My Octavia came with Dunlop Sportmaxx RT tyres from new. All of the original tyres started to split between the treads but at the time I just thought they must do that, since they've not been on the car long. I am on my second set of front tyres. However in my recent MoT they advised that the tyres are slightly damaged/cracked/perished. I can understand that on the original rear tyres but the front are just over 12 months old, have covered less than 4k miles and are hardly worn.
Has anyone else had this problem ? Is this a problem with modern tyres, or perhaps just Dunlop ? I am really annoyed as surely it is reasonable to expect them to last more than 12 months especially when the car has been hardly used? It is a great shame, as they are good looking tyres with a large wheel rim protector which is essential, however I don't feel inclined to buy any Dunlop tyres again as I've never had this problem on any other make of tyre (and I've had lots of tyres in 44 years of motoring !)

Welcome.

People are having the same issue with different manufacturers tyres.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/484902-cracking-bridgestone-ecopia-ep150

 

I had the same issue with these tyres on my 17 plate Octavia.  After sending messages and pix to Dunlop, they advised that their tyres were guaranteed for 5 years from the date of manufacture and, to cut a long story short, took back the 4 tyres and gave me a refund for the unused tread.  Naturally I did not replace them with the same.  I reported this on here back in early 2019 if you can find the thread. 

That is very interesing. Thank you both for taking the time to reply.

I replaced the Dunlop's on the wife's 66 plate Fabia last month as it failed the MOT on an inner sidewall bulge on one of the rear tyres and an advisory that all four tyres were cracking in the treads. Four years old and just under 20,000 miles with plenty of tread left.

Not had a problem like that with other makes but did have exactly the same problem with Dunlop SP-01 tyres a few years ago as did others...   So maybe Dunlop still have issues?

I have had a similar issue with these Dunlop Sportmaxx tyres on my Octavia. I've now gone through two full sets in only 25k miles since 2019. In both cases wear has not been a problem, all have failed due to cracking. I replaced the original tyres in 2023 at 13k miles and the replacement set have now all been raised as an advisory in a recent MOT. I certainly wont be buying Dunlop again. Can anyone recommend something more durable I only cover about 5k miles a year?

They are dreadful tyres.

Honestly, I've been running Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 All seasons tyres on three cars we have owned. Those tyres are brilliant and ideally for the cooler weather we are experiencing. Highly recommended. Probably worth getting a wheel alignment done too after installing new tyres as the Octavia's can throw their tracking really easily if you aren't careful. Probably a 4 wheel alignment if you can find somebody with a Hunter system and the correct Skoda Octavia profile.

Booked to get some Conti Contact Sport 7's fitted tomorrow (+4 wheel alignment). I've had the Conti's before on prevous saloons I've owned and never had a problem. I wish I'd gone with these when I last changed them out two years ago. I'll never buy Dunlop again.

Had same problem with quite a few fairly cheap brands including dunlop which were on car when I got it. Tyre service said they were just over 5 years old going by date stamp and were prone to cracking. Also had a set of Michelin lose there shape No bulges just out of roundness. Tyre service guy said they get it a lot with Michelin after about 3-4 years. Been using GT radial FE2 and so far no problems.

This seems to be a common problem with tyres, these days. Something to do with what manufacturers have been told they aren’t allowed to put into the mix anymore.

On a Rover forum that I frequent, there are a lot of complaints about Avon tyres.

I’m wondering what brand to get when the time comes.

1 hour ago, daveo138 said:

This seems to be a common problem with tyres, these days. Something to do with what manufacturers have been told they aren’t allowed to put into the mix anymore.

On a Rover forum that I frequent, there are a lot of complaints about Avon tyres.

I’m wondering what brand to get when the time comes.

From what I've read Michelin Primacy are supposed to be ok but they are very expensive. I've gone with Conti Contacts this time around as I've had them before and they were fine. The Dunlop Sportmaxx have been shocking. I checked my paperwork yesterday evening and the 2nd set were fitted only 20 months ago and actually covered less than 10k miles. Wear on zll ttres was fine but they cracks were shocking.

I always go for a decent mid range tyre. As said been using GT radial FE2 and all season on my cars with no probems plus good grip in wet. I have a fair few old cars sitting around for spares/(maybe repair). If I let the tyres go flat then they seem to crack very quickly when sitting. Never had this problem years ago. Have an old landrover with Avons on it and its sat for nearly 20 years and tyres are still fine so I assume modern tyres are more likely to perish in sunlight/weather. Probably more plastic/nylon than rubber these days

Alasdair

Just for reference I've been running Falken tyres for the last 5 years or so with no issues at all on both the Kodiaq and the Swift. I'd have had them again on the Kodiaq but spotted a good deal on Goodyear Vector 4 Season this week so am trying them instead. I'll be using Falken again in the future though and also probably Vredestein as I ran them for nearly 10 years on our old Octavia and Civic.

I went through two sets of Dunlops Sportmaxx and they both did exactly that. Cracked along the longitudinal tread grooves.

I've moved onto Michelin cross climate 2s now and they are far better. Much quieter too.

I had similar problems with Dunlop tyres, so changed to Michelin primacy. So far no issues.

Also found the ride to be better.

When I got my Octavia there were Dunlop's on the front and Goodyear eagle F1 on the rear, the Dunlop's were gone and the dealer replaced them with cheap Mazzini, they lasted 25000km, put Michelin e-primacy on them and they lasted 75000km, tried Goodyear eagle F1 all around and they only lasted about 35000km, currently have Michelin primacy 4's all around, so far the fronts are at about 35-40000km and still have plenty of life in them, very happy with them considering they're only €50 a tyre more than something cheap.

1 hour ago, CianKT said:

When I got my Octavia there were Dunlop's on the front and Goodyear eagle F1 on the rear, the Dunlop's were gone and the dealer replaced them with cheap Mazzini, they lasted 25000km, put Michelin e-primacy on them and they lasted 75000km, tried Goodyear eagle F1 all around and they only lasted about 35000km, currently have Michelin primacy 4's all around, so far the fronts are at about 35-40000km and still have plenty of life in them, very happy with them considering they're only €50 a tyre more than something cheap.

I always use Michelins. The only issues I have had with them was I once hit a pothole quite hard and this produced a sidewall bulge, and I had one Michelin which was an original from new from February 2019, which I had to replace earlier this year after ~66,000 miles, not because the tread wore, but because there were sidewall cracks developing. When I put the new one on, the droning noise from the back mysteriously stopped!