OK, so a bit of a long story. I got the Audi main dealer to fit 4 x new Continental Sport Contact 5 tyres a couple of weeks ago.

Came to wash the car and noticed they had put SC3's on. Rang them up and they were OK about it. Turned out all the paperwork said SC5's so it was their problem and they would swap them over.

I had a couple of weeks free rubber. I measured them before they went in to see what condition they were in, and Front - 7.5mm, Back - 8.0mm. About what I expected.

Anyway it went in yesterday and new SC5's fitted, checked before I went this time! Got home and the missus said the tread didn't look very deep. I looked and agreed, but it was dark and wet so I put it off till today.

Checked this morning and Fronts and back - 6-6.5mm all round. Is that right? I've used the same gauge as before, and to be fair the tread looks less than I would expect, so confident the measurement is correct.

The coloured lines on the tyre on the tread are all there, but it looks daft as the tread depth markers are only about 4mm off the top. These will only last a few months at best :(

Going to ring the garage and see what they say but nobody in service there till Monday. I need a bit of info so I don't look daft if they are OK. It's just after 25 years of motoring I have never experienced this problem before.

Advice needed guys

Can't help, but suggest you call Continental Tyres UK and find out from them. They are the "horse's mouth" after all. Contact details will be on their web site I guess.

Can't help, but suggest you call Continental Tyres UK and find out from them. They are the "horse's mouth" after all. Contact details will be on their web site I guess.

I've fired them an email.

 

It's just the main dealer now has 'form' with them fitting the wrong tyres in the first place.

 

When I originally asked for SC5's I was told they had SC3's in stock, but would have to wait for the SC5's to come in (about a week).

 

So I ordered the SC5's and went back a week later and the fitted SC3's. Me thinks they knew what they were doing.

Without going outside on this dark wwindy and wet night to check the tread of my 600 mile old conti contact 5's I'd say from memory 6-6.5 mm sound right to me. I did check my brand spanking new pair from camskil. Also checked some rain sport 2's many years ago and they had 9 mm of tread. I know the contact 5's were significantly less.

The kuhmo v70 track tyre has something like 4 mm new.

Less is more!

Without going outside on this dark wwindy and wet night to check the tread of my 600 mile old conti contact 5's I'd say from memory 6-6.5 mm sound right to me. I did check my brand spanking new pair from camskil. Also checked some rain sport 2's many years ago and they had 9 mm of tread. I know the contact 5's were significantly less.

The kuhmo v70 track tyre has something like 4 mm new.

Less is more!

mmm....knew track tyres had less, but normal tyres 2mm less? Conti SC3's 8mm v Conti SC5's 6mm. That's poo :(

Just read a review, and they said they measured 7.7mm depth.

Anyone else know what the depth is new?

I did check my brand spanking new pair from camskil. Also checked some rain sport 2's many years ago and they had 9 mm of tread.

 

The kuhmo v70 track tyre has something like 4 mm new.

Less is more!

 

 

Yep I've done that too.

 

Nearly 9 mm of tread. I've always though new tyres normally come with about 7.5 to 8mm. Depending on the design and compound, if you have a lot tread, the blocks will move and 'squirm' when cornering giving you less grip and steering feel. Track day tyres are a lot softer than normal ones so hence much less tread.

Yep I've done that too.

Nearly 9 mm of tread. I've always though new tyres normally come with about 7.5 to 8mm. Depending on the design and compound, if you have a lot tread, the blocks will move and 'squirm' when cornering giving you less grip and steering feel. Track day tyres are a lot softer than normal ones so hence much less tread.

9mm of tread on road tyres is 7mm of wear.

The 6mm on the SC5's I have means only 4mm of wear. Nearly half a tyre :(

I would expect 8mm or more. My last set were Mich PS3s with 8mm.

Something not right here, unless its Conti themselves being sneaky......

Just checked my contact 5's this morning (600 road miles in wet weather) and they show 7mm on my low tech gauge  measured in the centre groove of the tyre.

That tread gauge in the above pics looks very posh!

The as new Conti PremiumContact 5 V rated tyres that came with our Octy III, have 7.5mm of tread which seems average for a summer road tyre.

 

Did however notice a new feature I'd not seen before on a summer tyre and that was a series of what looks like the additional 4mm wear bars, that you would find on a winter tyre but with the letter x on them. Not measured these bars but maybe they are set lower at 3mm, which I understand is the limit recommended in Germany :wonder:

 

 

TP

Just checked my contact 5's this morning (600 road miles in wet weather) and they show 7mm on my low tech gauge measured in the centre groove of the tyre.

