Are they the correct tyre type and load and speed rating for the vehicle?

I would get a full four wheel alignment on a hunter rig just to rule our alignment problems

Car has been aligned before. Centre wear indicates over inflation.

Tyres are continental sport contact 5 - 225/40/18/Y exactly what's needed.

I'm just going to try these new tyres and see how they fair.

These falkens don't seem to scrabble for grip.

They will mate, just be careful when they have been on a while. I had them on my mapped Mondeo, very very unpredictable in the wet when they had been on for a few months.

Did you have the FK453? They make the car feel a lot more refined, steering feels lighter too. Just got the horrible continental drone from the rear.

Car has been aligned before. Centre wear indicates over inflation.

Tyres are continental sport contact 5 - 225/40/18/Y exactly what's needed.

I'm just going to try these new tyres and see how they fair.

 

But you said the alignment was at the dealers.  I'd hunt down an independant wheel alignment specialist & get all 4 wheels checked out.

 

You haven't actually mentioned what the load rating is on the tyres but klets assume it's OK.

 

I run 36-39psi on mine & do mainly 80-110kph motorway driving & don't get centre wear so I do wonder if the gauge you are using is correct.  I just use the service station gauge but use different service stations to see if the pressure changes much (it doesn't) to check the calibration.

 

30/31 sounds really low for 18s (more like the 15"-16" presssure).  I'm surprised you haven't damaged a rim or had an impact fracture in a sidewall.  That size tyre should be a minimum 34psi.

As I said, I run at 32psi all around.

However Skoda, and at the end of the day they are the manufacturer and they will have done the tests - they don't just put random numbers down, suggest much lower pressures on their vehicles fitted with 18" wheels.

2.0 bar (29psi) and 2.2 bar (32psi) when loaded are the official Skoda recommendations.

Tyre load rating is XL I believe.

I'm not going to ignore the recommendation of the manufacturer. Obviously if they're wearing at 30psi, 34 is going to be horrendous.

Tyres going bald in the middle actually means that they are under inflated, modern low profile tyres have very stiff frames. I'd go 2.7bar (converter tells me thats around 40psi) in front and 2.5bar (36psi) in rear.

Edited 20 January, 201511 yr by beatdown

Tyres going bald in the middle actually means that they are under inflated, modern low profile tyres have very stiff frames. I'd go 2.7bar (converter tells me thats around 40psi) in front and 2.5bar (36psi) in rear.

Can you point me to any tyre manufacturers website that says underinflated tyres wear in the middle?

I believe it can only be overinflation.

As I stated before, I deliberately 'overinflate' my tyres and they don't wear in the middle. Car manufacturers recommend lots of things, some of them sensible.

I've searched this many a time and I've seen absolutely zero accounts of middle wear due to under inflation.

40psi sounds ridiculously high.

As I said, I run at 32psi all around.

However Skoda, and at the end of the day they are the manufacturer and they will have done the tests - they don't just put random numbers down, suggest much lower pressures on their vehicles fitted with 18" wheels.

2.0 bar (29psi) and 2.2 bar (32psi) when loaded are the official Skoda recommendations.

While they don't put down random numbers, the recommended inflation pressures by the vehicle manufacturers are often compromises based on a "happy medium" of fuel economy, primary & secondary ride, handling, steering responsiveness, noise, vibration, tyre life, etc.    When I worked for Goodyear it was pretty common for our tech department to recommend different pressures to the vehicle manufacturers - especially if the vehicle was showing abnormal wear.

 

Tyre load rating is XL I believe.

I'm not going to ignore the recommendation of the manufacturer. Obviously if they're wearing at 30psi, 34 is going to be horrendous.

XL is 92.   With a load rating of 92 & a Y speed rating there isn't any room for improvement - It's about as stiff / strong a carcass as you'll get.

 

At a minimum, I'd have a look at what the minimum loaded pressure is for the front tyres (it's either 33 or 35) & run that F&R.

 

As I used to explain to my customers, it's up to them what they choose to do.  I can only recommend a course of action.  I always find it a bit amusing that I run high pressures, get even wear and long tyre life & people tell me I must be doing it wrong.

Very few dealers have proper alignment gear in my experience. Don't confuse "tracking" with a proper 4 wheel geometry check.

As above i'd go to a specialist with a hunter rig or similar, but on the face of it, centre wear would normally be over-inflation.

I run 2.3 and 2.5bar (over 31psi I think) on WinterContacts TS850. I drive race-style so my tyres last about 8000km.

 

I don't drive with summer tires anymore because they last, in my case, under 2000km. SportContact is very soft I guess.

 

To wear centre of tire, you would have to use really bad overpressure - over max. pressure on tire. I brake hard and corner fast - I never had worn center of tires, always sides!!!

 

Alignment doesn't matter if you have worn arm bushes - this cost me lots of money before I found out and installed Poweflex :-D If you have worn both sides of tire - bushes are worn/torn. Stock bushes last about 10k km with my driving style. In normal conditions, they may last about 30k km??? You can have best alignment, all according to spec but your tires are still worn - arm bushes ;-)