)

[vrskeith]

Correct me if I'm wrong but is this the Yeti?

 

Because if so ,God help you when you have the Octavia vRS TSI.

 

Invest in an Advance Motoring Course(You & Missus) - you'll save £s and have a good payback. 

[LewJo]

No this is not the yeti, hense the title 'tyre wear on my VRS' :p

Continental have inspected the car and discovered a minus camber and positive toe (shame the dealer didn't notice this). They tell me this will cause the severe even tread wear. Now my concerns over uneven wear around the circumference were unfounded and to quote the continental tech 'I know it looks like that to the untrained eye but trust me the wear is even right across the tyre'

He gave me a pretty detailed report to hand to the dealer, which I have. They have said that the wear was caused by an alignment issue and Skoda uk have agreed to cover the cost of replacement tyres as well as sort out the toe and camber.

I'll be honest I don't understand the vast majority of what they were telling me but I came away knowing the wear (as I suspected) was unnatural and a fault was present.

Lewjo (Joseph)

[vrskeith]

That's good to hear and you now have TECHNICAL CLOSURE with replacement costs 

[james_19742000]

Thats great news, so it was straight forward getting Continental out and getting them inspected and Skoda agreeing to replace the tyres then?

 

I must admit when I collect mine new I am very tempted to have a full proper 4 wheel alignment done, my local tyre place doe stye Hunter system, but the settings they are likely to have are they correct for the car?

 

Reason I say this is my SC2's on my Mk2 vRS needed changing at around 10K which I think is OK, but still seems slightly low, so for the sake of a few quid for a full alignment it seems worth doing if out helps get a few thousand extra out of the tyres.

 

Well done anyway.

[Mike999vRS]

I'm not suggesting that you wouldn't have contacted continental yourself but I kinda feel warm and fuzzy inside.

It could just be as I'm clock watching till shift end and looking forward to a weekend off (spent in the pub watching rugby!).

Seriously though it's good you've got to the bottom of it and you're getting the tyres replaced.

[LewJo]

I'm not suggesting that you wouldn't have contacted continental yourself but I kinda feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Had you not mentioned it I would probably have replaced the tyres and waited to see if the same occurred so thank you for your suggestion, much appreciated!

Lewjo (Joseph)

[Neily03]

Out of curiosity did Continental charge for the inspection?

[Mike999vRS]

Had you not mentioned it I would probably have replaced the tyres and waited to see if the same occurred so thank you for your suggestion, much appreciated!

Lewjo (Joseph)

No bother. Glad I have a good idea once in a blue moon!

Better than the idea of clock watching, didn't go very well as I was over an hour and a half late :-(

[LewJo]

Out of curiosity did Continental charge for the inspection?

At no stage of my dealings with them did they mention a cost being involved, even after the car was found to be at fault they still didn't mention a charge (obviously neither did I)

Lewjo (Joseph)

[Orville]

I guess Continental have won atleast one customer for life . That's some pretty good service.

[gadgetman]

Yokos on Hondas straight from the factory, sounds like a cost thing to me, the kids don't like Type R's in Europe well, they love them here.

Hmmm... I tried Bridgestones and wasn't really happy with them in the wet, just a bit errrrrr... wishy washy, didn't feel the confidence, the Conti's on the other hand are very good in the dry, awesome in the wet and wear really well. The newer SC5's I haven't tried yet but, some report they wear pretty quickly so, we'll have to see.

What's really worring is, I've heard the Mk3 are coming outta the factory with Michelin's, not happy about that. When I first got my Mk2 it had Michelin PS2 on it, when required I looked at replacing them, my tyre man just shook his head "6-1/2mm tread depth straight from the moulds" he said "not for you, try a set of Conti's, 8-1/2mm they'll last better" That's why cheapo places like costco sell Michelin's because they know they'll get plenty of business as they don't last, can't last they're less tyre tread depth, probably why they are so cheap for car manufacturers to buy.

Regards

T

Michelin are one of the best for wear which is why I've used them since I had Primacy 2's on my mk2. Both my mk2 and works mondeo managed 32k between needing fronts, and rears lasted at least another 10.

Where as the Continental Premium Contact 2's fitted to the works Sharan barely manage 15k,and the Contact Sports fitted to the Touran had 3mm on them when we got it with 9k on the clock. They lasted only another 1500 miles to 2mm and the fronts were replaced with Michelin Primacy 3's which were swapped with the rears which were on 4mm at that time.

I only stick with continental on the works car because they are the Contiseal versions as it has no spare and no gunk kit (useless I know but better than nothing)

Funny you mentioned mould tread. A member recently queried why brand new continental were 6.5mm compared to 8mm on Michelin.

[themanwithnoaim]

My experience of Michelin V Continentals are for the PS2 compared to the SC3 some 3 or 4 years ago, things may have changed, I don't know which specific tyres the other member was quoting, do you have a link ?.

 

Regards

T

[gadgetman]

Sport versions always have softer compounds so will wear quickly.

[gadgetman]

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/304500-new-tyre-tread-depth-conti-sc5s/?fromsearch=1

[themanwithnoaim]

Yeah, as I'd been told SC5's do wear faster than the older SC3's although, I didn't realise it was a tread depth issue.

Thanks for the info.

Regards

T