That tread gauge in the above pics looks very posh!

what size are your tyres? Mine are 245x18x40 & deffo not 7mm :(

The as new Conti PremiumContact 5 V rated tyres that came with our Octy III, have 7.5mm of tread which seems average for a summer tyre :wonder:

TP

Tread depth envy!

Just a thought that's been running through my mind.

Do tyre manufacturers make specific tyres for new cars that have slightly less tread than those sold as standard retail?

Could be a Conti issue, as the German min tread depth is 3mm.

Last fitted Contis about 10yrs ago and vowed never to buy them again as the ability of the tyre went off noticeably below 3mm. Seemed to me the compound was different. So that was even less useful tread depth to my mind!

Do they have the coloured markings so you know they're new?

If not they've robbed them off another car and will swap with the incorrect ones.

Clue from #1 :

" The coloured lines on the tyre on the tread are all there, but it looks daft as the tread depth markers are only about 4mm off the top. These will only last a few months at best  :( "

Do they have the coloured markings so you know they're new?

If not they've robbed them off another car and will swap with the incorrect ones.

My first thought was this ^

But as in post #1 I noticed the coloured lines, so I assume they are new.

Now I'm just not sure if -

a- Conti have reduced the tread depth, sneaky.

b- Conti supply a new car tyre spec (a bit like when you buy a printer & the ink cartridges are only half full). They have been supplied incorrectly by Conti or swapped by the dealer, sneaky

c- Quality control issue at Conti.

I await responses from both the dealer & Conti. Remember these tyres cost me the thick end of£700 :(

Ouch.

My first thought was this ^

But as in post #1 I noticed the coloured lines, so I assume they are new.

Now I'm just not sure if -

a- Conti have reduced the tread depth, sneaky.

b- Conti supply a new car tyre spec (a bit like when you buy a printer & the ink cartridges are only half full). They have been supplied incorrectly by Conti or swapped by the dealer, sneaky

c- Quality control issue at Conti.

I await responses from both the dealer & Conti. Remember these tyres cost me the thick end of£700 :(

OK, so I have the conclusive answer in an email direct from Continental.

Conti SC5's have a new tread depth of 6.8mm.

Sneaky buggers!

I had already rang Audi just to formally acknowledge the query, in case there was a problem. The service manager reckoned they should be 8mm (as all new tyres are).

So, I reckon I'll be changing these much sooner than normal :(

Anyone thinking of buying Continental SC5's just be aware of the missing rubber, as that now makes these a very expensive tyre.

Not all new tyres have 8mm of tread. Some have more some have less for performance reasons. If you want the deepest possible tread buy some rain sports 2's as they have 9mm of tread. Not sure how much tread the Rain sport 3's have.

I have 4 Conti 5's and i'm very pleased with them. I would never base my tyre purchase on how deep the tread is.

 

 

Sneaky way of getting more money, most people won't notice.

I would never base my tyre purchase on how deep the tread is.

I wouldn't base my purchase entirely on tread depth, hence why I always buy premium tyres and chose SC5's this time.

I just find the reduction in tread a little underhand in that none of the buying literature mentions it. In fact the Continental website has a general comparison of new v worn tyres and refers to a new tyre tread as 8mm.

I'm sure the SC5's will prove to be good tyres, the reviews are positive, and they should keep me out of trouble which is their main job.

The point of this thread is to warn others that these tyres have nearly 20% less tread than other similar tyres, so you need to factor that into the costs.

I know Conti's are not the best for wear either, so these could be a really costly choice :(

Sneaky way of getting more money, most people won't notice.

Bit like chocolate bars, or reducing pack sizes but keeping the price the same

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=10&ved=0CC8QFjAJ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tyrereviews.co.uk%2FArticle%2F2013-Auto-Express-Summer-Tyre-Test.htm&ei=kUT5UuTBB86qhQf2ioGYAQ&usg=AFQjCNEMO9dFbByaeb_eXQVPypeGdqmvSQ&sig2=lgWJ1OV24RTvoM8pxVKDjg

I once used the very good rain sport 2's when new for a dry track day at Angelsey circuit. They had 9 mm of tread. They were ruined after 170 miles due to the tread blocks moving around so much. Great for a wet motorway though .

Continental contact 5's won the above test.

My point is they're selling the tyre to give you the optimun performance from new which wouldn't be possible with say 9mm of tread so I can understand why they sell them with fairly shallow tread when new.

Don't forget track tyres have something like 4 mm of tread new.

Btw I have no connection with continental apart from following them on twitter lol!

Another reason to stay away from Contis for me that, aside from the others I've already mentioned. Plenty of other great options out there - Michelin, Goodyear and Pirelli included.